◆ SpookStack

sing the crop harvested. 2 wa. have to wait and see who is right. The following points my * be kept in nind if dne is to understa, : fully why the strike exists. A. At the heart of the grower-Teamster /UFl) dispute is the issue of the hiring hall. The UF maintains that the hiring hall is essential in order to check grow- er exploitation of the farm worker. The backgraund on this issue has to ‘dn pth the oynvers! practice of using a “labor contractor" to get the field workers to bring in the harvest. The UFU ynas always fought against the presence ‘of the labor contractor (or its equiva- \lent); thus the labor contractor vs. the hiring hell was the major bone of conten- tion hetween the growers and the UF. How does the labor ‘in theory? Suppose ea grower needs 200 field workers. Most likely he will have ‘4 labor contractors whose job it will be “to get 50 workers to do the work in the fields. In this system many abuses can develop and have developed over the years. In the past labor contractors would be paid a lump sum by the grower; the jJabor ‘gontracter would then pey the farm worker “put of his oreket. Hence he could main- tein the "power of the purse." He could ask for 2 payoff for giving someone @ job _.as well as a percentage of the farm work- er's wages. If a woman is asking for a - job, she may heave to do the labor contrac- tor a “favor” or tuo. Labor contractors -have been know to hire only young men (20 ‘to LO years of age) whom they could force to work fast and thus get the most out of the waopes they pay. Thus women and older men would be’ discriminated against. Cer- tainly there would always be the problem of the labor contrectar hiring only his favorites. To make sure that these abuses would cease the Ufl! has demanded in its con- ‘tracts that there be @ hiring hall; the contractor operate we ee te ee a ae women ae at whose task f :is assign work .and co- ordinate the effo.s of the crew. He has no authority,.*a hire. Growers compleiry . that the hir: h hall cannot work, ‘and this they maintain, was the major reeson why they refused to sian again with Ceser Chavez. The Teamsters did not push the idee of the hiring hall in their contract and so the growers signed with them. The deal the Teamsters made with the growers has been called in the media a "sweet- heart contract." We can see exectly what this means in relation to the labor con- tractor. The Teamster-grower contract is a sweetheart deal in the sense that the has sold out the workers goon g J _ the Like of the employers and not the workers, e.g., labor contractor issue. The UFW maintains that the Teamster "“foremen" is the equivalent of the ia- bor contractor, and hence there are the same old abuses creeping in. The grow- ers on the other hand say there is no substance to this charoe and that the role of the foreman is to provide fieid ‘workers and coordinate work efforts. $1.6 Million from Meany 8. jo fight the growers and e sters the UFl has been given $1.6 mil- lion for strike benefits by George Meany, AFL-CIO chief. Each person on strike is given $SD per week (the strike breakers in the fields are making about $120 per week). Those on strike do more than just sit home and collect pey checks. All strikers meet at the local Coechella park at 4:30 a.m. daily. Picket ceptains group the strikers who then begin to set but in caravans of cars and buses to the fields of the growers. Their aim is to arrive at the entrances of the fielos be- fore the scabs, where the UF strikers telk to them and encourage them to join the "huelge"(strike). Each picket line is equipped with a loud speaker anc s throughout the morning UFil leaters te = ugh ali 2 gwarkers receive jobs through a seniority =; system. ™A person's seniority in the UFW “\gs determined according to how long one to the workers in the fields, asking them to come out and join their brothers . and sisters on the picket line. Work in has heen a member of the union. Lace tn the field ends around 11.00 a.m. ar i2:00 _ Suppose @ grower needs cin workers *0 hoon. (The sugar content in the srenes seep dick BTeRESs He would cend this request is reduced with the 115° temperatuTes, to the UU Pirsng helt in Coachella. The and therefore picking mugt eng wrtl: ihe wreere Bre SREP ciepetchec to the crower foliceiec ¢Cavd. @fter the srtrt lao eed G7 cunderaty. (The ite. 32) dhe pselds they are followed to tte vers a foreman for every 5D men camp by UF representatives, and further a i . 5 ween ipo”