BY NICK SANDS
SAN FRANCISCO - The United Farm Workers Union (UFW) has called a national march and rally for April 13 in support of strawberry pickers who are fighting to win union recognition and a contract. The UFW is urging trade unionists and other supporters from around the country to attend the event, which will be held in Watsonville, California, in the heart of this state's strawberry fields.

The UFW has also called a student conference for February 7-9. That meeting, which will be held at the union's headquarters in La Paz, California, will provide information on the union's history and its current effort to organize strawberry workers. It is projected as a launching pad for organizing student contingents for the April march and rally.

Thousands of strawberry pickers work from 10 to 12 hours a day during the six to eight month California growing season. They mostly work stooped over to pick the berries that ripen close to the ground.

Some 270 growers own the strawberry farms in this region, which produce 70 percent of the strawberries grown in the United States. Just eight companies market the produce and they often dictate the conditions under which the berries will be raised, including providing financing for the growers.

The growers have formed a group of their own, dubbed the Strawberry Workers and Farmers Alliance, and hired a public relations firm to counter the union's organizing efforts.

For more information on the coming march and rally and the student conference contact the United Farm Workers of America at P.O. Box 62 La Paz, Keene, CA 93531 or phone (408) 763-4820. The union can be faxed at (408) 7238-4590.  
 
 
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