Two organizers of the recent successful campaigns, Elba Ramos and Antonio Rivera Sánchez, explained that the latest strike by apple pickers, held at the Mar-Jon orchard, involved about 50 workers, a fifth of them women.

The workers had been hired by Jon Warling, a labor contractor for the orchards. They had an agreement with the contractor that they would do straight picking at $20 per bin of Fuji apples. This differs from "sorting," which requires more selection of the apples and thus takes more time. A worker can often fill seven bins a day by straight picking but the rate drops to three or four when sorting.

As workers began their assigned jobs, the contractor demanded they switch over to the selective picking at the same rate of pay per bin. Four had been members of the UFW for a number of months. After being on strike for a few hours, the workers decided to call the UFW for help.

Since this is the height of the apple-picking season, labor is in big demand. The growers have large hiring signs at orchard entrances. This is also the last weeks of work in the orchards for another month and a half, as the different apples ripen at different times.

Only about half a dozen workers crossed the picket line. Along with these, the contractor brought in 14 workers through a second orchard entrance in an attempt to break the strike. Ramos and Rivera explained that when the contractor fell behind in his contract to fill 1,000 bins, he gave in to the strikers' demands, including a $2.00 per bin pay increase at straight picking. Almost all the workers in this fight have now signed cards to join the UFW.

"In the last week there have been two strikes and one job action," Rivera said. "The job action involved a grower who was continually late in paying the workers. In many of these strikes, between 50 percent and 70 percent of the workers now sign up to join the union," he said.

Ramos pointed out, "The UFW has a strong base and more workers are looking toward the union."

The UFW has also been organizing to send a busload of members to Seattle October 14 to participate in a national day of protest to demand amnesty for all undocumented workers.  
 
 
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