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ACTION ALERT
 
 Governor Schwarzeneger Vetos UFW's SB789
 
Greetings! :
 
We need to share some very disappointing news with you. Last week, California Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed SB789. We are disappointed, but we are not surprised. It has unfortunately become very clear that the governor has no idea what it is like to work in the fields as a farm worker.

His decision to veto SB789 emphasizes the deep disconnection between his words and the reality that hundreds of thousands of farm workers have to endure every day while harvesting the fruits and vegetables that feed America. The governor says he knows that farm workers are subjected to sexual harassment, heat illness, abuses and intimidation at the workplace. He has acknowledged this problem and promised to change the situation.
Yet, again and again, he has failed to protect farm workers. Instead, he continues to support employers who are responsible for at least 95% of the reported violations during union election campaigns.

Please take a moment and send a message to Governor Schwarzenegger and let him know how disappointed you are.
Farm workers are literally dying in the fields because they have no water to drink or shade to rest under. California's inability to enforce the laws has led to pesticide poisonings and sexual harassment on a massive scale.

No heat deaths have ever occurred on any farm where farm workers have a union contract.
End result, this bill will make it easier for farm workers to organize a union and protect themselves. It's time for the Governor to sign it. The Governor has protected agribusiness at the workers' expense for long enough.

Democratic Party Chairman John Burton says, "Before considering any state water deal, lawmakers and the governor must ensure that farm workers have access to clean, cool drinking water and shade.  Current laws guaranteeing drinking water for farm workers are not being enforced, therefore the only recourse for farm workers to protect themselves would be through the collective bargaining process as provided for in SB789."
 

 
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Giumarras Legacy if Abuse Continues Under New Label
You can help!
 
We've written to you about Giumarra--the world's largest table grape company that employs close to 3,500 grape workers. Giumarra has a history of intimidating and bullying workers. Back in 2006, a union election was thrown out by an administrative judge because of their unlawful interference. In addition, two farm workers have died of heat-related causes while laboring in Giumarra's fields.

You'd think that Giumarra would have learned their lesson and quit putting workers at risk. Unfortunately not. Workers report to us that Giumarra is back to its old tricks. They have asked us to help them in getting a union contract so they have protection against these abuses. Please help make this possible.

Since we wrote to you last, Giumarra has another way of forcing workers to reach unrealistic quotas and to intimidate workers. It's a version of the "time outs" you do to a little kid when they are naughty. Giumarra is the only grape grower who uses this humiliating public method of punishment.  A worker does not pick fast enough or dares to question a supervisor? They get an unpaid, "time out" where they need to sit and wait until the supervisor says they can go back to work.

Giumarra worker Oswaldo Luna says, "The most unjust thing I have seen in the company is that they punish us by stopping us from working, for an hour or for days...The supervisor yells at us instead of talking to us. If someone responds to him, he stops them from working.
"The supervisor Rambo began to look for things to punish us on and reasons to send us home? He stopped us for 3 hours without pay that day just because he got mad we answered him back. He told us he did not want to see us and sent us home for the day." Oswaldo feels that the supervisor is "hoping that if he sends us home enough times, we will get fed up and leave the job."

This situation has escalated to such a degree that on August 17, Oswaldo and two other workers filed ALRB charges against the company. That day their crew boss started unfairly harassing these workers for low production. When the workers explained that they were doing the best they could, but there were barely any grapes in their row, she suspended them for two days for questioning her.

The multimillion dollar Giumarra corporation--which is the largest table grape company and a major distributor of fresh produce-has developed a new label, Nature's Partner. 
 

WHAT IS LA VOZ? La Voz is a personal e-mail list that over the last 12 years has worked towards keeping the San Diego non-profit, Latino, and community at large connected . It consists of e-mail contacts that include students, educators, elected officials and their representatives, media, organizers and activist, clergy, non-profit executive directors, and business leaders. La Voz consists of three weekly e-mails consisting of community events, grant and funding opportunities, and job opportunities. Additionally La Voz reserves the right to send out ocassional e-mails on behalf of its community partners and sponors. The majority of the e-mails are San Diego based but are increasingly becoming more diverse in geographic origin and relevance.The e-mails sent out are done as a free service and are not connected to any particular organization.