ustxtxb_obs_1974_04_12_50_00015-00000_000.pdf

BOYCOTT GALLO Gallo Paisano Thunderbird Carlo Rossi Eden Roc Boone’s Farm Spanada Tyrolia Ripple Andre Red Mountain *Also any wine which says “Modesto, California” on the label is Gallo. Gallo does not appear on all labels. Gallo is the only wine company with headquarters in Modesto. GUILD Winemaster’s Guild Old San Francisco Tres Grand Parrot V.S. Cooks Imperial Director’s Choice Roma Reserve Guild Cribari Reserve Tavola Jeanne d’Arc Mendocino La Boheme Famiglia Cribari Ceremony Garrett Versailles Alta Cresta Blanca C.V.C. Saratoga Citation J. Pierot Lodi Guild Blue Ribbon La Mesa Roma Ocean Spray Cranberry Rose St. Mark FRANZIA Table Vermouth Dessert Louis the Fifth Sparkling Private labels *Also, any wine which says, “made and bottled in Rippon, California.” All Franzia products have #BW3654 on the label. Couples $12 and up 0181 THE UFW contracts obviously cost the California growers more than they were used to paying for labor, but nobody was run out of business. In 1971, Gallo’s before-tax profit was estimated at between $35 and $40 million. The UFW believes that Gallo’s profits rose to $45 million in 1972. On April 18, 1973, the UFW contract with Gallo expired and a couple of months later Gallo signed a four-year contract with the Teamsters Union. Pete Hamil, a columnist for the New York Post, says “the Teamsters operate like a business disguised as a union.” Chavez calls the Teamsters “a long time enemy of farm workers and minority people.” The UFW maintains that the Teamsters signed sweetheart contracts with the growers, contracts that were not approved by the workers. The Teamster contracts reinstated the old labor contractor system, provide no protection from pesticides, provide no gievance procedure and undercut the UFW wage proposal by 40 cents an hour. By August, 1973, the Teamsters had replaced all but a handful of UFW contracts in California and 7,000 farm workers were out on strike. Sixty-three injunctions were handed out against the UFW in five counties last year. The injunctions limited the pickets to ten per ranch, spaced 100 feet apart. According to Chavez, “Squads of Teamsters would position themselves at the entrance to the ranches armed with clubs, knives, leather straps, grape stakes, guns, chains and tire irons. Workers that tried to walk off their jobs and join the strike were pushed back into the fields. Strikers were beaten on the picket line, cars were damaged, one trailer was burned to the ground and hundreds of strikers were physically attacked.” Some California county sheriffs enforced the laws against strikers much like Texas Rangers did during the farm workers strike in the Rio Grande Valley. \(Certain Texas labor laws have since been struck down and a federal three-judge panel called the Rangers to task for acting as strike in four California counties last year. Chavez continues, “When it was clear that the strikers would not be intimidated by the Teamsters or by mass arrests, the sheriffs embarked on a new strategy. They began to attack the picket line. Women and men alike were clubbed and maced for violating the injunctions.” On Aug. 14, 1973, a farm worker from Yemen, Nagi Daufullah, was beaten with a flashlight by a Kern County deputy sheriff. He died of a massive brain hemorrage. On Aug. 16, another picketer, Juan de la Cruz, was shot through the heart by a sniper. He died at the side of his wife, Maxima, who was also on the picket line. Because of the two deaths, the UFW suspended the picketing. The union ended the strike and launched another national boycott. On Jan. 15 of this year 19 farm laborers drowned when a bus carrying them to work missed a turn and plunged into a drainage canal. The seats in the bus were not adequately bolted to the floor. When the bus hit the ditch, the seats were torn loose, trapping the 19 inside the bus as it filled with water. Twenty-eight other passengers were injured. The bus was owned by Jesus Ayala, a labor contractor whom the Texas Farm Worker Bulletin calls a “notorious strikebreaker.” The Bulletin charged Jan. 25 that the tragedy would never have happened under a UFW contract, because the UFW puts labor contractors out of business. An Ayala bus was carrying the workers to a farm outside of Blythe, Calif., where they were to pick lettuce under a Teamster contract. According to El Malcriado, the UFW paper, a second bus, loaded with workers, arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the accident. Ayala’s son, Clifford, told the driver of the second bus to continue on to work. Pablo Lara, a passenger on the second bus, told El Malcriado that the workers forced the driver of the second bus to stop and they ran back to help their friends. “But it was already too late when we returned. Everyone was already dead, already drowned,” Lara said. “Then Ayala told us to get back to work. He didn’t want us to talk about it, he said it was already over,” Lara remembered. “You know, he didn’t want us to talk about it because he didn’t want us to work slower. We were weeding lettuce and he told the people to keep moving and not to talk.” . . . a species of farm implement .. . that requires no unkeep or special consideration during the period of its usefulness, needs no protection from the elements, and when the crop has been harvested, vanishes into the limbo of forgotten things until the next harvest season rolls around.” K.N. April 12, 1974 15 “for Democratic Party Chairman SHAW BEXAR COUNTY pol.ad . paid for by Joyce Shaw, 505 W 7th Austin Couple $12 and up Air-conditioned rooms with combination tub/shower, radio and color TV. Swimming pool. Kitchenettes. Excellent food by Chef Wittlich, featuring East Texas cornbread made daily. Convenient to Love Field, Cowboy Stadium and all Freeways … And remember, “Fred wants to see you.” Dallas Texas 15220 Area Code 214 Fleetwood 8-3211