Workers also march to recognize their employers for union contract gains
Salinas, Calif.—United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero joins hundreds of farm workers during their annual Cesar Chavez birthday march Sunday in Salinas to support a bill creating “Blue Cards” that would let immigrant farm workers permanently remain in the United States by continuing to work in agriculture. The march, one of three in California’s major agricultural regions, falls on Chavez’s March 31 birthday and comes weeks after introduction of the Agricultural Worker Program Act of 2019 by U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.).
Hundreds of Central Coast vegetable, mushroom and berry workers will also march behind company banners praising their unionized employers—John D’Arrigo of Salinas-based D’Arrigo Bros., Shah Kazimi with Monterey Mushroom in Watsonville and Jim Cochran from Swanton Berry Farm near Santa Cruz—for wage and benefit advances they and their families have won through their contracts.
“The Blue Card bill offers America’s farm workers and their families—including many U.S. citizen children—relief from the palpable fear that paralyzes local communities and threatens stability in the agricultural industry,” Romero says. “Many farm workers are afraid to leave their homes when they drive to work every morning. Their skill and hard work in feeding America and all of us has earned them the right to apply to legally remain in this country and work without peril.”
The UFW and UFW Foundation are jointly sponsoring the Feinstein-Lofgren measure as well as the Salinas march.
Who: Central Coast farm workers, UFW President Teresa Romero and supporters.
What: Using Cesar Chavez’s annual birthday march backing a bill offering “Blue Cards” letting undocumented farm workers keep working in agriculture as well as recognizing unionized employers for their workers’ contract gains.
When: March starts at 10a.m. on Sunday, March 31, 2019.
Where: Cesar Chavez Community Park, 250 N. Madeira St. Salinas, CA 93905
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