University of Virginia Library

Pickers Strike

I found your article on the
California grape pickers' strike to
be extremely misleading. It
displayed a lack of knowledge
concerning the facts of the issue.

California grape pickers are
probably among the highest paid
farm workers in this country,
averaging over $2 an hour. They
have disability insurance, minimum
wage laws, child labor laws, and
several laws regulating farm housing
and labor camps. There is also
substantial reason to doubt that the
present union is favored by a
majority of the workers. A rival
organization, Agricultural Workers
Freedom to Work Committee,
claims that union support has
dropped to a small minority of the
workers. There were not sufficient
union workers last fall at the three
farms holding union contracts to
harvest the grapes. Non-union
workers had to be hired to salvage
part of the crop.

Union leader Cesar Chavez and
his followers have tried to
intimidate workers by threatening
the safety of their families. There
are several reports of threats being
carried out.

I hope the University
community will not be deceived as
many people around the country
have been by Chavez's propaganda
and that it will reflect the proposed
boycott.