The convention began by recognizing some of the ongoing struggles by farm workers in the state. Delegates representing 200 workers on strike for union recognition against four apple growers in Washington State, as well as workers at the E&J Gallo Winery in Modesto and Sonoma, California, who are fighting for a new contract, were introduced. Speakers at the convention referred frequently to these two struggles. Delegates adopted a resolution introduced from the floor calling on each local ranch committee to organize to collect money for the apple strikers.  
 
Pickup in struggles
Lucía Madero and María de la Luz Mena, two young farm workers on strike against Larsons in Pasco, Washington, spoke with the Militant. "Four farms are on strike in the area, including Larsons and Bodega," Madero said. "The strike is really powerful. At first we had a few picketing the farms. The other day we had 50 people. Bosses and a few workers are working, but apples are falling on the ground. Many families support and picket."

"We went on strike last December," she explained. "The bosses reduced our pay from 60 cents for each tree pruned to 35 cents. That means we only make about $25 a day. So we stopped working. The bosses said those who want to work can work and those who don't should go.

"We had never stopped working before. Before that everyone was scared. Not anymore, because there is a limit. The pay is low and we work partial days. We couldn't take any more."

Both Madera and Mena participated in the August 6 march by 3,000 immigrant workers in Mattawa, Washington, to demand legal residence for undocumented workers, better wages, and the right to organize unions. "Many people are fighting and defending their rights in Washington today. It strengthens us to know that others are fighting."

The UFW has grown from 20,000 to 27,000 members over the last six years, and this was evident at the convention. The union has won 20 certification elections and 24 new contracts.

Besides California and Washington, delegates were present from Texas and Florida. At some farms where there have not been union agreements for years, workers have begun to fight for new contracts. One such example is Gallo. Another is Pict Sweet, a mushroom farm with 300 workers. The union has not had a contract there since United Foods bought the operation in 1986.

Jessica Arciniega, an organizer for the UFW's mushroom workers campaign, explained, "Recently workers decided to push for a contract because of mistreatment. People are fed up. They took away benefits and workers have had no significant wage increases. They have been paid 2 cents more per basket since 1986. We decided to do a boycott. Many rallies have taken place in Oxnard and Los Angeles, which are the markets for these mushrooms."

Nearly 70 percent of mushroom workers on California's Central Coast region are now covered by UFW contracts.

The convention adopted a resolution entitled "Organizing to Grow." This is an effort to expand the union beyond farm workers, a policy that departs from the union's base in the fields. It takes advantage of the fact that many workers who are not currently field workers, but know the UFW through past experience or through family and friends, look to this union when they seek to organize.

Florentino Aguilar is a trimmer at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford, California, where 200–250 people work. Aguilar, who has worked there eight years, reported, "The bosses treat us like animals, not human beings. Many people get cut or banged up. People are sent to the company clinic, which sends people back to work. Since I have worked there we have had four work stoppages in the boning room. We've been in contact with the UFW since October 1999."

"Seventy-five per cent of the workers have signed cards to join the UFW," Aguilar said. "In the last four to five years, the line speed went from 200 cows slaughtered, in a shift of 8–10 hours, to 450-600."

Armida Núñez has worked at Mercury Luggage, a plant of 70 in Corcoran, California, for three years. She recounted, "We were on a campaign to organize the UFW. I saw the company was treating people badly. There was a lot of favoritism and speed-up. We decided to organize a union. I called the UFW and they met with us. The company fired a group of eight people who were seeking the union. The company fired us March 22. We had a protest in front of the factory that day."

The convention also adopted a resolution endorsing what it termed the "alliance" between the UFW and Bear Creek Production Co., the largest rose grower in Wasco, California, employing 1,400 workers. The resolution stated that the UFW believes that "labor and management [must] work together to meet the challenge of increased global competition" and recognizes "the role of labor in creating economic stability." More than half the rose production in California's Central Valley is under union contract.  
 
Amnesty campaign for immigrants
The call for amnesty for undocumented workers already in the United States was a major theme of the convention. Many of those present had been involved in protest actions voicing this demand.

Several of the reporters to the convention from the different campaigns and social service auxiliaries of the UFW made references to the amnesty campaign. Much of this had a focus of lobbying government officials and Democratic Party politicians.

Many local, state, and congressional politicians from the Democratic Party addressed the convention, including Gov. Gray Davis. and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who delivered the main talk during a dinner after the first day of the convention.

Richard Trumka, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, also addressed the gathering. He focused on campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Albert Gore.

Representatives from several other farm worker unions spoke. One of these was Baldemar Velázquez, president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee based in Ohio and Michigan. He described some of the organizing FLOC has undertaken in North Carolina.

The others were Ramón Ramírez, president of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) based in Oregon; Aspacio Alcántara from the Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agrícolas (Independent Farm Workers Center) based among apple workers in New York; and Víctor Flores from the Union of Shepherds based in the Bakersfield, California, area. Luis Ureña from the Confederación Nacional Campesina (National Peasant Confederation) in the Dominican Republic also spoke.

Ramírez stated, "The fight for amnesty is a fight for dignity and respect, for the same benefits and treatment, for just wages." Repeating a common slogan by immigrants protesting arrests and deportations by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, he said, "We are here and we're not leaving."

A march for dignity and legal residency, to be held October 14 at 10:00 a.m. at the Federal Building in Fresno, was publicized at the UFW convention.

Deborah Liatos, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers in San Francisco, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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