United Farm Workers Launch "Take Our Jobs" Campaign

On Thursday, United Farm Workers (UFW) launched a new campaign titled “Take Our Jobs”. The goal is to raise awareness that the food we all eat at home, in restaurants and at workplace cafeterias comes to us from the labor of undocumented farm workers. As UFW points out on their campaign website, “We are a nation in denial about our food supply."

During a press conference yesterday, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez had this to say,

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President signs proclamation honoring Cesar E. Chavez

Today, President Obama signed a proclamation honoring Cesar E. Chavez on his 83th Birthday. Cesar Chavez was a civil rights leader, Latino, farm worker, and labor leader; a religious and spiritual figure; a community servant and social entrepreneur; a crusader for nonviolent social change; and an environmentalist and consumer advocate.

As Senator Robert F. Kennedy noted, Chavez was "one of the heroic figures of our time.."

"The rights and benefits working Americans enjoy today were not easily gained; they had to be won. It took generations of courageous men and women, fighting to secure decent workingconditions, organizing to demand fair pay, and sometimes risking their lives. Some, like Cesar Estrada Chavez, made it the cause of their lives. Today, on what would have been his83rd birthday, we celebrate Cesar's legacy and the progress achieved by all who stood alongside him..." continue reading the President's Proclamation

Photo from United Farm Workers

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President Obama's Statement Commemorating Cesar Chavez's Birthday

Today, President Barack Obama made the following statement to commemorate the birthday of Cesar Chavez.

"Today, on what would have been his 82nd birthday, Cesar Chavez's legacy as an educator, environmentalist, and as a civil rights leader who struggled for fair treatment and fair wages for America's workers is important for every American to remember.

Having begun as a farmworker, Cesar Chavez eventually co-founded the United Farm Workers and struggled to provide hundreds of thousands of people with better working conditions and the chance to live a better life. The cause of fair treatment and fair wages for America’s workers lives on today through the work of countless others.

Chavez’s rallying cry, “Sí Se Puede” – “Yes We Can,” was more than a slogan, it was an expression of hope and a rejection of those who said farmworkers could not organize, and could not take on the growers. Through his courage, Cesar Chavez taught us that a single voice could change our country, and that together, we could make America a stronger, more just, and more prosperous nation.”

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Bush Administration to Slash Farm Worker Wages

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2008

Contact:
Ramon Ramirez, President, PCUN (503) 989-0073
Erik Sorensen, Communications, CAUSA (503) 789-8213

Bush Administration to Slash Farm Worker Wages and Enable Growers Replace Domestic Workers with Foreign Laborers

PCUN and CAUSA Echo the Call for Congress to Reverse New H2A Agricultural Guest Worker Program Regulations

Salem, Ore--The Bush Administration has announced that it will change the H2A agricultural guest worker program to make it easier for growers to cut the pay of domestic farm workers, reduce housing benefits and to hire imported foreign laborers instead of U.S. field workers.

According to a United Farm Workers (UFW) release, the new regulations would mean that farm employers will no longer be responsible for certifying that labor shortages exists and therefore engage in meaningful recruitment of U.S. farm workers before requesting imported H2A foreign field workers. In addition, for the first time domestic workers could be paid less and receive fewer benefits than their H-2A guestworker counterparts. The changes come even as the administration has failed to enforce existing rules.

"This is not the solution we need", said Ramon Ramirez, President of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United)."Cutting wages and reducing benefits of farm workers will not solve our nation's economic problem. In addition, they ignore the needs of providing a safe and reliable agricultural work force for the future."

PCUN and CAUSA echo the call of United Farm Workers (UFW) and others in urging Congress to reverse the Bush Administration's regulatory changes as hiring for the upcoming growing season commences.

Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United), is Oregon's union of farmworkers, nursery, and reforestation workers, and Oregon's largest Latino organization. CAUSA is Oregon's statewide, grassroots immigrant rights coalition. We work to defend and advance immigrant rights through coordination with local, state, and national coalitions and allies.

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Senator Obama Urges Justice for Beef Northwest Workers

Last week, we reported on the situation at Beef Northwest were workers, tired of mistreatment, long hours and a lack of respect, have been asking for over a year to be represented by United Farm Workers (UFW).

On August 4th, Senator Obama sent a letter to Beef Northwest encouraging them to honor their employee's rights to organize for fair wages and treatment. The release below was sent out by UFW discussing that letter. Senator Obama's letter accompanied those from Senator Wyden, Senator Clinton, and Governor Kulongoski.

Obama Urges Justice for Beef Northwest Workers

Contact:
Steve Witte
503 421-4908

PORTLAND ‑‑‑ Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama sent a letter to John Wilson of Beef Northwest on Monday, urging him to honor the results of a free and fair election where a majority of the workers asked for representation by the UFW.

In his letter Obama said, “I encourage you to recognize the card check election of June 13, and to negotiate with your employees’ chosen bargaining agent, the United Farm Workers.”

On June 13 a neutral third-party verified that a majority of workers wanted UFW representation. To date, Beef Northwest has refused to accept the outcome of this election.

Beef Northwest operates feedlots in Boardman and Nyssa, Ore. and Quincy, WA. Country Natural Beef fattens all their cattle at the Beef Northwest feedlots prior to slaughter.

“If this election is good enough for who we expect to be the next President of the United States, it should be good enough for Beef Northwest,” said Steve Witte, UFW Pacific Northwest director of strategic campaigns. “Beef Northwest should heed Sen. Obama’s call to end this dispute by immediately beginning good faith negotiations with the UFW.”

Feedlot workers at Beef Northwest have been trying for more than a year to organize, but they have been met with resistance by the company as well as subjected to threats and intimidation for supporting the union.

In addition, in late May of this year, three women from eastern Oregon filed a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Beef Northwest claiming the company refused to take their applications and instead hired men to fill the open positions.

In his letter, Obama went on to say, “I am committed to the ability of our nation’s agricultural workers to organize, to receive a decent wage, and to have a safe working environment. All workers should be free to form a union, and if they choose to form a union, management should negotiate in good faith to reach first contract.”

The United Farm Workers is the largest agricultural workers’ union in Oregon and Washington.

resources:
Senator Obama's Letter to Beef NW

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Rally in Support of Farm Workers Tomorrow

Tired of mistreatment, long hours and a lack of respect, the majority of Beef Northwest Feedlot workers have been asking for over a year to be represented by United Farm Workers (UFW).
Instead of listening to their pleas, BNW have started a pressure campaign threatening worker leaders and doing everything they can to scare workers away from wanting a union contract.

On June 13, a card check was conducted at the feedlot by the Portland Workers' Rights Board. It found that the majority of workers do indeed want union representation.

Tomorrow a rally in support of Farm Workers at Beef Northwest Feedlot will be held at Whole Foods Market in NE Portland. As Whole Foods Market is a major retailer of BNW meat, organizers hope the company will put pressure on Beef Northwest to respect workers rights.

Below are details about the rally. For more information on the campaign, please visit this link.

Rally in Support of Farm Workers

WHOLE FOODS MARKET
Saturday, August 2, 2008
10 am to noon
3535 NE 15th and Fremont, Portland

Support farm workers at Beef Northwest Feedlot who want union representation by the United Farm Workers. The company is refusing to negotiate. Whole Foods is a major retailer of the meat from BNW steers and could use their influence to get BNW to respect the workers’ rights. Be there to show your solidarity with the workers who want justice and respect. Background on the campaign see: www.ufw.org

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Legacy of Cesar E. Chavez Continues

Today, CAUSA and its sister organization, PCUN, Oregon's farmworker union, celebrate the life and work of Cesar E. Chavez and continue the tradition of organizing for social and economic justice.

Cesar Chavez was a civil rights, Latino, farm worker, and labor leader; a religious and spiritual figure; a community servant and social entrepreneur; a crusader for nonviolent social change; and an environmentalist and consumer advocate.

In the words of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s, Cesar Chavez was, "one of the heroic figures of our time." Chavez, who led the historic non-violent movement for farm worker rights, dedicated his life to building a movement of poor working people that extended well beyond the fields and into cities and towns across the nation.

For more than three decades Cesar Chavez led United Farm Workers, the first farm worker’s union in American history. His life’s work of achieving dignity, respect, fair wages, medical coverage, pension benefits, and humane living conditions, as well as countless other rights and protections for hundreds of thousands of farm workers continues on today.

Over his life, Chavez worked against the odds, not only helping workers obtain the first farm labor contracts in U.S. history, but helped to secure passage of the 1975 California Agricultural Labor Relations Act. The act remains the only one in the United States that gives farm workers the right to unionize.

The life and work of Cesar Chavez continues to inspire millions of people, even those who never worked on a farm, to commit themselves to social, economic and civil rights activism. As a role model for all Americans, Cesar’s legacy of educating, inspiring and empowering people from all walks of life is sure to be a strong and positive influence on generations to come.

As immigrants continue to struggle for justice and equality, the principles for what Chavez stood remain relevant and inspiring today. We look to the strength, perseverance and inspiration that he brought and continue our fight. Through his legacy, we know that hard work and determination will, in the end, make us victorious.

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