Organized by the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), the August 6 action took place just weeks after a similar-sized action organized by farm workers in Pasco, also in eastern Washington. "Sí se puede!" and "What do we want? Amnesty!" were popular chants during the march.

More than 100,000 workers are employed by agribusiness in Washington State. According to the UFW, most are undocumented. The demand for legislation granting amnesty for undocumented workers is officially supported by the AFL-CIO and has been more prominent at labor activities around the country this year.

Hector, a farm worker who picks feed corn, explained he was at the rally because even though he has been in the United States for 10 years, he could be deported at any time. "I have no choice," he said. "If I'm kicked out I'll just have to come back." Hector said his situation was better than others, since he has a steady job. "I'm here for people like my brother. Right now he has a three-week job for a contractor. He works seven days a week for 16 hours a day cutting hay on only three hours sleep a day. He gets $7 an hour with no overtime. Some of the American workers get $20. At the end of the three weeks he'll have some money, but if he gets hurt or has an accident driving home it'll all be gone."

Another popular slogan at the march was "No copete." Meaning "crest," this refers to the policy of the apple growers who make workers overfill their bins. One of the apple pickers, who didn't want to give his name, explained that when the bins are loaded onto trucks the bosses take the extra apples and fill other bins.

"I estimate the majordomo where I work fills around 70 bins with the extra apples," he said. "They are robbing the apple pickers because we don't get paid for the extra bins." With the apple harvest starting, one of the main demands of the farm workers is for higher wages.

Many of the farm workers explained that in recent years the low wages they get paid per bin of apples they pick has actually decreased.

The farm workers and their family members who made up the big majority of the marchers were from throughout Washington State. Among others participating were students from Olympia, and mostly Mexican unionists on strike against Valley Manufactured Housing (VMH) in Sunnyside.

These workers will celebrate the one-year anniversary of their contract fight August 25. Rogelio Montes, a leader of the VMH strikers, explained that they were there "to support people without documents and build solidarity between unions. The farm workers have given us a lot of support and we need to have respect for all of our rights, including the right to organize," he said. "We can see the increase in workers' struggles and they are becoming connected because the bosses violate our rights, especially those of the undocumented. We need amnesty so workers can have a voice at work and not fear the boss."

Among the speakers at the rally following the march was Arturo Rodriguez, the national president of the UFW, Lupe Gamboa, a central leader of the Washington State UFW, a representative of the Washington State AFL-CIO, a number of religious leaders, and at least one Democratic Party candidate for congress.

Supporters of the Socialist Workers Party candidates for national and statewide offices got a good response to their campaign literature table, including from several farm workers who stopped at the table for extensive discussions on the state of the labor movement today.

Janne Abullarade and Carmen O'Reilly contributed to this article.  
 
 
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