On the picket line

Calif. farm workers march for union rights

Gov. Jerry Brown, once considered a “liberal” when he was governor 30 years ago, vetoed the Fair Treatment for Farm Worker Act in June because he said he was “not convinced” the law was needed. The United Farm Workers, who sponsored the bill, have organized a 13-day, 167-mile “pilgrimage” Aug. 23 to Sept. 4 from Madera up the Center Valley to the state Capitol in Sacramento to “convince” Brown that they need a bill to make it easier to unionize farmworkers.

A UFW release notes: “For farm workers, ‘not yet’ means farm workers don’t get water and shade. ‘Not yet’ means farm workers continue to die of heat illness. ‘Not yet’ means farm workers do not have basic justice implemented by the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. ‘Not yet’ means hundreds of farmworkers who last year voted for union representation have waited more than a year for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to take the simple act of certifying the elections.” Two UFW-sponsored bills are currently before the state Legislature: a revised version of the Fair Treatment Act and a bill giving farmworkers the right to be paid overtime after eight hours like other workers.

Fifty full-time marchers, joined by farmworkers and community supporters along the route, will end the protest with a giant rally on the Labor Day weekend. Organizers have issued an appeal for financial contributions to help cover the cost of the march, including meals, water and ice for the marchers and bus rentals so thousands of workers can attend the closing rally. For more information and to donate, visit www.ufw.org.

AFL-CIO interns learn what it takes to organize

Forty-five AFL-CIO interns learned more about organizing, research and community outreach programs working with local central labor councils and local unions in eight cities this summer than they could ever learn in college. For instance, five interns in Charlotte, N.C., created a video showing how they helped build a community coalition; Milwaukee interns participated in a successful effort to defeat two anti-union senators; while Miami interns spent 12-hour days visiting workers’ homes to interest them in joining United Teachers of Dade, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, and UNITE HERE. For one intern in Minneapolis, the experience was life changing. After helping child-care providers and city workers form unions with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Nyssa Towsley wants to be a union organizer. This year’s group of interns was the most diverse: 64 percent were female and 65 percent were people of color. (AFL-CIO blog, Aug. 18)

Ohioans defy governor, defend unions

A coalition that includes union representatives, We Are Ohio, which initiated a referendum to repeal the law limiting rights for public sector unions, rejected Gov. John Kasich’s request to withdraw the referendum. We Are Ohio said on Aug. 18 that the measure must first be repealed. The law would restrict 360,000 public sector workers to bargain only for wages, hours and work conditions. The law was never implemented once the referendum was validated and scheduled for a vote on Nov. 8. (New York Times, Aug. 19)