Retired farm workers to get more than $17,000 in pension checks; UFW appeals to workers who may not know they qualify

3 p.m. Wednesday, May 14,  in Watsonville
Retired farm workers to get more than $17,000 in pension checks; UFW appeals to workers who may not know they qualify

Two Central Coast farm workers who didn’t realize they qualified for a United Farm Workers pension will receive checks totaling more than $17,000 during a ceremony Wednesday in Watsonville.

One of UFW founder Cesar Chavez’s achievements was creation in the 1970s of America’s first–and only–functioning pension plan for field laborers. UFW Vice President Efren Barajas and Pension Plan Assistant Administrator Mercedes Farmer will hand the checks to retired vegetable workers Evangelina Martinez and Balbina Ontiveros at the Wednesday event.

Martinez, 71, and Ontiveros, 69, didn’t know they were eligible for pension benefits from the union’s Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Fund. In addition to the lump sum retroactive payments ($9,847 to Martinez before taxes and $7,415 to Ontiveros before taxes), Martinez will receive $103.50 each month and Ontiveros will get $144.31 per month for the rest of their lives from the joint union-management pension plan. Martinez lives in Freedom and Ontiveros lives in Salinas.

The UFW and the pension fund also hope to spread the word to other retired farm workers who, like Martinez and Ontiveros, aren’t aware they–or their spouse–qualified for pensions when they worked under union contracts. Martinez labored with a UFW agreement under which West Coast Farms contributed to the pension plan between 1978 and 1985. Ontiveros worked with a union contract under which Sun Harvest paid into the pension fund from 1976 to 1983.

Since 1989, the pension plan–financed by contributions from growers for every hour worked by a union member under UFW contract–has provided cost-of-living increases and other adjustments and bonuses. The pension plan was named for Juan de la Cruz, a 60-year old grape striker shot to death on a Kern County picketline in 1973.

Who:  UFW Vice President Efren Barajas, Pension Plan Assistant Administrator Mercedes Farmer, retired union members Evangelina Martinez and Balbina Ontiveros.

What: Presenting two retired Central Coast farm workers checks totaling more than $17,000 from the union pension plan begun by Cesar Chavez.

When: 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 14, 2003.

Where: UFW’s Watsonville Office at 519 Main Street, Watsonville, CA, 95076.

Retired farm workers who believe they may qualify for the Juan De La Cruz Pension Plan can inquire online at: http://www.ufw.org/jdlc.htm or call: (800) 321-6607 or (888) 735-5352.