Word: ufw
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...farmworkers do not support Chavez and his strikes." As evidence of this "fact" Mr. Ferrara cites several positions and a survey of "71 non-union grape pickers." Unfortunately, there is no way of saying exactly how extensive support for the union is. The UFW has called for elections to determine what the workers want. But the growers and the Teamsters have consistently refused, bitterly opposing state and federal laws that would require union elections...
There is, however, no shortage of clear evidence that the workers support the UFW. In a recent poll of nearly 1000 grape pickers in 31 fields, conducted by an independent group of Congressmen and religious leaders, 80 workers voted for the Teamsters, 78 for no union, and 795 for the UFW. And the California Supreme Court, after reviewing the evidence, declared in 1972 in a 6-1 decision that "...a majority of field workers desired to be repesented by the UFW and expressed no desire to have the Teamsters represent them...
...Chavez's strike was a complete hoax." Here Mr. Ferrara cites as evidence the testimony of one state official. But according to L.A. Times reporters, the UFW strikes have had overwhelming support from the workers. They reported that in 1973, over 90% of the grape workers in the Coachella Valley struck, despite the best efforts of the growers and the Teamsters. And Inter-Harvest, California's largest lettuce grower, was forced to admit, "The Teamsters have our contracts, but the UFW has our workers." (Nation, 9/3/73...
There is one final attack on the UFW implicit in Mr. Ferrara's article which should not go unanswered. Mr. Ferrara repeatedly refers to the UFW as "Chavez." He speaks of "Chavez" getting control of workers, of "Chavez's strike," of workers not supporting "Chavez." There is the constant implication that the union is controlled and manipulated by one man. This is the hardest kind of attack to rebut, because it is never even stated explicitly, much less documented. But if Mr. Ferrara thinks that the UFW is undemocratically run, if he thinks that the election of Chavez...
Space does not permit me to reply to all these letters completely but three points can be made. First, supervised elections have never been held for farmworkers. On Feb. 24, 1974, the California Conciliation Service stated it had never held elections and the UFW had rejected its offers to do so. While the Teamsters and growers have always demanded elections, Chavez has consistently prevented them. Chavez testified against a California legistlature bill in 1971 that guaranteed secret ballot elections, saying elections were too sophisticated for farmworkers. Dolores Huerta, UFW vice president, testified, "Farmworkers don't understand democracy, they...