Kennedy SupportsFresh Grape Boycott

PESTICIDES

Widow Maria Soledad and her children in front of their home in Mane­adero, Mexico: (I-r) Norma Alicia, Olga Irene, Salvador, Yolanda.

Friends carry Chavoya's simple graycoHin to church services.

Earlier this year farm worker JuanChavoya, 32, crossed the borderfrom Mexico to find a job and makesome money to swpport his wife andfour children.

All he found was death. Andwhat his family received from northof the border was a coffin containingtheir husband and father.

At 8 a.m. on August 5, Chavoyawas among a work crew which startedworking in a tomato field in Jamul,near San Diego. The field, part ofMirada Farms owned by grower Fred­erick Hatashita, had been helicopter­sprayed only an hour earlier with twopesticides, Pydrin and Monitor.

(A former county agriculturalcommissioner described Pydrin assimilar to a common household insec­ticide but said Monitor was "highlypotent" and "very deadly" when notused correctly.)

Grower Fails in Attempt to Cover upDeath of Farm Worker Stricken inPesticide-Sprayed Tomato Field

Writer:Fr. Ken IrrgangPhotographer:Victor AlemanProduction Director:Paul Chavez

Editorial Board

Cesar Chavez, EditorDavid Martinez. Associate EditorFrank OrtizArturo RodriguezArturo MendozaOscar MondragonBen MaddockRoberto de la CruzBarbara Macri

Magazine of the United f--armWorkers of Amenca, AFL-CIOLa Paz, Keene. CA 93570

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National Executive Board:

President:Cesar ChavezSecretary-Treasurer:Peter VelascoFirst Vice-President:Dolores HuertaSecond Vice-President:Frank OrtizThird Vice-President:David MartinezMembers:Arturo RodriguezArturo MendozaOscar MondragonBen Maddock

Food and Justice (USPS publi­cation number pending) ispublished monthly for $ 5 peryear by the United Farm Workersof America, AFL-CIO, Old High­w"'! 58, La Pez, Ca/ijomia 93570.Application to mail at second­class postage rates is pendingat Keene, California.POSTMASTER, Send addresschanges to:Food and JusticeLa Paz, CA 93570.

Volume 2, Number 4

FOOD AND JUSTICE

Sept.1985

Taking the pledge: Cesar Chavez is flanked bySen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Edward Roybal(D-Calif.) at a Washington, D.C. event wheresenators and congressmen took the pledge notto buy California grapes.

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) recentlyled a group of Washington congressmen insigning a pledge to boycott all California freshgrapes (except the 3% produced under UFWcontract).

At the signing ceremony, Kennedy said: "Iam proud to stand here today with CesarChavez and to join this boycott in the ongoingbattle for justice for America's farm workers.

"I. have signed this pledge to support theboycott because I believe in the merit of theircause. The United Farm Workers deserve pro­tection, not obstruction, of their rights underthe California Law. The certification of unionelection results, the recognition of the union bythe growers, and negotiations in good faith arelegitimate demands. They constitute the onlyeffective process to improve the wages andworking conditions of farm workers.

"The issue is justice for the farm workers ofAmerica. And if all in America who share theircause will join in this new struggle, I am confi­dent that we shall prevail." Y

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Juan's mother grieving alone with her son.

According to Deputy San DiegoCounty Coroner Chuck Bolton, theautopsy initially revealed no "defini­tive cause of death," but he saidfurther lab tests of tissue and fluidsamples by toxicologists would de­termine if pesticides caused or contri­buted to Chavoya' s death.

Dr. Marion Moses, director of TheFarm Workers' California clinics anda specialist in environmental disease,attended the autopsy in San Diego."In my opinion, there can be no doubtthat pesticide poisoning was at thevery least a contributing factor inJuan's death," she said.

Because Chavoya's death waswork-related, it comes under the juris­diction of the Deukmejian-controlledCAL-OSHA (the state OccupationalSafety and Health Administration)."They move with all the speed of aglacier so God only knows whenwe'll get the lab results," Moses said.

"The way Hatashita handled theemergency in the first place was notjust an error, " Moses said. "It wasa crime!"

For Juan's wife, Maria SoledadSanchez de Chavoya, the world ofpesticides, autopsies and investigationsis unreal and remote. Closer to home,in Maneadero, near Ensenada, Mariaand her children watched as JuanChavoya's simply gray coffin waslowered into a hillside gravesite.

"Before we had nothing," shesaid. "And now even Juan has beentaken away." y

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Paulino Osorio tended Chavoya asthe grower drove the stricken wor­ker across the border instead of toa nearby hospital.

Juan Chavoya's mother sees herson for the last time before his coHinis covered at the cemetery.

Juan's wife, Maria Soledad (facecollfll'fld, centrw) grieves with 1'fIIatives:'now even Juan is taken away.'

ber of the United Farm Workers, hisrelatives went to nearby San Ysidroto seek help from Minnie Ybarra,director of the Martin Luther King Jr.Farm Workers Service Center.

Ybarra had strong words forHatashita: "He's a typical grower.He's profit-hungry enough to hirecheap labor from below the borderbut too 'law-abiding' to be caughtwith them on his property. Especiallyif they're dying -- or dead!"

Outraged at the grower's attemptto cover up the tragedy, UFW Presi­dent Cesar Chavez contacted CaliforniaAttorney General John Van de Kamp.The UFW was successful in haltingthe burial of Chavoya in Mexico andhaving his body returned to the U.S.for an autopsy.

Paulino Osorio, a friend and co­worker of Chavoya, said he com­plained of strong pesticide odors inthe morning but appeared fine untilabout 3 p.m., when he collapsed inthe field.

Osorio informed Hatashita. Thegrower, ranch foreman Jesus Sanchez,and Osorio carried Chavo'y'a to a van.But instead of taking him to the hos­pital in EI Cajon, only 10 minutesaway, Hatashita drove the strickenfarm worker across the border to anemergency clinic in Tijuana, an houraway, where doctors pronouncedhim dead on arrival.

"We asked Hatashita to takehim to the doctor, but he took himto Tijuana instead," Osorio said.

Though Chavoya was not a mem-

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PESTICIDES

Cesar Chavez and Dr. Marion Moses in Los Angeles: 'grape pesticidesworse than watermelon poison'.

Grape Pesticides WorseThan Watermelon Poisons

The underreporting of farm workerpesticide poisonings is so pervasivethat it is estimated that only onepercent of the actual number of pes­ticide poisoning cases in agricultureis actually recorded by the state. TheUFW and experts on pesticide pois­oning state that 99% of poisoningsgo unreported in California becausedoctors don't report cases and manyworkers are afraid to admit beingpoisoned to their employers.

Reaction from grape producerswas immediate and intense. CaliforniaTable Grape Commission head BruceObbink bitterly denounced the UFWfor raising the pesticide issue. But heand other grower spokesmen couldn'trefute arguments by Chavez andMoses that poison residues from thepesticides are present on grapes andpose a health risk for consumersand workers.,,¥,

Applying pesticides to a field as farm workers march by.

The consumer illnesses whichresulted from Aldicarb-tainted water­melons only reveal "the tip of theiceberg" when it comes to pesticidecontamination, Chavez said. "WithAldicarb the results could be seen rightaway. But how do we know about thepesticides we consume now andwhich could produce harmful healtheffects 10 or 20 years from now?"

The watermelon poisonings oc­curred when Aldicarb was illegallyfound on watermelons, a crop forwhich it was not registered. Chavezand Moses said the same kind ofillegal use of poisons is occurringin fresh grapes.

In June, Tulare County agricultureofficials quarantined a 26 square blockarea at the A. Caratan, Inc. graperanch near Delano because residuesof the pesticide Orthene were foundin the vineyard. Orthene is not regis­tered for use on table grapes.

president said.Joining Chavez at a Los Angeles

news conference was Dr. MarionMoses, medical director of the FarmWorkers' California clinics and aleading expert on pesticides andoccupational diseases. They statedthe five poisons pose serious healthrisks to workers and consumers:

• Parathion causes more workerdeaths in California fields than anyother organo-phosphate (nervegas class) pesticide. Phosdrin alsocauses large numbers of workersto become ill.• Dinoseb, a highly toxic chemical,recently caused a farm workerdeath in Texas and kills large num­bers of workers in other nationsand in the U.S.• Methyl Bromide causes moreworker deaths outside agriculturethan any other pesticide. It is beingused more and more on Californiafarms.

At least four pesticides used inCalifornia vineyards are as dangerousor more hazardous to workers thanthe insecticide Aldicarb, which causedhundreds of illnesses among westcoast consumers in July, farm laborleader Cesar Chavez said.

"Before these grapes go to mar­ket, state and federal agencies res­ponsible for protecting the nation'sfood supply should see if chemicalresidues on the fruit make it unsafefor consumption," the farm workers'leader said.

Chavez identified the chemicalsas the insecticides Parathion andPhosdrin; Methyl Bromide, a fumigant;and Dinoseb, a herbicide. He said theCalifornia Department of Food andAgriculture and the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency should ban the fourpesticides from use in agriculture. Afifth chemical, Captan -- while not anacutely toxic poison -- should also bebanned on food because it causescancer and birth defects. the UFW

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IGrapes of Wrath' ConditionsStill Common

Some growers like to talk aboutthe progress farm workers havemade. The miserable 1930s plight ofuprooted families described in theGrapes of Wrath is gone, they say, sofarm workers don't need Cesar Chavez.

But those conditions are still toocommon in many California farmingregions.

Take the grape ranch K.K. and"Corky" Larson run near Coachella,only a short drive from the rich golfcourses and luxurious swimming poolsof Palm Springs.

K.K. Larson Company employs500 to 600 farm workers; 200migrants are hired during the peakseasons. A few sleep in their cars.Most live in grapefruit orchards underthe trees in 110 degree heat. Somehave rotten mattresses; others sleepon pesticide-treated dirt. Winters areeven worse said one worker who didn'twant to give his name. "The valleygets real cold and rainy, especially atnight. It's so wet you can hardly keepa fire going."

Larson's workers use irrigationwater for bathing, cooking, and wash­ing their clothes. They carry in drinkingwater in used pesticide containers.Some are just teenagers. Recentlyseveral workers overcame the fear ofreprisal and asked the UFW for help.They worked for more than threeweeks without pay.

Thousands of farm workers liveunder savage conditions beneath brushand trees, and amid stenchy garbageand human excrement near state-of­the-art tomatoe farms in San DiegoCounty. Vicious rats gnaw on themas they sleep, they walk miles to buyfood at inflated prices, and carry inwater from irrigation pumps.

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Living conditions under grapefruittrees only a short drive from wealthyPalm Springs.

Child labor is common in manyfarm areas. As much as 30 percentof Northern California's garlic harves­ters are under-aged. Kids as youngas six years old voted in state-conduc­ted union elections since they qualifyas workers. "Without them we couldnot survive," farm worker Jose Ruelassaid of his four children (ages sevento 14) who work in the fields.

No one wants to live under theseconditions. And farm workers have.worked for change. Many have orga­nized and voted in state-held elec­tions under the state farm labor law.

But the law which protects theirrights stopped working when Gov.Deukmejian took office in 1983. Sogrape workers still bathe in irrigationwater and live out in the open at K.K.Larson Company. y

These workers are lucky. They have a rotten mattress to sleep on.Most migrants living in the open at K.K. Larson sleep on dirt treatedwith pesticides.

Migrant workers at K.K. Larson bathe, cook and wash their clothesin pesticide-laden water from an irrigation reservoir.

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PESTICIDES

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It is used to kill insects, worms,weeds, bacteria, fungi, and viruses,as well as rats, ground squirrels andgophers. It causes cancer in labora­tory animals. Methyl bromide is evenmore powerful than mustard gas, oneof the most potent mutagens known.

In humans, acute high exposurescan produce del i rium, convulsions,pulmonary edema, and death fromhalf an hour to within three or fourhours of exposure. Non-fatal poison­ing may develop immediately or inseveral days to weeks from lower levelof exposure. It can cause severe, irre­versible effects on the nervous systemwith permanent brain damage.

Workers poisoned with methylbromide have been incorrectly diag­nosed as being drunk, on drugs, ormentally ill. Testicular cancer hasbeen found in young men who workedin a plant where the pesticide wasmanufactured.

Methyl bromide is often incorpo­rated into the soil to sterilize it forstrawberry production. It is also usedin vineyards, nurseries and green­houses. Many fresh fruits and vege­tables are fumigated for quarantinepurposes or as imports. Stored foodsare fumigated with methyl bromideafter harvesting. They include al­monds, peanuts, grains, soy beans,cocoa beans, coffee beans, dates, anddried fruit; meats may be fumigatedwhile in cold storage.

Farm workers apply methyl bro­mide when they aren't told about itsdangers because they are afraid oflosing their jobs. They often suffer pes­ticide-related illness and do not realizeit. Growers often refuse to send themto doctors. Doctors -- especially inrural areas -- often refuse to admit thatthe problem may be pesticide-caused.

For these and other reasons,methyl bromide has the highest priorityon our list of chemicals which shouldbe banned outright from all use inagriculture. Y

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f1Using old chemical containers toh~vest crops In the San Joaquin Valley.

The legacy of Gov. Deukmejian'sfarm labor policies: Migrant farmworkers use this discardedpesticidecan to car" water for drinking andcooking at K.K. Larson grape ranchnear Coachella.

The synthetic pesticide methylbromide has been reponsible for moreoccupationally-related worker deathsin California than any other singlepoison.

Many farm workers are told toapply methyl bromide without protec­tive equipment, without training orproper supervision, and without evenknowing the name of the pesticide orwhat its health hazards are.

About 10 million pounds of thepoison is used each year. It belongsto a class of highly toxic chemicalscalled fumigants and is extremelypoisonous to all forms of life. A color­less, odorless gas usually mixed withthe "tear" gas chloropicrin, methylbromide readily and rapidly penetratesmost materials such as food packag­ing, cardboard, cellophane, clothing,leather and rubber gloves.

Dr. Marion Moses, director of theFarm Workers clinics, is a leadingspecialist in environmental disease.

Dr. Marion Moses:

Methyl Bromide Kills Farm Workers!

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ISSUES

Frustrated farm workers picket nonviolently in Sacramento; (inset:) Gov.Deukmejian and the ' shattersd hopes of farm worksrs. '

The Deukmejian Adminstration:California Growers' Non-Enforcers

Last May, several attorneys andinvestigators at the regional ALRBoffice in Salinas signed a petition tothe five-member board and to Cali­fornia legislators asking for a reviewof Stirling's actions.

The petitioners wrote: "It is ourjob to enforce a law that was enactedto protect farm workers. But every daythat law is being chipped away by aninsensitive administration that hasproven its unwillingness to enforcethe law."

"The farm workers' hope for abetter life was the law which protectstheir rights," UFW President CesarChavez said. "But it doesn't workanymore. Deukmejian refuses toenforce it!"

The first chairman of the ALRBafter the law was passed in 1975 wasCatholic Bishop Roger Mahony ofStockton (newly appointed Archbishopof Los Angeles). In a prog ress reporton the ALRB written last June, Mahonysaid the agency "merits between a'D minus' and a 'D' in its overalleffect.' ,

Mahoney said the "unfortunate"attitude of many California growersis to see the 1975 farm labor law"asanother farm 'pest' -- to be eradi­cated at all costs." Y

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The UFW lost the election by justa few votes. Before and after the elec­tion, 70 unfair labor practice chargeswere filed against the Norton subsidiarywith the Agricultural Labor RelationsBoard. One charge involves the ALRB'simproper sealing and safekeeping ofa box of challenged votes that affectedthe outcome of the election.

More than a year later, the 70charges still have not been pro­cessed. They are sitting in the ALRB'soffice waiting for discretionary deci­sions from Gov. Deukmejian's ap­pointee as ALRB general counsel,David Stirling.

Since his appointment in 1983,Stirling has brought the issuance ofcomplaints against growers to astandstill; the backlog of uninvesti­gated farm worker charges againstgrowers has skyrocketed; the pro­cess of collecting millions of dollarsin back pay which convicted growersowe farm workers has been shutdown. He has settled cases wherethe courts have ordered growers topay farm workers money for as littleas 10¢ on the dollar in violation ofstate and national labor law rules;and he has taken punitive action fordisloyalty against ALRB staff whoinsist on enforcing the law fairly.

Grape workers have been especially hard.hit by Gov. Deukmejian 's politicalalliance with corporate growers.

a subsidiary of the J.R. Norton Co,whose former president, J.R. Norton,is now Ronald Reagan's deputy sec­retary of agriculture.

A year ago, the company in­formed its farm workers that therewould be an arbitrary cutback in bothwages and benefits. Over 500 wor­kers protested, organized a two-daywalkout, and signed cards asking fora union election.

A victory for the United FarmWorkers seemed assured. Right?Wrong! The company fired manyworkers who had walked out andseverely threatened and intimidatedothers. Then the company restoredthe cut benefits and granted a payraise. It contracted with union-bustinglabor consultants to coerce workerswith anti-UFW literature andspeeches

Organized crime has its enforcers.California growers have their nQn­enforcers. Both are paid handsomely.

In 1982, corporate growers gavemore than $1 million to elect Republi­can Gov. George Deukmejian and todestroy the 1975 farm labor law.Since the Deukmejian Administrationstopped enforcing the law in 1983,growers contributed hundreds ofthousands of dollars more.

Through political appointments,budget cuts, and purges of civil ser­vice employees committed to the law,DeukmeJian has weakened the en­forcement of farm worker rights sodramatically that growers act withoutfear of punishment.

Take the case of the "fair andfree" election at Supreme Berries,Inc., a large vegetable ranch nearSalinas with over 600 workers. It is

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BOYCOTTTake the Grape Boycott Pledge

Number of Grape BoycottEndorsements Growing

In a relentless criss-crossing of the country, Cesar Chavez and other farmworkers leaders have won a constantly growing number of individual andgroup endorsements.

A recent update shows the following endorsements:

In addition to the growing volumeof grape boycott pledges and en­dorsements Cesar Chavez and UFWboycott staff are collecting in theirtravels across the nation, there areother signs the fresh grape boycottis having an effect.

Specials on fresh grapesabound. On the west coast grapesare being sold at three pounds for$1 and in some supermarkets for aslow as 29¢ a pound. In many mid­west cities and on the east coastprices are only slightly higher.

The hopes of farm workers fora better life were shattered by Gov.Deukmejian's refusal to enforce thelaw which protects their rights.

Now their only hope is yoursupport for the new grape boycott*.The farm workers can't win withoutyour help. Please sign and returnyour Boycott Pledge today!

•except the 3% of grapes produced under UFW contract

~------------------------------------

tear off and return to:

The New Boycott ofFresh Grapes

Farm workers are only boycottinggrapes.,. not wines or raisins. Only3% of fresh grapes from California areharvested under UFW contracts. UFWgrapes have the black eagle unionlabel stamped on the box, If you don'tsee the eagle ... boycott the grapes!

Cesar Chave? La Paz, CA 93570

Help Us Find the 17Million Grape Boycotters

The Harris poll revealed that 17million American adults boycottedgrapes in the 1970s. We need tospeak with them again.Your can help:• Take the Grape Boycott Pledge• Give the Grape Boycott Pledgeto others• Have your group endorse theGrape Boycott

Dear Cesar Chavez:I pledge to boycott California fresh grapes until Governor Deukmejian

decides to enforce the farm labor law and the growers sign contracts.Sincerely,Name _

Address IP_I"_"_."_p'_in_tl --:- _

City/StatetZip-----------------------

Rep. Matthew Martinez, CaliforniaMassachusetts State House of RepresentativesMassachusetts State SenateMassachusetts Governor Michael OukakisM.E.C.H.A., FresnoMichigan Farm Worker Ministry CoalitionRep. Jim Moody, WisconsinNational Farm Worker MinistryNorthern California Ecumenical CouncilOakland City School DistrictRep. Mary Rose Oakar, OhioRep. Major Owens, New YorkP.A.D.R.E.S.Poor and Oppressed Women's Ed. ReviewBishop Kenneth Povish, Diocese of LansingRep. Charles Rangel, New YorkRep. Bill Richardson, New Mexico, Chairman, Congressional

Hispanic CaucusRep. Peter Rodino, New JerseyRep. Edward Roybal, CaliforniaSan Francisco Black Agenda CouncilSan Francisco Board of SupervisorsSan Francisco Democratic County Central CommitteeSan Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIORep. Pat Schroeder, ColoradoRep. Gerry Sikorski, MinnesotaSen. Paul Simon, IllinoisSocial Concerns Commission, Sisters of the Assumption,

Salem, MASouthern California Ecumenical CouncilRep. Esteban Torres, CaliforniaUnited Church Board for Homeland MinistriesUnited Church of Christ, General SynodUnited Methodist Church, General Board of Global MinistriesRep. Ted Weiss, New YorkWest Hollywood City CouncilWisconsin Council of Churches

Advocacy for Resources for Modern Survival (ARMS), BostonAFSCME, Local 2078, OaklandAgricultural MissionsAssociated Students. Cal State, Fresno and SacramentoAFL-CIO National Executive CouncilAmerican Baptist Churches of the West, Commission onPublic MinistriesRep. Jim Bates. CaliforniaBerkeley City CouncilRep. Howard L. Berman, CaliforniaRep. Barbara Boxer, CaliforniaRep. Sala Burton, CaliforniaRep. Albert Bustamente, TexasBoard of Directors, Community Church of BostonRep. Dave Bonior, MichiganBoston City CouncilBoston Mayor Raymond FlynnCentral Conference of American RabbisChristian Service Commission, 51. Martin de Porres Church,

BostonRep. Ron Oellums, CaliforniaDetroit City CouncilDistrict Council #57, AFSCME, AFL-CIORep. Merv Dymally, CaliforniaRep. Lane Evans, IllinoisBishop John J. Fitzpatrick, Diocese of BrownsvilleRep. Barney Frank, MassachusettsRep. Robert Garcia, New YorkRep. Sam Geydenson, ConnecticutGroundwork for a Just World, DetroitRep. Charles Hayes, IllinoisIHM Central Adminstration, Monroe, MlJovenes Catolicos en Acci6n, BostonJustice and Peace Committee, St. Joseph's

Church, Salem, MASen. Edward M. Kennedy, MassachusettsRep. Mickey Leland, Chairman, Congressional Black CaucusRep. Mel Levine, California

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