SB 25 Passes Assembly
Great news! Close to three dozen farm workers were in attendance yesterday, August 19, at CA’s State Capitol as SB 25 passed the full California Assembly. Workers are very excited and thank you for all your support.
Farm worker Juan Cruz is very excited about his participation. He said, On this great day organized by the United Farm Workers, we left for Sacramento with one main purpose… the dream of contributing a little and to do the best we could to convince the Assemblymembers to give a yes vote on SB 25–which is very important to us. We started knocking on doors and talking to Assemblymembers. Some of them seemed interested and others not so much, but we tried to convince them. Juan tells us, There was still one Assemblymember to visit. When he came out to talk to us, he told us that the bill had passed and congratulated us. When we heard this my co-workers and I were very happy and we realized that all of our efforts were worth it. It was a very nice experience.
We want to thank you for all you do to help Farm Workers. Below please find some articles about the event and related issues.
Si Se Puede!
Jocelyn Sherman
Digital Director
Modesto Bee: Assembly narrowly passes Steinberg’s farm worker contract bill
A controversial bill to change mandatory mediation procedures in farm labor contract disputes narrowly cleared the Assembly Monday.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, monitored the 41-24y vote from the Assembly floor after working to thwart what he described as fierce lobbying to kill Senate Bill 25.
Proponents, including the United Farm Workers union, say the bill is needed to avoid lengthy delays in contract disputes by forcing agricultural employers into mediation. …
….On Friday, Steinberg sent Assembly members a letter titled “illegal activity,” in which he urged lawmakers to consider a complaint filed by the general counsel of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board against fruit grower Gerawan Farming. The complaint alleges Gerawan employees pressured farm workers to sign a petition to oust their union. Gerawan also paid for an ad attacking Steinberg and his bill for being harmful to farm workers.
“Over the last several weeks Dan Gerawan and Gerawan Farming have waged an expensive lobbying and public relations campaign against my Senate Bill 25,” Steinberg wrote to Assembly members….CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY
News 10 (VIDEO: CLICK TO WATCH) TV ad with heavy Spanish accent criticized as dishonest
SACRAMENTO, CA – A political ad featuring a narrator with a heavy Spanish accent criticizing the United Farm Workers union is being slammed by farm labor advocates as dishonest.
The TV spot now running in Sacramento suggests the speaker is a farm worker disillusioned by the direction taken by new UFW leadership. A similar ad is running on Sacramento radio stations.
“It’s a lie,” said state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, author of the legislation being attacked in the TV and radio campaign. “To use the voice of a reputed farm worker to say the bill is not in the interest of farm workers is just not true.”
The ad campaign is actually sponsored by Gerawan Farming, a major Central Valley family peach and grape grower that employs 5,000 workers.
Spokesman Dan Gerawan said the family spent $75,000 buying TV and radio time in Sacramento, Salinas and Los Angeles to battle SB 25…CLICK HERE TO READ FULL STORY AND TO WATCH THE VIDEO