Tuesday February 9, 1999
UFW: Stricken citrus workers awaiting relief from President Clinton’s disaster declaration
President Clinton’s declaration designating the December-January California citrus freeze as a federal disaster will make federal unemployment benefits available to increasingly desperate citrus workers, the United Farm Workers notes.
"President Clinton’s disaster declaration is badly needed since human suffering is spreading with each new day and the economy in some rural communities is about to collapse from the freeze as so many jobs depend on agriculture," states UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. The freeze has claimed the livelihoods of an estimated m ore than 28,000 citrus workers in southern Fresno and northern Tulare counties alone, according to a poll conducted among jobless laborers by the UFW.
The declaration makes available up to 26 weeks of federal unemployment benefits. "The President’s partial disaster declaration is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough," says UFW spokesman Marc Grossman. "The need is much greater. Citrus workers are facing eviction for not paying mortgages or rent; many are behind on their utility bills. The UFW will keep working with the administration on getting them the help they need."
The UFW has combined lobbying for increased relief in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. with organizing workers to push for aid through citrus worker committees representing laid-off laborers in affected parts of rural Fresno and Tulare Counties. Hundreds of citrus workers appealed for help before top state and federal officials at a nearly three-hour meeting on Feb. 1 in Sanger.
The officials were part of a joint state-federal Rapid Response Team sent to assess worker needs during a two-day visit to the Central Valley. They included a top aide to U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and state Health & Human Services Agency Secretary Grantland Johnson. Recommendations from the Rapid Response Team contributed to President Clinton’s disaster declaration.
UFW co-founder and Secretary-Treasurer Dolores Huerta expressed gratitude to Sen. Dianne Feinstein "for making freeze relief for citrus workers a top priority within the Clinton administration." Huerta also praised U.S. Labor Secretary Herman for responding to "this urgent human need in rural California."
"The UFW will continue working closely with the state and federal governments to ensure relief and services are delivered quickly to families that are suffering the most, especially in remote rural areas," Rodriguez says.
UFW-organized citrus worker committees cover Porterville, Terra Bella, Woodville and Poplar; Lindsay, Strathmore and Tonyville; Farmersville and Exeter; Woodlake and Ivanhoe; Cutler, Orossi and Dinuba; Orange Cove, Reedley and Parlier; and Fresno and Madera.
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