Some 300 joined 13-day, 200-mile pilgrimage Saturday in Modesto
MODESTO, Calif. – Braving triple digit temperatures in the Central Valley, hundreds of farm workers and supporters continued to press ahead with their march to Sacramento pushing for the enactment of the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act and the right to be paid overtime after eight hours.
"We trekked from Turlock to Modest on Saturday, as many as 300 marchers in all, amid temperatures reaching 100 degrees," said United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez. "It was another great day. Marchers included our core group plus some 150 people from Livingston and Modesto who were joined by 150 farm workers about a quarter of a mile from Ceres, where we stopped for lunch."
The 13-day, 200-mile march organized by the UFW began Aug. 23 in Madera and ends at the state Capitol on Sunday, Sept. 4 with a Labor Day weekend rally expected to be attended by thousands. Popular Latino singer Larry Hernandez and the Mexican regional band group Horoscopos de Durango are scheduled to join the march in support of the farm workers’ struggle for better working conditions.
The marchers want Gov. Jerry Brown to sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act the next time the UFW-sponsored bill making it easier for farm workers to organize reaches his desk. On June 28, the governor vetoed an earlier bill.
A companion measure will soon be before the Legislature, calling for overtime pay for farm workers. All California workers get paid overtime after eight hours a day except farm workers, who have been excluded from overtime-pay rules since the federal Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted 73 years ago.
The two bills are expected to be introduced in the Legislature soon.
Today, marchers reach the halfway point. They began Sunday morning with a 7:30 a.m. mass at Cesar E. Chavez Park, at Sierra Drive and Fourth Street in Modesto. Today’s marchers include one of Cesar Chavez’s daughters, four of his grandchildren and two of his great grandchildren.
For further details about this weekend’s march, visit the UFW Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/unitedfarmworkers
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