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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Nov. 2, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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Mushroom workers defend right to organize
By Betsey Piette
Philadelphia
On Oct. 16, union mushroom pickers and supporters gathered outside Philadelphia City Hall to protest an attempt by Vlasic Farms to rob them of the right to organize. Vlasic is owned by Money Mushrooms of Canada.
Inside, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard Vlasic/Money Mushrooms' case to strip the workers of legal protection under the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act.
Nationally, agricultural workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act. This means they have no legal protection against firing when they organize for better working conditions.
The Pennsylvania law also excludes agricultural workers. But it has protected mushroom workers for almost 50 years because their work is classified as "horticultural" rather than "agricultural." Money Mushrooms wants the state to reclassify mushroom workers.
The Supreme Court gave no indication of when it would make a final ruling in the case.
The rally was jointly organized by the Committee in Support of Farm Workers--known by its Spanish acronym, CATA--and the Kaolin Mushroom Workers Union. CATA represents the workers at Vlasic.
The attack by Vlasic/Money Mushrooms is the latest effort to break mushroom workers' unions in this area. President Luis Tlaseca of the Kaolin Mushroom Workers Union stated that the largely immigrant workforce in the mushroom industry was there out of necessity and deserved the same rights as any workers.
"We're working for justice with the sweat of our labor," Tlaseca told the crowd. "We're here to tell the Supreme Court that we are not just passive in this situation."
Kaolin management recently agreed to recognize the union after years of struggle.
'We demand justice'
Antonio Gutierrez, president of the CATA local at Vlasic, explained that Money Mushrooms had just announced plans to close the Pennsylvania plant at the end of this year. While the company claims that the plant is closing for financial reasons, Gutierrez labeled it an attempt to break the union. He noted that they are closing the mushroom-picking part of the plant, which is unionized, but not the packing section, which is non-union.
Gutierrez said workers who came to the United States from Mexico and other parts of Central America were surprised by the abuses that take place at the plant.
"They don't treat us like workers," Gutierrez said, "they treat us like slaves.
"But slavery ended a long time ago, and we demand justice."
Many unions and community groups joined the rally to support the mushroom workers. They included Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees District Council 47, the Food and Commercial Workers, Operating Engineers Local 542, Steel Workers Local 1165, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, Paper and Chemical Employees and the Faculty Federation of Community College.
Also the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, PHILAPOSH, National People's Campaign, Philadelphia International Action Center, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Wages for Housework, Jewish Labor Committee, Jobs with Justice, the Service Employees union and Temple University Graduate Students Association.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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