9 a.m. march, 10 a.m. council meeting
Epic battle with huge Central Valley grower plays out before L.A. City Council Wednesday
An epic battle by farm workers to implement their union contract with a giant Central Valley grower—reminiscent of 1960s farm labor struggles—plays out before the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday morning. Even as state prosecutors press their case before a judge at a Fresno hearing over alleged flagrant labor law violations by Gerawan Farming Inc., hundreds of Gerawan workers from Fresno County and L.A. supporters will press at City Hall for a resolution calling on one of the nation’s largest tree fruit producers to honor a contract issued last year by a neutral mediator and approved by the state. Gerawan, which sells its Prima-label fresh produce in L.A., is avoiding millions of dollars in pay increases and other benefits by refusing to honor the contract.
L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson, L.A. Labor head Maria Elena Durazo, United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez and 100 Gerawan farm workers traveling early that morning from Fresno County will lead other councilmembers and elected officials plus labor, clergy and community activists in a 9 a.m. four-block march to City Hall from Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. They will pack the council chambers for the 10 a.m. hearing taking up the resolution by Councilmember Paul Koretz. See: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=14-1190 (click on “Resolution” under “Online Documents” for text)
An administrative judge with the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board is presiding over the fourth week of hearings in Fresno that will include months of sworn testimony on sweeping complaints or indictments from state prosecutors charging Gerawan with multiple, serious and repeated violations of the law aimed at “prevent[ing] the UFW from ever representing its employees under a [union contract]” and at decertifying, or getting rid, of the UFW, according to the ALRB general counsel, which issued the allegations. See: http://www.ufw.org/_board.php?mode=view&b_code=gerawan_legal&b_no=15722&page=1&field=&key=&n=11
The latest indicting complaint says, “Gerawan and its supervisors” unlawfully supported workers who “stopped work and engaged in anti-UFW and anti-ALRB protests [to promote] decertification [and that] Gerawan…coerc[ed workers] into participating in protests.” Gerawan closed its fields, directing workers to pro-company demonstrations. Gerawan also engaged in threats, interrogation and surveillance of workers, state prosecutors allege.
Meanwhile, Gerawan reacts to the indicting complaints by claiming, without evidence, that state investigators and prosecutors are biased. A slick PR campaign by radical right-wing groups affiliated with Grover Norquist, who is backed by the Koch brothers, is being orchestrated for Gerawan. See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arturo-s-rodriguez/bigmoney-radical-right-gr_b_5786868.html
Who: L.A. City Council President Herb Wesson, L.A. Labor head Maria Elena Durazo, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, hundreds of Gerawan farm workers and supporters.
What: March from the Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral to a hearing before the L.A. City Council on a resolution urging Gerawan to implement a state-issued union contract under which it owes workers millions of dollars.
When: 9 a.m. march, 10 a.m. council hearing, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014.
Where: March starts at 9 a.m. from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., L.A. 90012, ending at L.A. City Hall, 200 N. Spring St., L.A. 90012.
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