Jorge Aguirre
I have been working for Gerawan Farming for 17 years. In all this time, I have experienced psychological pressure like getting tickets for not meeting production goals. They would push us for production and whoever didn’t comply would get a warning and a ticket and sometimes no warning, just a ticket. And if you were given a ticket, they would stop you for the whole day. Being such a large company, you would think they would have enough wheelbarrows. But instead it was a fight every day and we would have to leave our homes at 3:30am to be able to get a wheelbarrow and be able to work and we used to have to stand by the wheelbarrow so that at the start time we could grab the wheelbarrow. This was all unpaid waiting time.
Since coworkers and I have been organizing with the UFW, there have been many changes. In the 17 years I have been there I have not seen so many changes for the better. Wheelbarrows are now placed at the foot of the rows. All of our materials would be in good condition, if we would get a flat, they would come and repair it. This is good treatment all farm workers deserve. This is why I want everything written and respected in our contract. And a lot of people think the company will win but with the Union we can win.