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Social Justice and Food Production Winning Self-Determination and Justice for Farmworkers

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Social Justice and Food Production Winning Self-Determination and Justice for Farmworkers Social Justice and Food Production Winning self-determination and justice for farmworkers By Baldemar Velasquez Baldemar Velasquez, President and founder of the Farm Labor going to be laws gathering dust on the shelf. Maybe then laws will Organizing Committee (FLOC), delivered a keynote address at the get enforced once in a while when they catch or fine one person. 27th National Pesticide Forum in Carrboro, North Carolina. The following is a transcription of his talk. The speech in its entirety So, I want to make that distinction clear. When you talk about can be viewed at www.beyondpesticides.org/forum/video. agriculture in North Carolina, you can’t help but talk about farmworkers and migrant workers, H2A workers [workers defined esterday and the day before, we were in Vass, North as temporary under immigration law], guest workers, indentured Carolina, where we had over 800 guest workers come in workers, and slave labor workers; you name it. North Carolina is Yfrom Mexico. The union is there at every arrival to make the pits in this country when it comes to workers’ rights. We’ve sure all the workers are processed appropriately. The pesticide got to do something about changing that. video was shown on the big screen as part of the obligations that the growers’ association has The reason the Farm Labor Organizing to make sure the workers have that Committee (FLOC) came to North information. What was even more Carolina in the first place is because gratifying to me was that not only are We have to take the FLOC had successfully unionized the they getting the education, getting farmworker question back to the entire pickle industry in the North, the information, not only are there civil rights movement where the including Vlasick pickle, Heinz USA, some laws in this country, that thanks mantra of organizing oppressed Dean Foods, Aunt Janes, and Green to you have been promulgated in our Bay Foods. We caused a domino and exploited communities was Congress, but what is even better in effect. When we won that Campbell’s this case is that the workers have a self-determination. Soup boycott, we organized one union and a grievance procedure to corporation after another to establish enforce those laws on the job day to multi-party agreements. We have day that they themselves can police. When workers do not have to look at the global situation when we look at the rights of a union agreement and do not have a grievance procedure, they these workers and the way in which they are being oppressed have to make a choice between reporting violations and hazards and exploited. It is not just pesticide poisoning. It is not just and retaliation from their employer, and getting themselves in the health effects, that they are living in dilapidated housing trouble, losing their job, and trying to find help, legal services, and with no sanitation and people breaking the sanitation codes. It somebody to back up their protest. It’s not an easy life for the is a barrage of matters that are imposed on these people’s lives farmworkers if they don’t have self-organization. because they may be undocumented or coming into the country with an indentured status, and there is no way for them to defend Friends, we have to take the farmworker question back to the themselves. My friends, it doesn’t matter how many great laws we sixties, during the civil rights movement, where the mantra pass. We must find a way to enforce the laws by giving the workers of organizing oppressed and exploited communities was self- the power to carry those laws into the fields and be able to protest determination. It is not enough to give people a standard or a law, without fear of retaliation and be able to protect themselves. I’m because if the people who are supposed to be protected by those afraid, unless this happens, we’re going to come up short in the laws are not organized to ensure their enforcement, they’re just long run. Page 16 Pesticides and You Vol. 29, No. 2, Summer 2009 A quarterly publication of Beyond Pesticides When I lived in a labor camp last summer for a week, the workers would not do anything and go anywhere to do an honest day’s shared with me the pressures on their lives. Most important to job for some remuneration to be able to take care of your family. them are their families, even though they have physical ailments. And I don’t care how many walls people build or how high they One guy had high blood pressure, another guy was diabetic. We build them, they wouldn’t be high enough to keep any of you from had to watch over them carefully in the fields and make sure they getting on the other side, if that’s what it meant for your family to were hydrated and had crackers to eat during the day. Despite survive. all of the physical pressures that they have, and the demands on them, including watching out for the hazards at the worksite, Workers’ rights have to be part of the language of all causes. what they were most concerned about, what they had foremost We desire it for ourselves, because all human beings want to be on their minds, were the families that they had left in Mexico. treated with dignity and respect. And all human beings want to be recognized for making a valuable contribution to society. This is You know how it is to be torn away from your family for months why you go to study. This is why people covet titles and positions and months at a time? It’s very hard. And to know that your kids and advancement and reward for doing a job well done. Everyone are back in Mexico, are back over there, and you don’t have the needs that recognition. Everyone wants it because it makes you ability to help them with the struggles that they’re going through feel like you’re important, that you’re making a contribution to from day to day. The torn apart families are just so devastating to that person next to you. And certainly, it goes down to some very them. You can see it in their eyes. A man nicknamed Ponza was scriptural principals. lamenting about his daughter, who he is terribly proud of, and was graduating from law school. He told me the story at the beginning Scripture provides guidance of the week. At the latter part of the week he was looking at his In addition to being a union leader, I’m a preacher, so excuse me watch during one of the water breaks. I said to him, Ponza, why if once in a while I flip over. It goes to those basic principles that are you looking at your watch? And he said, “Well, it’s about right Jesus taught us all – no disrespect to people of other religions, I now that they’re doing the Mass in the village before they take the love them, I respect them, but I’m a Christian. So I’ve got to tell students who are graduating to receive their diplomas.” You could you from my perspective – and that is, Jesus says that all the tell that he was mourning not being there. He was so proud of his commandments can be wrapped into the first two: Love the Lord daughter. And he said, “This is the reason why I am here. I need to with all your soul, all your heart, all your strength; and, Love your have her there.” Every one of those workers was saying, “I’m here neighbor as yourself. Now, it doesn’t say: Love your neighbor if he because I don’t want my kids to have a dead-end life in Mexico. I looks like you. It doesn’t say: Love your neighbor if he talks like don’t want them running all over the country. I don’t want them you. It doesn’t say: Love your neighbor if he’s the same political coming up here as undocumented people. We don’t want to be party. It doesn’t say any of that stuff. Whoever that guy next to looking for coyotes [transporters of you is, that’s your neighbor. Whoever people across the border] to survive.” you come into contact with, that’s your neighbor. The scriptures are very We can’t talk about a lot of these definite, from the Old Testament to the issues in agriculture and farmwork New Testament, calling on us to live without talking about the backdrop with one another. of this whole immigration debate. It is one of the biggest pressures on these God first said in the beginning: Go and families and these workers’ lives. The multiply and have dominion over the lack of regulation, the lack of an ability Earth. Dominion doesn’t say go and of people to process some kind of legal exploit and poison the earth. It doesn’t status to be able to do what you and say go destroy it. It says go have I, all of us desire to do, and that’s the dominion over it. Dominion means desire to feed and educate and clothe having a relationship. It means being our families. Friends, I don’t care what in concert with it. It means developing your position is on immigration, but a coexistence. If you have someone the only law that these people are that’s close to you: If you have a wife, or breaking is that they just happen to a husband, or a girlfriend or boyfriend, do this work without any papers.
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