Sat., Feb 24, 2001: 1 pm in Santa Monica, 3 pm in Oxnard
Southern Calif. Residents Join Together to bring Food and Funds to Aid Stricken Pictsweet Mushroom Workers
Southern California residents will join together and form a food caravan–made up of dozens of cars and trucks-to help 300 mushroom pickers employed by Pictsweet Mushroom Farms, in their long struggle to obtain a United Farm Workers contract. Cars filled with food, household products, toiletries and funds–which were collected from over 27 Unitarian Universalist congregations, the B’nai Brith, Jewish Labor Committee -will arrive at the UFW’s Oxnard office where they will be distributed to mushroom workers and their families.
Participants from Santa Barbara to Long Beach and from Pasadena to Palos Verdes will join together for a 1:00 pm press conference at the Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 18th and Arizona in Santa Monica.
Participants will then drive to the United Farm Workers office, at 920 S "A" Street in Oxnard where they will be greeted by dozens of Pictsweet Mushroom workers. A press conference will be held as the caravan arrives at 2:45 pm.
More than 350 workers at Pictsweet earn up to 15% less than mushroom workers employed at other California fresh mushroom ranches where there are UFW contracts. Most have not seen a significant pay raise in four years. Pictsweet workers also want an end to on-the-job favoritism and a better medical plan.
Negotiations have gone on since January with Pictsweet refusing to respond to the workers’ basic demands, the UFW states. The Cesar Chavez-founded union has contracts protecting about 70% of the mushroom workers on California’s Central Coast. At the workers urging, the UFW called for a boycott of fresh mushrooms and frozen vegetables with the Pictsweet label.
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Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Southern Calif. Unit 1260 18th St., Santa Monica, CA 90404 310-829-5436 fax 988-9181
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Maggie Pipes, 310-459-5903
Through February 24, 2001 Fiona Knox, 310-374-7581
Press Advisory
Local Residents Mount Southern California Campaign for Food, Funds for Pictsweet Workers
Kick Off Food Caravan with Press Conference, Sat., Feb 24,2001
LOS ANGELES – More than 300 mushroom pickers employed by Pictsweet Mushroom Farms are getting a helping hand this month in their yearlong campaign to obtain a United Farm Workers contract. According to Maggie Pipes, a member of the Southern California Unit affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, 17 Unitarian Universalist congregations already are collecting food, household products, toiletries and funds for a food caravan from Santa Monica to Oxnard, Calif., on Saturday, February 24. The number of Southern California Unitarian Universalist congregations supporting the campaign is expected to nearly double by the caravan kick-off date. Donations may be sent to: Commission for Farmworker’s Rights, c/o UU Community Church of Santa Monica, 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404.
Participants from Santa Barbara to Long Beach and from Pasadena to Palos Verdes will join the caravan at 12:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 18th and Arizona in Santa Monica. A 1:00 p.m. press conference at the same location will kick off the caravan to the United Farm Workers office, 920 S “A” Street in Oxnard. Also taking part in the caravan will be residents from Sunset Hall, a Unitarian Universalist retirement home for retired radicals. A truckload of donations is also promised from the local B’nai Brith group.
“We want the workers to know we support their struggle as they remain committed to gaining a UFW contract,” states Ms. Pipes, a member of the Santa Monica Unitarian Universalist Community Church and longtime liaison between the Southern California Unit and the farm workers. She has worked with the Unitarian Universalist Migrant Ministry with her husband, the Rev. Ernie Pipes, since the 1970s. “UFW can help the mushroom farm workers with improved working conditions, health care and other needs like a pension plan.”
Farm workers at Pictsweet Mushroom Farms struggled to secure a United Farm Workers contract for several years before increasing their efforts about a year ago. “The past few months have been especially difficult for the mushroom workers,” adds Virginia Nesmith, director of the National Farmworker Ministry, an ecumenical group that supports farm workers across the United States.
“Many have had their hours cut back and some of the key organizers have been laid off. I believe the food caravan will inspire other denominations to help the workers see their struggle for a contract through to a positive outcome.”
Local Unitarian Universalist congregations will collect canned and dry foods, bar and laundry soap, cooking oil and other household necessities as well as funds on Sunday, February 11 and Sunday, February 18 to help the workers counter company layoffs and cut backs on hours – which the workers believe are aimed at curtailing their organizing efforts.
The 300 workers at Pictsweet Mushroom Farms are trying to hammer out a contract that will provide more comprehensive medical coverage, dental and vision coverage, and a pension plan. They are also asking the company to improve wages for both hourly employees and workers paid at the piece rate.
A number of Unitarian Universalist congregation members in the area are participating in a boycott of Pictsweet label fresh and frozen food products. The Southern California Unit has also called on Unitarian Universalists to send letters to supermarkets that are still selling mushrooms grown by Pictsweet under another label.
The food caravan being organized by the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee members will include vehicles from Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Paula and other communities from the north. From the south, participants will hail from Palos Verdes, Long Beach and Costa Mesa among others cities. Residents from Riverside, Montclair and Pasadena from the east will be joined by Studio City, Canoga Park, Thousand Oaks and other congregations from the Valley.
According to Dr. Valora Washington, UUSC executive director, the Service Committee has confronted political, cultural and economic oppression throughout the world for over 60 years by developing innovative ways to promote human rights and social justice. The caravan organized by the Southern California Unit, affiliated with UUSC for three decades, follows in this tradition. The unit has worked for farm worker rights for more than 27 years, including support for the organizing work of Caesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers during the 1970s.
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February 8, 2001