1 p.m. Tuesday at the Forty Acres in Delano
UFW unveils Camp Justice, targeting
farm workers’ poor pay and conditions
Dozens of volunteer union organizers have been camped out since Sept. 3 at Camp Justice in the United Farm Workers’ historic Forty Acres facility outside Delano while they help regular UFW organizers speak with thousands of Central Valley farm workers about the poverty pay, miserable working conditions and harsh treatment they endure.
UFW President Arturo Rodriguez joins dozens of Camp Justice residents at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Forty Acres to introduce Camp Justice and highlight union organizing efforts.
Camp Justice residents live in a park-like setting at the Forty Acres, sleeping in tents and taking their meals there. Organizers awake at 5 a.m., arriving in valley fields and vineyards by 6 a.m. to speak with farm workers before they begin work under the state farm labor law’s access rule. Union organizers also talk with workers during lunch breaks and after work. The goal is communicating with workers about their grievances and educating them about the changes organizing a union at their companies can bring. Camp Justice will run through Sept. 23.
Who: UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, dozens of volunteer union organizers.
What: Unveiling Camp Justice and the UFW’s valley organizing efforts.
When: 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2006.
Where: UFW’s Forty Acres facility, corner of Garces Hwy. & Metler Ave., west of Hwy. 99 in Delano.
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