Lawmakers join farm worker march to Sacramento
GALT, CA – State legislators, granted special permission to participate Thursday morning in the farm workers’ 13-day, 200-mile pilgrimage up to Sacramento, will join the marchers demanding better pay, improved working conditions and the right to overtime pay for field laborers.
The UFW-organized Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Now march kicked off on Aug. 23 in Madera. The peregrinos (or pilgrims) reached the Sacramento County line late Wednesday. They start Tuesday with a 7 a.m. mass at the St. Christopher Parish, 950 S. Lincoln Way, in Galt and end the day in Walnut Grove. A group of lawmakers, including state Sens. Michael Rubio and Kevin de Leon, and Assemblymembers Luis A. Alejo, Manuel Perez, Nora Campos, Anthony Portantino and Das Williams, will be joining the farm workers, UFW leaders and supporters from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. They’ll meet at St. Christopher Parish in Galt.
Marchers are embarking on the last leg of their trek, reaching the state Capitol for 12 noon rally on Sunday, Sept. 4, during Labor Day weekend. There, they will be joined by thousands of farm laborers and supporters.
Reports are coming in on plans by farm workers to charter buses to take them to Sacramento on the last day of the march. The UFW’s Central Valley operation already has commitments from farm workers to fill 27 buses, on its way to 40. The Central Coast is shooting for 30, the Napa-Sonoma area 18, and Oxnard-Ventura County is working on 10–for a total of 98 buses carrying roughly 5,000 farm workers.
The marchers want Gov. Jerry Brown to sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act, which would make it easier for farm workers to join unions, which the governor vetoed June 28. A modified Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act measure is being reintroduced in the Legislature. A second bill will also soon be before lawmakers, ending the exclusion of farm workers from overtime pay after eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, which most other California workers receive.