“+: to the 1970's.

Str d the following from a judge while a Lodi grape bi er who was charged with trespassing, was hefore

“These men are nothing but a bunch of rats, Russian

Tchists, cutthroats and sweepings of creation. This

*ndant doesn’t know when he is well off if he wants a

Ury trial, In some places they would take him and his kind g them from the town hall.”

d The Striker’s attorney interrupted, “‘But they wouldn’t are do that here.”’

“Soa you be too sure about that,’’ the judge shot

be da Is town may see a few hangings yet . . . Juries

re Mned. Juries are reminiscent of medievalism. They

| pet 3 Means of escape for guilty men... They usually boneheads to sit ona jury.”

bet terrorist drive of Associated Farmers forced € decline in the labor upsurge for a period after 1935. the 7 new and higher stage of the struggle followed under eo Reeship of a national CIO affiliate, the Food, Tobac- ’ “€ricultural and Allied Workers (FTA), which was ea Under Left leadership. That union made substantial Re Fess nationally, even bringing the 10,000 workers of Ynolds Tobacco of Winston Salem, N.C., under a union ntract. = Union-busting opportunity came next for the agri- Ses during the cold-war red-baiting hysteria after

World War II. Most of FTA was wiped out (one of the un- ions was expelled), with the active help of the CIO bureauc- racy of that period.

FTA marked a. higher stage of unionism by its inclu- sion within one union of not only the field workers, but those of various food and fiber processing stages. This lent strength and stability to the union.

6 pene in the agricultural and processing in- dustries remained virtually at a standstill until the 1960s when Cesar Chavez led a new movement that climaxed in the dramatic march from Delano to Sacramento, and re- sulted in the unionization of grape, lettuce and other agri- cultural workers. The Chavez movement drew wide pop- ular support around the country. It received financial aid, and support for its boycott of grapes and lettuce. The move- ment began to spread beyond California.

But the growers were still the same union haters. They realized, however, that they could no longer stop unionism, so, on the advice of the Nixon Administration, they changed their strategy to getting a union to wipe out the United Farm Workers.

On December 12, 1973, Frank Fitzsimmons, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as his first step after Nixon’s re-election (for which Fitzsimmons worked), came before the Farm Bureau Federation con- vention in Los Angeles and offered an ‘‘alliance”’ to the

growers. He told the 9,000 growers, ‘We in organized la- bor welcome an alliance with farmers, whether they be of the family farm variety or the agribusiness variety.’’ He offered an ‘‘organizing drive’ to wipe out the ‘‘revolution- ary movement” led by Chavez.’’ He admitted that his step was on advice of then Under-Secretary of Labor Lau- rence Silberman.

The tactic brought temporary success for the growers. Hundreds lined up to sign “‘sweetheart contracts” withthe IBT, convinced they’d be rid of the UFW 4nd that the IBT would be kind to them. Workers who sought work had to join the IBT and agree to deduction of dues. That was about the only contact they had with the union. They had No Say in its affairs, no meetings. The IBT leaders openly said it will take years before the workers would ‘‘mature”’ to meet and elect officers! :

Dogged persistence by the farm workers for their own union, the experience of two years of hard work, and a rapidly rising trend among Chicanos and Mexican na- tionals generally for recognition and respect of their rights plus widespread backing of the labor movement and the public, culminated in the drive for legislation, that would end the ‘‘sweetheart’’ contract evil. For the first time in its history the AFL-CIO levied a special per capita assess- ment on its entire membership to help the UFW. The Uni- ted Auto Workers Union was most generous with help. Boy- cott committees functioned in cities across the land. The public was made aware that while the IBT has the con- tracts and dues checkoffs, the UFW has the workers.

2

S UFW march to Modesto, home of Gallo wineries, that rallied more than 15,000 from all parts of the state, gave clear evidence that the UFW was truly on the march again. The newly elected governor and legislature got the message and the process began for enactment of a law that would protect a farm worker’s right to choose a union by secret ballot. After weeks of legislative bargaining and compromises a bill was enacted. It represents basically a victory for the farm workers and their union.

But it is by no means the end of the struggle. A case in point: passage of the Wagner Act in 1£35 signaled the most intense struggle in U.S. labor history. It took two years for the law to be validated by the Supreme Court. Then the employers continued to use every trick in their legal bag to delay application of the law. On top of that the most decisive and most difficult stage of the struggle was the campaign to win the workers’ votes for the'real union.

The new law provides for farm elections to start Au- gust 29. How effectively will the UFW use the weapon for which it fought so hard? They will face the powerful IBT and its millions of dollars and, of course, the backing of the growers. The UFW will need all the help it can get. Fortunately, it is backed by a power labor movement.

The UF W announced that the boycott will continue un- til elections name bargaining representatives. The union will need funds if it is to match the army of full-time or- ganizers the IBT has lined up for the drive.

There is far more at stake than the right of a section of the workers to choose a union. The rights of at least a milliofi full-time workers in agriculture nationally may be

ultimately affected. A victory for the UFW may put the

tombstone on that ancient evil, the “‘sweetheart contract.” Ultimately, such a victory can bring about a powerful pro- gressive leadership among Hispanic peoples from Florida to California.

United Farm Workers

“A

Ww ORL MAGAZINE

Wittory for the U.F.W. may put the tombstone on that ancient evil, the ‘sweetheart contrac

pede

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JULY 25, 1975—Page 5.