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UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta details Gallo farm labor contractor abuses of vineyard workers in Sonoma County

12 noon, Wednesday, May 30, Santa Rosa
UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta details
Gallo farm labor contractor abuses
of vineyard workers in Sonoma County

Continuing exploitation of Sonoma County vineyard laborers by farm labor contractors working for Gallo of Sonoma will be detailed by United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta during a news conference Wednesday in Santa Rosa with many of the abused workers who work in Gallo vineyards.

Among the mistreatment Huerta and the workers will describe are housing employees imported from outside the area in inexpensive Santa Rosa motels where they are "virtually imprisoned" and denied visitors; failing to pay workers for all the hours they have worked; refusing to provide legally-required overtime; failing to furnish bathrooms and clean drinking water in the fields; and firing an entire 23-person crew of workers because they supported the UFW.

In July 1994, Gallo of Sonoma workers voted to be represented by the UFW in a union election conducted by the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Negotiations continue between the company and the union, but Gallo has also stepped up its use of abusive labor contractors.

UFW President Arturo Rodriguez will also lead farm workers, including Gallo workers, in the "Sixth Annual March for Justice" on Sunday, June 4, beginning at 9 a.m. at Santa Rosa Junior College. They will march to a rally at Burbank Elementary School.

Who: UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta and Gallo of Sonoma vineyard workers.

What: Detailing mistreatment of workers by farm labor contractors brought in by Gallo of Sonoma.

When: 12 noon on Wednesday, May 31, 2000.

Where: UFW office, 1700-D Corby Ave. in Santa Rosa.

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