Vol. 72/No. 15      April 14, 2008

On March 31 Kennedy campaigned at the Carroll County Livestock Sales Barn cattle auction. Many farmers told her about the impact of the economic crisis on them, as they listened with interest to Kennedy’s proposals.

“We are not Democrats and we are not Republicans,” she said. “We are the working-class alternative, and we believe that there is a great need for a labor party in this country that is based on fighting unions.”

Most farmers said increasing production costs continue to drive small farmers out of business. Don Strickland, a cattle farmer who also works in the construction industry in Atlanta, explained that the cost of fertilizer has gone from $350 to $650 per ton in the last six months. “It has gone up $100 in the last three weeks,” he said. Another farmer said that he had to cut back to using 5 tons of fertilizer from 10, and that he had cut his herd from 35 to 25 cows.

“The cost of feed has doubled,” said Michael Turner, who has a small herd of goats and was looking to buy a couple of calves. Turner works for giant food distributor Sysco as a commission-based salesman to local restaurants. “My father worked for General Motors and was a proud member of the United Auto Workers,” he added.

Most of the farmers said they were undecided about the elections. Strickland said the first time he could vote, his father, a union man, told him to vote for the Democrat, James Carter. “That brought us the antiunion ‘right to work’ law in Georgia,” he said.

Several said they thought immigration was a key issue in the elections, and that too many immigrants were getting into the country, making it harder to fight for better conditions.

Kennedy disagreed. “My campaign supports legalization for all undocumented workers,” she said. She described a strike that she was part of with fellow coal miners for union recognition. “We were getting paid low wages with no benefits and unsafe conditions. The mine owners tried to take advantage of the fact that the majority of the miners were from Mexico.” But the immigrant miners were in the forefront of the struggle, she said, which provided an example to other miners on how to fight for safer conditions.

“The fights that immigrant workers are leading today are an example for the entire working class,” she said.
 
 
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