UFW backs Speaker Hertzberg’s plan to move farm labor contractor issue to conference committee

United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez issued the following statement today from the union’s Keene, Calif. headquarters near Bakersfield.

At the request of Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, the United Farm Workers has joined with Assemblymember Gloria Romero in utilizing another legislative vehicle in the Senate that later this session will see her bill on farm labor contractors move to a two-house conference committee.

We are pleased that the UFW’s efforts to date have given visibility to hundreds of thousands of farm workers who have been invisible for far too long. We will continue working with the Legislature to craft an effective tool to reform what Cesar Chavez long called a "corrupt" farm labor contractor system.

That evil system has plagued farm workers for decades and state government has done virtually nothing about it. During the last decade, only one farm labor contractor’s license has been revoked despite continuing daily abuses and exploitation of farm workers.

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