Hundreds of CA Farm Workers Walk Off Job to Protest Union Grab
1st October 2013
In Fresno County, California, some hundreds of workers have walked away from their jobs at Gerawan Farming in protest at the United Farm Workers, a union that the workers have been forced to join by the state of California. The union has attempted to seize some three percent of each worker’s paycheck based on a union vote two decades ago. The union has been completely inactive at Gerawan Farming since it was established. Workers at Gerawan make $10 per hour and receive health benefits. That is significantly higher than industry standard, and the union simply wants employee cash based on negotiations that never involved the union. “They’re not asking us if we want it or not, they’re forcing us to have a union and we don’t want that,” said Silvia Lopez, one of the employees. “We have a right to vote to choose.”
Damn, there’s that pesky democracy thing again!
Look for … the union label….