EI MalcriadoTHE VOICE OF THE FARM WORKER

IN ENGl!!!iVolume II, Number 8

,..' .,- -

2iEL MALCRIADO, saturday, June 15, 1968

Weword~

cour,stru!

"1And nBut 0When

"1She cAnd lFor a

ZIPSTATE-estado

Once you have won and you're feelinp sogreat,

You don't "just ease up," and leave itto fate.

Teach what you've learned to some lessfortunate.

Pass on shared wisdom, and never forget:"Teacher must move on to help other

fights,Pupils stay put and secure your won

rirhts. "

He'll help ypu, I know it, if anyonecan.

Start a "Huelga," people, '''Huelpa'' means"Strike, " I

• Non-violent pleading, profit will yield.

More and more people are finding out that asubscription to EL MALCRIADO is the best wayto keep up with the farm worker struggle.Don't be left out--send in this coupon today!

NAME-nombre English__ Espanol__

CITY -ciudad

brown and white

poor people's

your wages to

EL MALCRIADOP.O. BOX 130DELANO, CA

93215

"Once you. Have \.tbn"N. L. de Flores

In many farming towns of our south~'est

Now, in the year of 1968,Americans who kno'w they can do best,StiZl treat their workers with preju-

diced hate.They pay mearer wages and they detestUFWOC leaders out by their gate.Mezi~ans, Pi~i?i1Ja, poor ~hites too,Through scab labor, farmers make up

their crew.

Black workers, yellow,alike

Call Cesar Chavez, theman.

Tell him your longinghike.

EL HALCRIADO. ThfJ Voice of the'"FarmWork.r. is pUblished in English andSpanish twice monthly by the UNITED FARMWORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE. AFL-CIO.Subscriptions in ,the United States andits possessions, $3.50 per year. Foreign,including Canada and Mexico, US $5. 00.SUbscriptions for members of UNoe in­cluded in monthly dues.

Offices located at the northwest corn­er of Garces Highway and Mettler Avenue,Delano, California. Address all corres­pondence to Post Office Box 130, Delano,California 93215.

Application to mai 1 at second-classpostage rates is pending at Delano, Cali-

fornia 93215. _ 1..--------------

ADDRESS-domicilio------------------------

FILL OUT THIS CARD AND SEND IT WITH $3.50 TO THE ABOVE ADDRESSFOR A ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO EL MALCRIADO, SENT TO YOUR HOMEEVERY TWO WEEKS FOR ONE YEAR.

~. . .~ . ..1'= =~~! I • :':• • • •• • • •·. .' .:: THE STORY OF THE CALIFORNIA GRAPE STRIKE by John Dunne :":,•• $4.95 plus 25~ handling from: Enclosed is $5.20. Please .'I,+ • +' +,•• FARM WORKER PRESS Send me a copy of DELANO .' •

: : Box 130 Name I~;·•• DELANO, CALIF. 93215 Address ••: : *** send today! *** City, State : :• • • ••·~ ..• !!I~ltlti.'ilil.s.Strtr.~·_·

OurMay He

by

EL MALC~IADO,. Saturday, June 15,,1968/3_

Friend,Rest in Peace

Antonio Orendain

"I walked a mile with pleasure,e chattered all the way,d left me none the wiser,r all she had to say.

"I walked a mile with Sorrow,d not a word said she.t oh, the things I learned from her,en Sorrow walked with me. "

Robert Browning Hamilton

We ought carefully to consider these)rds, for they give us the strength and)urage we need to continue in our~ruggle.

We farm workers have labored with anew determination in recent months, be­cause there was a beacon which guided usmuch as the lighthouse guides the sail­or on a stormy night.

That beacon was KennedY--a beacon ofhope for the farm worker. Who, excepthim,had corne to the bottom of the pit tobring nope and encouragement to the farmworker? It was he who gave us new spi­rit.

It was he who said there was a placein the social order for farm workers,and that there would be new laws to help'us gain entry into this great society

Continued on page 4

rHE TRIUMPH ANDTHE TRAGEDY

I Cesar Chavez aam­paigns for SenatorRobert Kennedy inthe California Demo­aratia Primary.

The political campaign in Californiareached an exhausting and exhilaratingclimax during that first week in June.And after all the campaigning, came thevictory of Senator Robert Kennedy. Onthat election night two weeks ago, thevictory speech had just been made, thecelebrations were just beginning; whenthat horrible shot rang out and Kennedywas dying.

For the farm workers of America, Itwas a tragedy with special impact. Sen­ator Kennedy had visited Delano twice,helped in fund raising affairs for theUnion, and had made support for Ameri­ca's farm workers and Mexican-Americansone of the key issues in his campaign.

Senator Eugene McCarthy, Kennedy'sprincipal opponent in the primary, hadalso expressed strong support for thefarm worker and Mexican-Americans, andKennedy and McCarthy often pointed o~t

how similar their campaigns were. Yetfarm workers felt that Kennedy couldmore forcefully and effectively dealwith these problems.

During the week before the election,more than 200 farm workers from the SanJoaquin Valley moved down to East LosAngeles to help in the ~et-out-the-vote

Continued on page 4

-,/. , J

4/EL MALCRIADO, Saturday, June 15, 1968

The The Triumph ...Continued from page 381

(More

stori

the 0

victcChaVEAmerJand tof ttres I

Andy atganbehitsaidnarr(was (and I

one-teeting l

nite(eloslthe 1not I

farm workersvictory cele­Hotel. When

and so we shall, for, "It is better todie on your feet than to live on yourknees."Perhaps some of us will follow the path

that Kennedy was made to follow, but weare ready for that journey if it is ne=cessary.

The destiny of the farm worker mustnow change. We will have justice.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy did not diein vain, for either they will give usour rights or begin to select their vic­tims from among us.

The life of the farm workers today islike "imagining a group of chained men,all condemned to death, some of whom arebeheaded daily in the presenc~ of the o­thers, who wait, hope lost, their ownturn." Such is the life of the campe­'sino.

drive. Everyone agreed that Los An~eles

County would decide the winner in theelection, because over a million Demo­cratic voters live there.

For five eXhausting days the Valleyworkers walked the streets of Los Ange­les, from 9 in the mornin~ until 9 atnight, talking to voters, ringin~ door­bells, handing out leaflets. The farmworkers were given 400 key precincts tocover.

The results showed the farm workerShelped get out the biggest Eastside votein the history of Los Angeles.

Kennedy captured 49 percent of thevote in Los Angeles, with 578,783 votes,with 458,460 for McCarthy and 126,681for the pro-Humphrey delegation.

Local organizations of the United FarmWorkers were the backbone of the KennedyCampaign in many rural areas of theState. Kennedy easily carried most ofthe San Joaquin Valley Counties: Kings,Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin,Solano, and Stanislaus. He also carriedSan Benito, Santo Clara, and MontereyCounties, which have big farm worker po­pulations, and Ventura, center of thecitrus industry, He failed to carry Tu­lare County by only 500 votes out of 23,000 cast, and though he lost Kern Countyhe carried the city of Delano, and mostof the rural portions of the county. Itappeared that farm workers are at lastdevelopin~ a political muscle which mustbe reckoned with.

**********On election night, the

went to Senator Kennedy'sbration at the Ambassador

Continued from page_3

OUR FRltND ...

A,~

HUOUS: At Rojas of Delano, explainstechniques of political campaigning tosome helpers in East Los Angeles. Nextcomes the walking, pushing doorbells,exp~aining why we are for Kennedy.Be low: Victory ce lebT'ation at the Am­bassador Hotel. Houre later ••• tragedy.

and so-called democracy.It was he who told us he would work for

these laws, and that promise was morethan anyone else had ever given us.

Above, I used the phrase, "The bottomof the pit" because he carne to us whenwe needed him most, long before he beganhis tragic adventure.

May our friend Rest in Peace. Hiswalk with us was like a fleeting star ora flash of lightning in a bleak andgloomy night.

But that short-lived light gave usdirection. We identified with him asworkers in the same Cause.

Today there is again darkness,- but weknow we are further along on the road tojustice. We are stronger because we haveunited to regain the heritage the grow­ers have robbed from us.

We have decided to regain our rights,

EL MALCRIADO, Saturday, June 15, 1968/5

Ind the Tragedy .. ·I

rible thing. I began to pray for theSenator's life, but fear was already inmy heart that he would die."

Union members held a brief prayer ser­vice in Los Angeles and then turned toradios and TV in stunned disbelief. Manydid not sleep at all that night. Thenext day, Wednesday, most returned totheir homes in Kern and Tulare County.

1500 work­paid t!'i ...

bute to Senatorf Robert F. Ken­

nedt/ in a mem­01' ('a l mar'ch onSunday!! ,Tune 9.

A mass was held that night at the Uni­on's Forty Acres, and hope still flick­ered that Kennedy would live. But whenthe death was announ~ed, the whole Union.went into spontaneous mourning. A memo­rial procession was held on Sunday, June9, attended by more than 1500 farm work­ers, paying final tribute. to SenatorKennedy. But he will continue to livein our hearts and our memories. He hasset an example of service, a spark ofhope that will be an inspiration to us.

Ie candidate finally appeared for his.ctory statement, he singled out Cesarlavez and Bert Corona and the Mexican­lerican community for special praiseld thanks. He also had a special word: thanks for UFWOC Vice-President Dolo­~s Huerta, calling her "myoId friend."After his brief speech, Senator Kenne-

r answered a few questions and then be­tn to leave. "I was only a few steps~hind Senator Kennedy," Mrs. Huertalid later. "We were walking down alrrow passageway near the kitchen. ItlS crowded. Suddenly I heard the shotsld everything became confusion. Some­le pushed me against the wall to pro­~ct me. People were pushing and shov­19 and .screaming. Paul Schrade (a U­lted Auto Workers official who is alose friend of Chavez and Huerta and~e Union) was also hit. I just could)t believe anyone could do such a hor-

ore eZectionories, Page

6!EL MALCRIADO, saturday, June 15, 1968

OPEN, LETTERTO BRAZILDear Brothers and the Labor Movement andFarm Workers of Brazil:

I have been sending to this distantland our newspaper so that you could seeand jUdge for yourselves the problems ofthe farm worker in the United States ofAmerica.

When Larry Itliong and I were in yourcountr~ I was surprised by the questionsyou asked and, because of that, I mailedyou the past issues of MALCRIADO. It isnot your fault that you do not know whatis happening or how we live in thiscountry, as there are certain factionsthat would like for you never to becomeaware of the embarassing realities oflife in this country of Democracy.

It's something like spending millionsof dollars fixing our neighbor's housebut not noticing that our own is crumb­ling. Friends, if you are 'poor, it isbecause you are all equal and, ~s theysay, "All children, or all boarders,"but here in the country where we areready to send our people to the moo~

some of us don't have our daily bread.Perhaps our white leaders think that, ifthey throw us the crumbs from on hig~ wewill think they are gods.

About two years ago we succeeded ingetting some ranchers to give'us the sa­cred right to put a price on the sweatof our brow, but that was possible onlyafter more than eight months of strike,after walking more than 300 miles totalk with the governor, after they ar­rested more than 40 persons and intimi­dated thousands, accusing us of a thou­sand lies like the old story of violence.

We know that is what they'd like toprove so they could use armed forceagainst us. Because they don't know what

The following is a letter written by An­tonio Orendain, UFWOC Secretary-Treasur­er and Editor in Chief of "EZ Malcriado!It is to labor leaders of Brazil whom h€met whiZe touring that country in th€summer of 1967, as part of a State De­Ipartment good-will tour.

to do against our peaceful demonstra­tions, the ranchers just scratch theirheads and fall one by one.

But there is still much to do as weonly have ten ranches that give us theright to_ put a price on our labor, andhere in the San Joaquin Valley there aremore than 26 who don't. believe that thefarm worker is also a human being whohas the right to earn a living with thesweat of his brow, and that he be paid ajust wage and not have his lack of edu­cation abused to deceive him and takeaway his job.

That i& our struggle and that struggleis the one that frightens our friendsthe ranchers who think they can tell ushow much we should earn to be able tolive and educate our children. We arejust asking for the right to decide ourfuture and to gain a better educationfor our children. As you can see, theseare just fundamental things.

Isn~ it strange that in such a forwardcountry we still fight for these basicrights? Perhaps in the near future Iwill no longer send you the MALCRIADOunless you write us, as we need to cpr­rect the addresses, and if you want tosubscribe, we will send it to you.

Thank you for continuing the strugglein that country because the farm workeris at the bottom of the social scale andthis has to be an international strugglefor just ice.

Long live our Struggle and our Cause!

--Antonio Orenda in

THREE LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU IN KERN COUNTY

NOW AVAILABLE: "EL CORRIDO DE CESAR CHAVRZ"New 45 l' m l'ecol'd ~ Lalo Guel'l'ero

HAscb1000 "F" St.

758-5774

We Have a large ~elec­

tion of Spanish Maqa­zines. Books. and R~c­ol'ds.

DELANO407-11th Ave.

725-9178

lA MlXICANABakeries

BAKERSFIELD630 Baker St.

323-4294

Egg Bread and Pa~tries

All Kinds of DonutsCakes fol' All Occasions

Fl'ench Bl'ead

rrhe LAW vs. GIUMARR1AUFWOC's legal depart­

ment will be beefed upthis summer with the ad­dition to the staff ofDavid,Averbuck, who willserve as associate toGeneral Counsel JeromeCohen.

Also new to the legalstaff is Peter Williams9nfram Houst'on, Texas, alaw student who will beassisting the Union at­torneys with research.

Giumarra spent over$125,000 on legal feesand court costs last yearas a result of the strikeMr. Giumarra might be a­ble to save .some money ifhe signed a contract! ~

EL MALCRIADO, Saturday, June 15} 1968/7

Local Election Returns

Law Delays W'age Payment

corporation attorneys.Cohen had originally

requested a jury fromJUdge Steele on Friday,May 31, arguing thatsince the contempt char­ges involved possibleheav fines and im rison-

ment for Union officersand leaders, they had aconstitutional right to ajury trial.

When Steele refused thejury, Cohen took the caseto the Court of Appeal.Hearings on the questionare scheduled to beginWednesday, July 10, inFresno.

migrations. When you arewithout money, havin~ towait around for 3 daysfor your final check canbe a real hardship. Atpresent growers are re­quired to pay their work­ers within 24 hours afterthe job is ended.

EL MALCRIADO SAYS: Weurge defeat of this newlaw, ABl163, which hasalready been approved bythe Industrial RelationsCommittee and is now be­ing considered by the ~e­

gislature. Write to yourrepresentative in Sacra­mento today· and urge a NOvote on this discrimina­tory law.

SUI~GIUMARRA

William Ketchum, whorepresents Kern County inthe State Legislature hasproposed a new law whichmight deny thousands offarm workers part oftheir wages. Ketchum, ananti - Union Republican,has proposed that growersbe allowed to wait threedays after firing a work­er or laying him off, be­fore paying him his finalwages.

Many poor farm workers,once .they are' fired orare laid off, must immed­iately find a new job tosupport their Tamilies,and this .often involves

BLOCKSCOURTFRESNO, June 10-UFWOC's

trial on charges of con­tempt has been removedfrom the calendar of KernCounty Superior Court inBakersfield, pending theoutcome of hearings onthe Union's constitution~

al rights.Union General Counsel

Jerome Cohen told EL MAL­CRIADO he secured thecontinuance until theDistrict Court of Appealin Fresno rules on whe­ther or not the Union andEpifano Camacho, bothnamed as defendants, havethe right to a jury tri­al.

The Union is chargedwith 12 counts of con­tempt of an anti-strikeinjunction issued lastAugust by Kern County Su­perior Court J. KellySteele. Cesar Chavez,who was also named in thesuit when filed in Febru­ary, has been droppedfrom the list by Giumarra

The United Farm Workersendorsed two local candi­dates in Los Angeles, andsaw one victory and onenarrow defeat. Nominatedin the 50th Assembly dis­trict is Phil Soto, along time friend of CesarChavez and the farm work­ers movement, who rolledup 54% of the vote a­gainst two opponents. Hewill face an anti-unionRepublican in the finals.Suffering na~row defeatwas Richard Calderon, an­other long-time friend ofthe farm worker, who wasbeaten by incumbent StateSenator George Danielson,26,360 to 30,887.

In the San Joaquin Val­ley, the Union did notactively participate inany local election con­tests. Pro-grower Demo­crats such as CongressmanHarlan Hagen of Hanfordand Congressman BernieSisk, of Fresno County,were 'nominated withoutopposition. Neither willhave Union support in theNovember elections unlessthey change their anti-u­nion attitudes.

The San Joaquin Valleywas supposed to be "anti­Kennedy" and "pro - war"country. The Johnson­Humphrey supporters hadlaunched a well-financedradio and press campaignin the final days of thecampaign to win supportfor the "Lynch" delega­tion, favorable to Hum­phrey.

Lynch, however, made adismal showing and Kenne­dy did surprisingly well,largely due to his sup­port among the farm work­ers.

Kennedy carried KingsCounty 4,940 to 3,654 forMcCarthy (and 902 forLynch) •

In-Tulare County, Ken­nedy polled 10,227 to 10,783 for McCarthy and 2,692 for Lynch. In KernCounty, Kennedy lost, 18,900 to 24, 231 for McCar­thy and 6,684 for Lynch.

Kennedy carried Delano,1302 to 991 for McCarthyand 206 for Lynch. Thiswas in spite of the factthat he carried only sixof Delano's 21 precincts.Thanks to UFWOC's reeis-

tration and get-out-the­vote drives, Kennedy car­ried the west side (farmworker) precincts by bigmargins.

Typical precincts on;the west side were DelanoPrecinct #12: Kennedy,152, McCarthy, 11, Lynch,1; Precinct #11: Kennedy,149, McCarthy, 10, Lynch,i.

vest a quarter of the na­tion's table grapes. Theharvest is from May toJu ly. Over 2000 workersare employed at the peakaround the first week ofJune.

Soon after the statement was issued inNew York, Sam Pollack notified the Coa­chella growers that Cleveland's labor u­nions were prepared to actively boycottthe scab grapes.

While boyc?tt p!eparations firmed up,UFWOC organIzers and members continuedw?rk.in the Coachella Valley this week,sIgnIng up the few remaining workers.

As authorization cards pile up, Coa­chella workers voice their demand tohave the United Farm Workers reuresentthem to end the wage slavery of farmworkers in the United States.

The Coachella Valley isthir~y miles from PalmSprings, playground forthe millionaires. But inCoachella, workers toilin the 110 0 heat to har-

Larry Itliong, AssistantDirector of UFWOC, phonesnews of the Coachella e­lection to De lano. It li­ong noted, "The Fi lipinoworkers went on strikehere in May 1965." Thrtwas the prelude to theDelano Grape Strike whichbegan in September of1965. Now workers hereare demanding benefitswhich the Union has wonat Schenley, DiGiorgio,Gallo, and Almaden Ran­ches.

Dontt Buy California Grapes fgyrair MARKET

EL MALCRIADO, saturday, June 15, 1968/9

National Boycott Brings Results

As the grape strike spreads to the Co­achella Valley and to all California ta­ble grapes, so too the boycott of allCalifornia grapes expands. Almost 50young student volunteers arrived in De­lano this week for orientation andschooling on the farm worker movementand strike, and on techniques of boycot­ting fresh produce. Next week they willhead for major population centersthroughout the U.S. They will be con­tacting labor unions~ church groups, anygroup that will listen, explaining aboutthe strike and boycott. They will setup informational picketlines to impressstore owners and the public that noCalifornia grapes should be purchasedthis year.

Meanwhile, New York has almost totallyclosed its 12,000,000 member consumermarket to California grapes. Boston andChicago are tightening up.

A series of meetings with sixty-eightchain stores in New York recently pro­~uced a firm commitment on the part ofthe stores to bar scab California grapesfrom their shelves until the growers a­gree to negotiate with the Union.

Representing the Union at the meetingswere Harry Van Arsdale, head of the NewYork City Central Labor Council; PaulHall and "Bull" Shepard of the Seafar­ers' Union, and Irving Stern of theMeatcutters.

ballot election where by they could ex­press themselves. Representatives fromthe offices of Congressman John Tunney,representing the Coachella and ImperialValleys in Congress, and Bishop Fury of;San Diego, and Domingo Ulloa of the Mex­ican Labot Movement (CTM) officiated atthe election held June 15th and 16th atthe Fair Grounds in Indio. Fifteen hun­dred farm workers from the CoachellaValley, Mexican Americans, alien resi~

dent "Green-Card" holders, Filipinos,Texans, all joined in the elections.They voted overwhelmingly that they wan­ted the Union, and that they wanted theUFWOC to represent them for collectivebargaining. A second day of ballotingwas held on Sunday'for those who couldnot vote on Saturday.

When UFWOC leaders Cesar Chave~ and La­rry Itliong announced the vote in favorof the Union, several workers moved thata strike vote be taken immediately. Theypointed out that three weeks of attemptsto get a meeting with the growers hadfailed. They moved that the workersauthorize a strike and authorize the Ex­ecutive Board of the Union to set the'strike date. A standing vote resultedin enthusiastic unanimous approval.

Mr. Domingo Ulloa of the CTM, GustavoLlorens, Secretary of the Mexicali CityCouncil, and Congressman Arredondo ofBaja.California spoke at the rally, andpromIsed full support for the strike onthe Mexican side of the border.

A nationwide boycott of all Californiagrapes has,been launched in New York,Boston, ChIcago, and Cleveland and willsoon be spread to 5 additional cities inaddition to all major cities in Calif­ornia.

COACHELLA VOTE:1138 YES

27 NO

8/E L MA LCRIADO, saturday, J.un.e_1.5,_1.96.8"__II!I!!II!I!III)II~"":::::_;::;:""""=c".....0-0-=' •

Official resUlts-from the first day ofb0lloting in the Coachella Valley sho~

1138 farm workers in FAVOR of the Union,27 opposed, and 5 spoiled ballots.

Strike Imminentin CoachelIa"

Grape growers in the Coachella Valleyare the latest to be notified that theUnited Farm Workers Orianizing Committeerepresents their agricultural employees.

Union officials notified the growersin a series of telegrams sent betweenMay 24 and June 3 that the Union wasready to set a date for negotiating con­tracts with growers for the protectionof the farm workers on their ranches.

UFWOC General Counsel Jerome Cohen re­ports that all of the growers notifiedresponded by stating that they were re­presented by A. H. Caplan, employer re­presentative.

The Union telegrams gave the growers adeadline for contacting the UFWOC offi­cials in order to set a date for "theeffectuation of recognition and begin­ning of negotiations."

The Union offered to participate insecret ballot elections, in which theworkers would vote either in favor oragainst the Union. If the workers vot­ed against the Union, there would be nostrike or boycott, and the Union wouldno longer claim to represent the work­ers. But if the Union won, the growerswould have to bargain with the Union andsign a contract.

But the Coachella growers have turneda deaf ear on the workers. They refuseto negotiate with the Union, or hold e­lections for their workers. In theircustomary patronizing way, they claim,"Our workers don't want a Union. Theyare perfectly happy with their presentcqndition."

So the workers decided to prove to thegrowers, by their physical presence andthe ballot, that they want a Union.They called upon several leading South­ern Californians to conduct a secret-

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dil1a and his predecessors, Tony Oren­dain and Eupene Nelson, and to the stri­kers in Starr County who sacrificed somuch in the service of the Un~on.

But while these are oreat b~nefits forthe workers of Starr Count~ the strikershave not been able to share in the bene­fits. Many are blacklisted by the grow­ers. La Casita and the big farms relyheavily on "green card" workers who livein Mexico and commute daily across theRio Grande Piver to work. And the biggrowers have tied the hands of the Unionwith arrests and false charges, "legal"harassment and, finally. an injunctionoutlawing picketing,' flags, leaflets,boycotts and any form of striking. Thei nj un ct ion iss ued by ,J ud9e Wood row Laug h­lin in June. 1967 in effect outlaws theUnion.

Alfredo de Avila, a youn~ oroanizer onthe UFWOC staff in Texas, had this tosay about recent events:

"The people know the issues now. Theworkers recoanize the benefits we havealready won and support the Union~ qo~s.

But ",e must solve this 'green card' scabproblem before we can organize the laborforce here. And we must destroy thefeudal legal structure of this countyand state which allows the gtowers to beabove the law and suppresses the rightsof the I'lorkers.

"We have made great progress over thelast two years. and our elections hereprove that the tyranny that held StarrCounty in its grip can be destroyed.When we do win in South Texas. we willnot be satisfied with a $1.25 wage andnothing more. With 300,000 farm workershere in South Texas,' we will have thepower to create and build a society withtrue justice for the workers, in govern­ment, school~ social services and on thejob. It may take two more years, fourmore years, ten more years, but we aregoing to win in Starr County and in Tex­as. We're here to stay."

10!EL MALCIuADO, saturday, June 15, 1968

The UnionFights on

in TexasGil- Padil-l-a,UFWOC Vice President

RIO GRANDE CITY, TEXAS - It is melontiMe in Starr County, Texas, and the me­l 0 ns 1'1 ill ben i cked and s hinnedthis yea rI'lithout Much' interference from theUnion.But the United Farm Workers are here tostay in Texas. The Union can point togreat moral victories and some very realand concrete economic victories in themelon strike which beoan in May of 1966.And UFWOC is slowly c~anging the politi­cal and social structure of Starr County(See story in last issue) to the pointwhere a major organizing drive can belaunched again within two years, whichwill sweep'not only Starr County but allof South Texas.

La Casita Farms. the huge Ca1ifornia­based corporation which is the largestgrower in Starr Count~ has suffered con­siderably at the hands of God this year.The ranch was submerged under 10 feet ofwater in the floods following HurricaneBeulah. and then hit again by hail thisspring. But melons are so nrofitab1e inthis area, with growers collecting $600to 5900 an acre during last year's har­vest, that La Casita and the other binranches are looking forward to good pro­fits this year.

Wages are un again this year to $1.30an hour at La Casita. Before the strike(in May. 1966), hourly wages ranged from70t to 85t. 'The original ,demand of thestrikers ",as for a $1.25 an hour 11aC:l'e.La Casita has also begun an insu~ance

program for its workers and gives them abarbecue every Sunday.

"Those La Casita employees are the bestpaid field workers in Texas," reportsGilbert Padilla, vjce president of UFWOCand leader of the strike in Texas. Pa­dilla also points to wages at Starr Pro­duce packing shed, which serves StarrFarms. another of the Big Five growersin the county. "They now pay $1.60 anhour, with ov~rtime wages, insurance andunemployment, etc., etc.," reports Padi­11 a.

Credit for these victories goes to Pa-

Liberal 'l'olSles In TexlasLiberal candidate Don

Yarborough suffered de­feat at the hands of con­servative Preston Smithin the run-off electionfor the Democratic nomi­nation for Governor inTexas.

Smith polled 756,909 tothe 620,726 Yarborou~h

tes. Yarborough hadsu ort from the Unionsand worklnp; people of

Texas, including the U­nited Farm Workers.

Yarborough carried bothStarr County and HidalgoCounty, where the UFW isthe strongest. He alsocarried the Corpus Chris­ti area, the Houston a­rea, and El Paso, but ~t

was not enough to beatSmith, who carried a hugemajority of Texas' ruralcounties.

EL MALCRIADO SAYS: Weare sad to see Don Yar­borough lose. The peopleof Texas will have to or­ganize, from the grassroots level up, if theyare ever to defeat therich aristocracy of oilmen, bankers, ranchers,and- .. ,c.orrupt politicianswho rule ~~xas like afeudal kingdom.

bJglLECehetc

meorga---V~diT~

ELMALCRIADO, Saturdll:Y, June 15, 1968/11

A visit to Oregon last month by UFWOCVice-President Andy Imutan has set off anew drive by farm workers in the PacificNorthwest to begin building a Union inOregon and Washington.

The 6,000 permanent farm workers and20,000 migrants who harvest the crops inOregon's rich Willammett Valley (runningsouth from Portland) are in special needof a Union. While wages in California,under pressure from the Union, have ri­sen to an average $1.40 an hour, wageson the farms in Oregon remain a dismal$1.10 or $1.25 in many areas. Since ma­ny of Oregon's farms are small (most arewell under 1000 acres, which rates as a"small" farm in California), and deal inspeciality crops like strawberries orbeans, they are not covered by even themodest Federal minimum wage. And the500 camps in the Willammett Valley arenotorious for bad conditions. Migrantsfrom Texas, brought to Oregon by un­scrupulous labor contractors, arestranded in the pitiful shacks. The on­ly hope for escape is to work the ~ntireseason at whatever wage the grower con­descends to pay. And since the farmshire small crews of 10 to 50 workers,

,the work force is very divided and frag­mented and difficult to organize.

Ventura Rios and David Aguilar, Chair­man and Co-Chairman of the United FarmWorker,S in Oregon, have pledged to tryto change the pattern. In formine a lo­cal chapter of UFWOC, they have alreadymade considerable personal sacrifice.Aguilar has been blacklisted since vis­iting Delano, California, and former em­ployers now refuse to shake his hand ortalk with him. Oregon growers have con­sistently refused to meet with the groupto discuss even such modest goals ascleaning up the camps.

But farm workers are beginning to signup as members and the group is alreadymaking its voice heard. A representa­tive from Governor Tom McCall's officerecently toured a number of migrantcamps with Rios and Aguilar and ~ot apretty graphic view of the problems fac­ing farm workers in Oregon.

The situation in Oregon is complicatedby a lavishly financed "antipoverty pro­gram" called the "Valley MigrantLeague." While doing some good in edu­cation and vocational training, the VMLhas emphasized that farm workers who wantto get ahead should leave farm work.

Its generous salaries tend to buy offthe natural leaders of the farm workers,many of whom end up teaching kindergartenor superVising recreation instead of or­ganizing and building a Union.

Ventura Rios, UFWOC leader in Orego~,

disquss conditions in a labor camp ~n

Turner. Mrs. Arthur Rojas, migrant from~

Until recently the VML was completelycontrolled by middle class Anglo bureau­crats. One group of farm workers becameso incensed and disgusted at the self­serving bureaucracy, and the destructivedis-organizing done by the VML that theypublicly denounced it and formed theassociation which they call VIVA.

Their criticisms, and the increasinrdemands of the other farm workers for avoice in the Anti-Poverty program, haveproduced some reforms and improvements.But like so many poverty programs, theVML does as much disorganizinf as organ­izing.

As they begin to organize, local chap­ters of UFWOC and similar eroups likeVIVA in Oregon and the United Far~ Work­ers Co-op in the Yakima Valley in Wash­ington should concentrate on short-termand obtainable objectives, like imprcv~

ing conditions in the camps, getting:- bet-'ter working conditions,hllldine a creditunion and coop store, and most of all,educating the people about their rights,and about the benefits possible from or­ganizing a union.

It is usually unwise for a young groupto try to launch a strike, but in thelong run, these and all other farm work­er groups must build a stronr union andwin written contracts from rrnwers, ~ua­

ranteeing good wages and workin~ condi­tions. Only in that way can they sharein the prosperity of America. As oneworker put it to Rios durinr a tour ofthe eames, "We should most of all likebetter wa~es. Then we could fix up thecamps ourselves, or bett r still. rnc~e

out into decent homes like other work­ers."

'Texas, complai1'l8 of lack of running Wa-,ter. Her family of ten must wash in th~

'tub.

12/EL MALCRIADO, saturday, June 15, 1968

.Cestapo Tactics in fast LA.•The Los Angeles Police Department

raided the barrios of East Los Angelestwo weeks ago, using trumped un chargesof "conspiracy" to arrest 12 leaders ofthe Mexican-American community.

If the arrests were designed to scareLA's Chicanos into quiet submission, thearrests were a collossal backfire.

Within 36 hours after the arrests, o­ver 2,000 Mexican Americans had com­pletely surrounded the LA city jail witha singing, chanting nicketline demandin~

release of the prisoners and an end topolice brutality against the: Chicanocommunity.

Over 2,000 gathered that Sunday. Theyincluded Dolores Huerta, Vice-Presidentof the United Farm Workers; Bert Corona,State Chairman of MAPA; Luis Valdez andthe Teatro Campesino; a large delegationof Brown Berets and young Mexican-Ameri­cans, and almost every political leaderfrom the East Side.

Those arrested were charged with "con­spiracy to disturb the peace." (Thoughdisturbing the peace is a misdemeanor,conspiracy is a felony.) Supposedly,these 12 were responsible for the spon­taneous student strikes that swept manyEastside schools this spring. The copsjust can't believe that young people:whether white or black or brown, aresick and tired of the discrimination andracism and corruption in this society,and want to change and improve things.So the cops blame ~ny "trouble" on "out­side agitators" and "communist conspira­tors."

Included among the "conspirators" isSal Castro, Lincoln High teacher, whorecently received a telegram from Sena­tor Robert Kennedy praising him for his"proposals and efforts to obtain bettereducation for Mexican Americans." Alsoarrested was Eliezer RiSCO, who servedLa Causa for many months in Delano andis now editor of the Eastside communitynewspaper, "La Raza." Also accused wereDavid Ramirez, Carlos Montez, David San­chez, and Cruz Olmeda of the Brown Ber­ets; Moctezuma Esparza and Carlos Munoz,Jr. Of the United Mexican American Stu­dents; and Pat Sanchez and Richard Vigil

. of MAPA. Bail was set at $12,000 each,but after protests, it was reduced to

-$250.In making the arrests, cops seized

membership lists for UMAS and rifled thepffice of "La Raza," seizing photo­graphs, subscription lists, files, and abank deposit containing checks totaling$900.

EL MALCRIADO SAYS: Los Angeles Cops,like those in Kern County and Texas,think that they can destroy the growingunity of the people, and stop demands of

the people for justice, by arresting the"leaders." But La Raza does not scare.We will not be frightened by clubs andguns and arrests. The solidarity of thepeople behind the "Eastside 12" is proofthat we are more united than ever be­fore.

LA RAZA marches around Los AngelesCounty Jail protesting frame-upcharges against l2 Mexican-Ameri~

cans from East Los Angeles.

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£'etterjEditor:

In clo0e check 2.00. Iam interested in your £1Malcriado paper. I hope& pray for your wonderfulLeaders & may your suc­cess come in the near fu­ture. Hy first strikeexperience in Cleveland­Ohio in 1898 so you cansee I am no longer ayoungster.

Ever your Friend,C. C. Sprague

Atascadero, Calif.

Edi tor:Thanks for the good

pictures and coverage ofthe new union building atthe Forty Acres. But weshould also give creditto the fine Union membersfrom Carpenters Local#743: Charles Brown, BobAbsher, and John Ebert;and the electricians: JoeMason, Delbert Olson, Or­val Phillips, Jerry Tem­pleton, Willie Huestis,Ivan Beavan, Freddy Gif­ford, and Jack Swaboda,all from the Kern CountyIBEW. These brothershave helped a lot andhave oromised more helpin the final stages ofconstruction.

Viva la CausalRichard Chavez

Calif •

WASHINGTON, D.C.-RamseyClark, Attorney Generalof the United States, hadto do some listening topoor people last week,when 300 members of thePoor People's march de­manded that Clark listen.

Over 100 people werefinally admitted into theJustice Department, andClark began a speech onhow much he and President·Johnson were doin~ tohelp the· poor. SuddenlyRodolfo "Corky" Gonza­lez, barrio leader fromDenver, interrupted thespeech of Clark.

Dear United Farm Workers:It was good to see £L

MALCRIADO again. Justwish I could take it a­round to the farm workershere in Minnesota.

The children in Missis­sippi who happen to beborn with the wrong colorof skin get $12.00 permonth on welfare, a fami­ly $38.00. It costs$500,000 to kill one VietNamese. Our paper heresaid 1943 of the "enemy"were killed last week.

This means $971,500,000was spent on murder.

And many of the blackfamilies cannot get onwelfare, and just live onscraps and handouts.Thereis no work.

The planters are paid$2 million not to plantcotton in this one countythat was on Public Broad­cast Laboratory TV. That~

an equal sum of all thepoverty programs in thatcounty.

Viva la Huelga!Viva la Causa!

Rose La BeZZeMinneapolis, Minn.

"We came to talk, notto listen;' Gonzalez said."We've been listening topoliticians' speeches for100 years."

Gonzalez said Clarkmust be "naive or blind"if he thought racial dis­crimination had been end­ed. He attacked Clarkand Johnson for theirfailure, after six yearsin power, to make a majoreffort to achieve "equaljustice" for minoritiesin this nation. .

. Clark is the Washin~ton·

official in charge ofbreaking the farm work-

Clinic in Lamont'A medical cHnic· for

migrant farm workers andtheir families is now o­pen three evenings a weekin Lamont. This clinicis located in the countypark in Lamont and is o­pen from 6:30 p.m. to9:30 p.m. on Mondays,Wednesdays, and Fridays.·A doctor, two registerednurses, a public healthnurse and four Spanish­speaking aides will be onduty each evening. Gen­eral practice medicalcare will be provided,including prenatal andpost partum care, familyplanning, pediatric careand preventive medicine.

Dr. Goss, Director ofthe Clinic, stated thatalthough the clinic islocated in Lamont " ·servi­ces are available to allmigrant workers and theirfamilies in the countywho are not eligible formedical care because ofresidency requirements orare not covered ander"Medi-Cal" or other medi­cal care programs.

erst strikes in Texas andCalifornia, by allowinggreen - card workers towork tn stru~k fields.Farm workers and theirfriends have picketedCaark in San Franciscoand other Cities, butClark shows little im­provement.

The Poor People's Marchwas planned by Dr. MartinLuther King before he wasassassinated. Poor oeo­pIe from allover -thecountry went ta Washin~­

ton to force the ~overn­

ment to listerr to theircomplaints.

14/EL MALCRIAnO. saturday, June 15, 1968

$278,721 for Giumalrlra

GROWERS COLLECT MILLION-DOLLAR"WELIFARE" PAYOFIF:

T~e Federal Government paid GiumarraVineyards Corporation $278,721 lastyear FOR NOT GROWING COTTON! In 1966they only collected $248,000. The Amer­ican taxpayers had to chip in an extra$30,000 in 1967, presumably because morecotton was not grown by Giumarra in 1967than in 1966.

Senator John Williams, a Republicanfrom Delaware, revealed the payments inWashington, D.C. last week, "I can seeno justification for these outlandishsubsidy payments," he told the Senate."It should be emphasized that these pay­ments are not for food produced or forservices rendered, but rather are pay-

) ments NOT TO CULTIVATE LAND. " These'subsidies "are in addition to and not apart of any subsidy which the Governmentmay be makin~ under the price-supportprogram~ these same individuals.

Williams pointed out that there werefive farming corporations which receiveddirect cash subsidies of $1 million ormore last year. Eleven received directcash subsidies of $500,000 or more; 258individuals or corporations received be­tween $100,000 and $500,000; and 936 re­ceived between $50,000 and $100,000.

The two biggest subsidy giveaway pro­grams are for cotton and sugar growers.Kings County, the poorest County in Cal­ifornia, had two of the richest growersin the nation. The biggest subsidy ofall went to J. G. Boswell Company, andwas for. $4,091,818. South Lake Farms of

Kings County received $1,304,093 in tax­payers' money for not growing cotton.Rancho San Antonio of Fresno County got$2,863,668 in Federal Subsidies. Thetwo other growers receiving over $1,000,000 were sugar growers: U.S. Sugar Cor­poration of Florida ($1,275,687), andHawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company ofHawaii ($1,353,770).

The United Farm Workers have been onstrike in Giumarra'a Vineyards for twoand a half years now, trying to get Giu­marra to sit down at a table with hisfarm workers and discus~ wages and acontract. Giumarra has refused to openthe letters from the Union or even todiscuss the possibility of allowing hisworkers to vote, either in favor ur a­gainst the Union •. The strike and boy­cott have hurt Giumarra a great deal fi­nancially. But Giumarra can depend onthe Federal Government handouts, of aquarter of a million dollars a year, tomake up for any losses he suffers be­cause of the 'strike. In effect, Giuma­rra can use the American taxpayers' mon­ey, paid by working people and even hisown farm workers, to break the strikeand fight the Union. (In addition tothese huge government subsidies, Giuma­rra also benefits from the oil depletionallowance on his extensive oil lands,which exempts him from taxes he shouldbe paying himself; and he also profitsfrom the tax-supported irrigation pro­jects which water the arid San Joaquin'Valley.

Two other struck growers are also re­ceiving huge subsidy payments. They areW.B. Camp & Sons ($238,721) and S.A.Camp Farms ($517,285). Early in thestrike, S.A. Camp farms was the scene ofthe arrest of 44 striking farm workerswho were accused of the heinious crimeof shouting "Hue1ga" ("Strike!"). Thecharges were not dismissed until SenatorRobert Kennedy came to Delano and ex­posed the rotten, biased, and discrimin­atory police and judicial departments inKern County in 1966. .

EL MALCRIADO SAYS: Like the irriga­tion and reclamation programs, thesesubsidy programs were supposed to helpthe small farmers. They have become agigantic slush fund for the big corpor~

ate farms, the payoff from the federalgovernment to keep the big growers hap­py. This is robbery of the' Americantaxpayer. No grower should be entitledto collect more than $10,000 a year insubsidies, and any grower convicted ofbreaking the laws and labor codes, asGiumarra has been repeatedly, should becompletely disqualified from this pro-gram. I

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EL MALCRIAI?9, Saturday, June 15, 1968/15

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Mr. Leap will be' in the UFWOC Service Center (l05 Ast~Delano) every Wednesday to serve . Union members~

car.... life .... fire

Unemployed Demand Training' CovernmentDemandsMore faxes

WASHINGTON, D.C.-Presi­dent Johnson has demandedthat Congress raise in­come taxes ten percent

,this year. The presidentclaims the additionalfunds raised by the taxhike will be used to nayfor the war in Vietnam.

Despite campai~n pro­mises to work for peace,the administration sendsmore and more men, inclu­ding a high proportion ofMexican-Americans, Ne­groes,' and othe~ minori­ties, to Vietnam, and thewar c·ontinues.

The late Senator Kenne­dy opposed Johnson's re­quest for a tax increase,as did Senator Eugene Mc­Carthy.

Shortly before hisdeath, Kennedy stated hisopposition to the 10 per­cent increase, notin~

that many Americans withincomes over $200,000 paynot a cent in taxes,while many millionairespay only a few hundreddollars a year.

Kennedy called forclosing the tax loopholeswhich benefit the richbefore increasing thetaxes of the poor. Hecalled the war "sense­less" and called for taxreductions rather thanincreases.

Meanwh~le, Johnson alsointends 'to cut backspending for the povertyprogram, and is reducingfunds for education,schools, hospitals, hous­ing, and other projects'of benefit to the poor.About $6 billion will befor the assistance of lowincome Americans.

EL MALCRIADO SAYS: Onceagain, the ~overnment

does the opposite of whatit should. With morethan half of the federalbudget ·goinf. for arms andmilitary costs, there islittle left over forneeded improvements. Astop to the war makesmore sense than an in­crease in the income t~x.

3222 East Mayfair Blvd.Mayfair Shopping CenterFresno, Calif. 93703

JACKSON, MISS. 39207

welfare, Mr. Saenz doesnot enjoy being on wel­fare, and would ratherhave a job, if that jobpaid a living wage," saidLorenz. . "However, Mr.Saenz has never had theopportunity to qualifyhimself through educationand vocational trainingto be self - supporting,and the San Luis Obispoprogram is not providingthe training necessaryfor him either."

Saenz alleges that thepresent training programin San Luis Obispo Countyconsists primarily ofsweeping, raking leaves,removing trash. and other.make-work projects, whichserve no useful purposeat all, and which makethe recipients commituseless acts, and "train"them only in the skill~

of feather-bedding. Ifthe work performed in SanLuis Obispo is needed,the County should hireregular workers. Theseworkers, as County em­ployees, would receive atleast the minimum wage,a~ well as having steadyemployment and the digni­ty of being employed.

P.O. BOX 3468

PHONES:Office, 585-0650Residence, 266-1349

I.IIBEIPY.IIOU-SE

KENNETH J. LEAP,GENERAL INSURANCE

THE CRAFTS OF FREEDOMfrom Mississippi Handicraft Cooperatives

for FREE catalog write

For the first time, acounty welfare departmenthas been challenged Incourt for failing to pro­vide meanin~ful trainingfor a welfare recipient,it was announced here to­day by James D. Lorenz,Jr., director of Califor­nia Rural Legal Assist­ance, which representsthe plaintiffs.

Noting that at presentmuch of the state's jobtraining is not actuallytraining for anything,but is simply a waste ofthe taxpayer's money, Mr.Lorenz said that a hear­ing was held Monday, May13, in San Luis ObispoCounty in which the Coun­ty Welfare Department andthe State Department ofSocial Welfare were or­dered to show why the"work - training program"should not be ended.

Plaintiffs in the suitare Jose Saenz, a MexicanAmerican farm worker whospeaks almost no Englishand who has never had anyformal schooling, histhree minor children, andPedro Baserra, a taxpay­er.

"Like most people on

Union Vice Pr sill-ent Speaks out

. Julio Hernandez~ . UFWOC Vice-President

QUESTION" Why is the Union cooperating'with the Immigration authorities to getMexican citizens into trouble?

HERNANDEZ: The immigration authoritieshave a responsibility to see that theregulations are enforced. Since thereare reported to be many illegal greencard and wetback scabs working for Gi~~

marra, we are cooperating with the au­thorities to have these illegal workersremoved from the fields.

QUESTION: What happens to green card workers whocontinue to work for Giumarta?

HERNANDEZ: After we have explained our cause andthe laws to the workers, a few will continue to bescabs because of their own personal greed or otherreasons. We consider all farm workers, Anglo, Negro.Filipino, Mexican, to be our brothers. But a scab isa scab~ regardless of his race or citizenship. Thenames of scabs will be turned over t~ the Departmentof Labor. We do not like to take this action againstsomeone who should be our brother, but a man whobreaks the strike has betrayed his brothers and allfarm workers. He has declared war on us, and we mustdefend ourselves, our families, and our jobs.

QUESTION: How does the Union help green carders?HERNANDEZ: Well, the most obvious way is through

better wages, such as we have won at Schenley, Di­Giorgio, and the other ranches where we have con­tracts. There are many green carders working there.

The Union helps Mexican citizens with immigrationproblems and helps them arrange to bring their fami­lies to this country. We help them on legal problems;we have notary publics to ~erve them; and we helpthem get driver licenses. We provide assistance withtax returns and other paperwork. These and all theother benefits of Union membership are available togreen carders on the same basis as any other members.We do not oppose immigration. We oppose scabbing.

Actually, the Union is the best friend the greencarder has in this country. I think all green card­ers should join the Union. And all green cardersworking in Kern and Tulare Counties should come intothe Union offices at 102 Albany (or 10913 Main St.)and find out how the Union can help you, and where itis legal to work .

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16/EL MALCRIADO, Saturday, June 15, 1~68

EL MALCRIADO has received many ques­tions from farm workers who- want to -knowexactly what is the Union's policy to­ward "Green Card" workers. Mexican citi­zens working in this country with form1-151 permits. EL MALCRIADO presentedsome of these questions to UFWOC VicePresident Julio Hernandez. who is a ci­tizen of Mexico and works in the UnitedStates under a green card permit. Hereare some of his observations.

QUESTION: Is the United Farm WorkersUnion opposed to Mexican citizens work­ing in the United States under a "GreenCard" permit?

HERNANDEZ: No, definitely not. Whatthe Union opposes is scabbing. There isa federal regulation which prohibits theimportation of foreign workers forstrike-breaking purposes.

I have a green card myself, and so donearly half of our members. We welcomegreen card workers who come to work inCalifornia as honorable men, but whenthey come to break our strike, we haveno choice but to do everything we can toget them out of Giumarra's fields andthe fields of the other stnlcl: growers.

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