United Farm Workers Move to Help Evicted Field Workers

Here is a new bulletin from the United Farm Workers concerning the treatment of farm workers in California who were "invited" to pick cherries for the Stemilt Growers Company. They were promised accommodation on the job and then had to live in their cars or even sleep in the company's fields. What century are we living in, people?


Late Friday we told you about the situation in Shafter CA, where more than one hundred cherry pickers were evicted after talking to news media about their working and living conditions. Today we want to ask you for financial help so we can continue to aid these farm workers and fight the company responsible for this travesty, Stemilt Growers Company -- which boasts of being the largest shipper of fresh-market sweet cherries in the world.

These cherry pickers worked for Stemilt in Washington State. They were told by company representatives to come to California for a job in the cherries--so they did. When these farm workers reached California, a number of the workers were hired, but other workers were told to just wait and see if they could get jobs. While in Washington, some of the workers were informed that housing would be available to them when they got to California, but when they got here there was no housing. They had no choice but to sleep in the fields. Some stayed in tents, others in cars and still others slept on cardboard or simply the dirt.

When workers went public, things only got worse. Stemilt company representatives' called the sheriffs to have the 100 plus workers and their property evicted from the orchard.

The UFW has been hard at work to help these cherry pickers. We are working with numerous agencies to find housing and food so these workers are not left out in the cold. We are also collaborating with the Department of Labor, who has sent in investigators to look into conditions including lack of housing, access to safe water and required work breaks.

How can a huge company like Stemilt ignore the pleas of the workers who traveled so far to labor in their fields?

Please help us continue our efforts to get these workers the food, housing and basic rights they are entitled to by law. By making a donation today you will help achieve justice in the fields.

https://secure.ga6.org/08/stemilt


To see news stories about the situation, you can click here to visit our "News Coverage" page on UFW.org.

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United Farm Workers,
29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Rd.,
P.O. Box 62, Keene, CA 93531,
http://www.ufw.org