With One Week Left, Farm Workers and Allies Fast for Fair Treatment

by Alex DiBranco · 2011-06-21 12:29:00 UTC
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If CA Gov. Jerry Brown doesn't sign the Fair Treatment for Farm Workers Act by a week from today, the bill will die. But it won't go gentle into that good night -- from the moment the bill landed on the governor's desk last Thursday, farm workers and their allies have been making quite a stir on its behalf.

An estimated 1000 farm workers marched in Sacramento on June 16th to urge Gov. Brown to sign a bill that would protect farm worker safety, chanting "Si Se Puede" ("Yes We Can"). Eighty-one-year-old Taurino Carlos spoke movingly of the harsh conditions he has endured as a farm worker over the decades to the present day -- he hopes that the next generation can enjoy better, safer conditions than he has been subjected to.

Too many farm workers have died because their employers deny them the simplest of needs -- rest, shade, water. Farm workers like 17-year-old Maria Isavel, whose touching story motivated 16,000 Change.org members to take action on her behalf. A United Farm Workers petition on Change.org is asking Gov. Brown to sign the bill, which was introduced to the State Assembly on the anniversary of Maria Isavel's untimely death, and take a stand for farm workers state wide.

On Friday, the day after the bill went to the governor, a number of farm workers and their allies began a hunger strike -- allies included Senator Darrell Steinberg, U.S. Rep. Howard Berman, and UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. Other supporters who UFW reports will take part in the fast over the next week include former Clinton White House Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echeveste, state Controller John Chiang, and SEUI International President Mary Kay Henry. It's a fast for fair treatment.

To support these farm workers and their allies, you can sign the UFW petition here: call upon Gov. Brown to pick up his pen and put it to use.

Photo credit: UFW

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.

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