Word: ufw
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Before 1979, the UFW struggled to survive as an organization and seek recognition from growers. "We didn't have a chance to force growers to deal with the serious economic problems farm workers face--problems caused by a long history of extremely low wages compounded by inflation," Chavez says...
...growers as advocates for farm worker human rights and the union as a threat to worker liberty. These are the same human rights advocates who opposed toilets in the fields and abolition of the short-handled hoe, and fired thousands of workers for wearing union buttons and backing the UFW. Growers then mobilized well-heeled, professional strikebreaking outfits that surface whenever farm worker walkouts occur. Their services range from supplying hired guns to recruiting undocumented workers to be used as strikebreakers...
...February 10, UFW striker Rufino Contreras, 27, was shot in the face with a .38 caliber bullet by three grower foremen when he tried to talk with strikebreakers in a lettuce field near El Centro, California. His killers escaped justice when a local judge dismissed murder charges without taking testimony from farm worker eyewitnesses to the slaying...
...UFW succeeded where others failed because, Chavez says, "We told the growers, 'OK, if you bring in strikebreakers, we'll boycott you.' So the farm workers have turned to what Chavez calls "our court of last resort, the American people," with an international boycott of Red Coach iceberg lettuce...
...August, Sun Harvest, Inc., the nation's largest lettuce producer, and several smaller Salinas vegetable firms reached agreement with the UFW on new contracts featuring a $5 hourly wage. These settlements, Chavez says, "make a lie of industry claims growers cannot afford workers' economic proposals." The other lettuce growers, however, vowed to continue the fight...