13 day - 167 mile Farm Worker March Starts on Tuesday

  This information was taken directly from the United Farm Workers Site.
Saying the time to act is now, farm workers will begin a 167-mile pilgrimage up the Central Valley to Sacramento to press for enactment of the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act. The march begins on August 23, 2011 in Madera, two months after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed SB 104, a bill that would have made it easier for farm workers to join a union. The "The Fair Treatment For Farm Workers Now" march will end on Sept. 4th, Labor Day weekend, at the State Capitol.

In the two months sine Gov Brown's veto, another farm worker may have died of heat related illness --the second worker that California's blazing sun may have claimed this year. So farm workers are speaking with their marching feet and kicking off a 13 day march this to convince Gov. Jerry Brown to sign their new bills that are making their way through the legislature. These bills include a revised version of the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act and legislation giving farm workers the right to be paid overtime after 8 hours like other workers.

In Governor Brown's veto of the "Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act," he says he is "not yet convinced." For farm workers, "not yet" means farm workers don't get water and shade. "Not yet" means farm workers continue to die of heat illness. "Not yet" means farm workers do not have basic justice implemented by the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. “Not yet” means hundreds of farm workers who last year voted for union representation have waited more than a year for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to take the simple act of certifying the elections.

There will be up to 50 full time marchers who will be joined by farm workers and community people throughout the route and by thousands of farm workers when they arrive in Sacramento. To do a march of this size will cost close to $250,000--even with cutting corners as much as possible by housing marchers at supporters' houses along the route. Between meals, water & ice alone we are talking about $31 per marcher per day or $403 per marcher for 13 days or $20,150 just for the full time marchers. Farm workers from up and down the state want to join in on the weekends when they can get off work. On the last day United Farm Workers will need to rent buses for the thousands of workers who plan to attend.

You Can Help @ www.secure.ufw.org/page/contribute/167milemarch