11 a.m., Wednesday, May 31, in Bakersfield & Fresno offices
Farm workers stage sit-ins to protest
Assemblymembers Florez & Reyes ‘betrayals’
over a key bill to end ‘worst abuses’
Farm workers are staging simultaneous sit-ins Wednesday at the Bakersfield and Fresno district offices, respectively, of Assemblymembers Dean Florez (D-Shafter) and Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno) to protest the Latino lawmakers’ "betrayal" of farm workers by opposing legislation targeting the worst abuses legendary UFW founder Cesar Chavez spent his life fighting against. The two demonstrations come the same day a key vote on AB 2468 is scheduled on the Assembly floor in Sacramento.
The bill, by Assemblymember Gloria Romero (D-Monterey Park), would remedy what Chavez long termed California’s "corrupt" farm labor system by making growers "jointly" liable for the illegal acts of their farm labor contractors.
Florez and Reyes have vowed not to support the measure in deference to powerful agribusiness groups that oppose AB 2468. "Opposing relief from the worst abuses suffered by farm workers amounts to a betrayal of farm workers and all Latinos," declares UFW Legislative & Political Director Rosalinda Guillen.
The underlying cause of many farm worker abuses and tragedies is a labor contractor system that allows the true employer–the grower–to hide behind the legal fiction that the labor contractor, and not the grower, is the employer and the one responsible for complying with the laws. For example, the 13 farm workers who died in an Aug. 13, 1999 farm labor van crash in Fresno County were employed by a labor contractor. In increasing numbers (at least 30%, according to U.S. Labor Department figures), farm workers are hired by labor contractors and not by growers.
Under AB 2468, growers who employ farm workers through labor contractors would have "joint" liability for ensuring that wage and hour, child labor and other basic legal protections are observed.
Who: Central Valley farm workers.
What: Sit-ins at the offices of Assemblymembers Dean Florez and Sarah Reyes over their opposition to a bill protecting farm workers from abuse.
When: 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 31, 2000.
Where: Florez’ Bakersfield office: 1800 – 30th St., #330. Reyes’ Fresno office: 2550 Mariposa Mall, #5006.
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