Activist Tells of Workers' Plight

Grapes are now served in Harvard dining halls, but a meeting last night proved that farm workers' issues are still on the table.

About 15 students watched a film last night about the strike by Mexican-American farm workers during the 1960s. Afterwards, Daisy M. Rooks, an organizer for the United Farm Workers (UFW) spoke about current conditions and ongoing campaigns.

The film, titled "Chicano: A History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement," depicted the strike of California grape workers led by Caesar Chavez from 1965 to 1970.

Commenting on the film, Rooks said, "With the promise of jobs, people are basically being brought in and treated like slaves."

"These conditions exist to the same extent today," she added.

Rooks said workers are currently fighting for "basic rights," including safe drinking water, bathrooms near the job site, job seniority, medical care and freedom from sexual harassment.

These issues are at the heart of the UFW's current campaign in support of 20,000 Californian strawberry workers.

In 1995, VCNM Farms in Salinas destroyed its crops rather than negotiate with workers striking over low pay, abusive treatment and intolerable working conditions, Rooks said.

She said workers faced intense sexual harassment, with supervisors often coercing female employees to have sex. If workers complained, they and their families were fired, Rooks said.

"This started a massive nation-wide campaign to support farm workers," she said.

The current campaign does not include boycotts because strawberry workers fear losing their jobs.

Instead, the UFW is pressuring the companies to adopt "neutrality agreements" which say that they will not fire striking workers.

The UFW has signed such an agreement with Coastal Berry, the second largest of the industry's eight shipper-cooler companies.

The shipper-coolers exert great power over individual growers, Rooks said.

"Our focus now is to get a neutrality agreement with Driscoll Berry," she said. Driscoll is the largest of the shipper-cooler companies and employs 5,000 workers.

Rooks urged students to call Driscoll Berry and express support for a neutrality agreement.

The second part of the UFW campaign, Rooks said, is to enlist the help of supermarket chains in pressuring Driscoll.

"The strategy is to provide a united front to the industry," she said.

Rooks noted that four out of seven national chains, including Kroger's, A&P and Safeway, are supporting the UFW.

"We're going to start focusing our efforts on Star Market," she added.

According to Rooks, May 9 has been designated as a national day of action and a rally will be held at a Boston Star Market.

Personal Involvement

At least one the meeting's attendees is a personal witness to the suffering of American farm workers.

Blanca C. Alcaraz '93, a graduate student in Romance Languages and Literature, grew up outside of Delano, Calif., a town which was the focal point of Caesar Chavez's strike.

"Sometimes it's more convenient not to think about what's going into your mouth and what it took to get there. You say, 'My eating this grape is not going to affect anyone," Alcaraz said.

"To this day, my family are farm workers," she said. "My mother is dying of cancer from being exposed to pesticides."

"It's absolutely ridiculous when next to my mom's house there's 30 migrant workers living in a house without electricity," she said.

Alcaraz also expressed her disappointment at the event's low attendance.

"To think of an institution like Har- vard which has the potential to make animpact...but if it starts at 15 it starts at 15,"she said. "That's what Caesar Chavez did."

Rooks was more optimistic.

"The students here have done a tremendousamount of work around farm-worker issueshistorically, and this year in particular," shesaid. "I have faith that Harvard will do the rightthing about farm-worker issues even though thegrape boycott was overturned."

The event was organized by Education for Action(E4A) as part of its Annual Action Week. Thisyear's theme is "International Solidarity;Transcending Borders."

"The point of Annual Action Week is to drawconnections between different issues," said E4Amember Katherine H. Gibson '99, who attended thestrawberry event. "We're drawing connectionsbetween peace in Ireland, farm workers andfeminism in the Arab world.

Rooks was more optimistic.

"The students here have done a tremendousamount of work around farm-worker issueshistorically, and this year in particular," shesaid. "I have faith that Harvard will do the rightthing about farm-worker issues even though thegrape boycott was overturned."

The event was organized by Education for Action(E4A) as part of its Annual Action Week. Thisyear's theme is "International Solidarity;Transcending Borders."

"The point of Annual Action Week is to drawconnections between different issues," said E4Amember Katherine H. Gibson '99, who attended thestrawberry event. "We're drawing connectionsbetween peace in Ireland, farm workers andfeminism in the Arab world.