ustxtxb_obs_1981_07_24_50_00018-00000_000.pdf

ready getting ready to reapportion. “It’s difficult to say how volunteer this is whether they’re afraid to get sued again this year. But they’re doing it,” Beardall says. * Itt In a case settled recently, a 70-yearold grandfather had worked 15 years for the local Bud Hill feed yard, a part of the Hill Farms conglomerate. His wife and daughters-in-law, three generations in all, had worked there also, all of them at subminimum wages, Beardall says. “We requested back wages for three years, by laws as far back as we could go, and we were able to settle the case. The monetary amount was $31,211.95 for ten plaintiffs settled this past May. As far as we know, it is the largest agricultural wage settlement in Panhandle history. “When the family first filed the case, they were fired instantly,” he adds. “We threatened to bring a retaliation claim” and they were reinstated. But Beardall contends that the owner still fired the grandchildren and engaged in petty ha rassment of the grandfather, like denying him coffee breaks, to the point that the old man just wanted to get his back wages and go back home to Eagle Pass. * * * There are more minimum wage cases, says Beardall. Another involved cotton hoers who were being paid $2 an hour during a time when the minimum wage was $3.10. They worked under ,Seventy-Seven-Hundred, Inc., a large cotton farming and growing entity, he said. TRLA was able to settle for everyone’s back wages “a total of $4,000,” and a contract that the people would be hired at minimum wage for the following three years. “The contract is calculated to be worth some $18,000,” Beardall said. TRLA has managed to get a total of nine such contracts between other growers and farmworker families signed. How It Works With the “trouble” TRLA is causing in the area, both the Deaf Smith County and Hereford governments have passed resolutions opposing TRLA funding. Local Congressman Kent Hance of Lubbock once prevailed upon the Legal Services Corporation to visit Hereford and check out the “atrocities being commited by TRLA,” according to Beardall. The local sheriff has spoken against TRLA various times to growers and local newspapers. “Despite all the brouhaha, controversy, fanfare, we’re a small organization, and our ability to represent even a small faction of the people who have straightforward agricultural wage claims in this area well, we turn away five meritorious cases for every one we take. I would say that if there are five cases that come in, they are just five out of a hundred similar occurrences. “All of the controversy has probably served a beneficial purpose of creating the illusion that there’s a TRLA lurking behind every fencepost. I’ve had a The Social Cause Calendar JUICES BOYCOTT The Texas Farm Workers Union is seeking a boycott of Texsun and Big Tex juices. A-BOMB REMEMBERING At 8:15 a.m. August 6, the exact anniversary of the dropping of the U.S. atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Texas Mobilization for Survival invites you to join them in a silent prayer for world peace. Texas Mobe’s Hiroshima Day meditation prayer ceremony begins at 8 a.m. that morning at the Japanese Gardens, Zilker Park, Austin. Aug. 9, the Nagasaki anniversary, from 2 to 6 p.m., this group sponsors a peace vigil and children’s balloon release at the gates of Bergstrom AFB. Progressive Organizations In no hurry, the Observer is building up lists of the political organizations we regard as progressive, their meeting evenings where that is applicable, and a phone number for each, in Texas cities. The editor invites communications recommending organizations for inclusion, by city. AUSTIN ACORN, 8 nghrhood. groups, 442-8321; Amnesty Int’l., Group 107, Cindy Torrance, POBx. 4951, Aus. 78765; Austinites for Public Transportation, 3rd Tue., 441-2651; Aus. Lesbian-Gay Political Caucus, 4th Tue., & also Lesbian-Gay Demos. of Tx., 478-8653; Aus. Nghbrhood, Ccl., 4th Wed., 442-8411; Aus. Nghbrhood Fund, 3rd Mon., 451-2347; Aus. Tenants’ Ccl., 474-1961; Aus. Women’s Political Caucus, 1st & 3rd Tues., 472-3606 or 4474409; Black Aus. Demos., 3rd or 4th Thu., 478-6576; Center for Maximum Potential Buildg. Systems, 928-4786; Central Aus. Demos., 3rd Wed., 477-6587; Central Tx. ACLU, 477-4335; Citizens’ Coalition for an Economical Energy Policy, 474-4738; Demo. Socialist Organizing Cmte., 2nd Wed., 453-2556; Gray Panthers, 4th Thu., 345-1869; Lignite Group, Wed., 451-3219; Magnet Coalition, 441-2651; Mxn.-Amn. Demos., 1st Mon., 444-7668 or 4729211; New Amn. Movement, every other Sun., 454-2888 or 478-2096; Nurses’ Environmental Health Watch, 454-3932; Northeast Aus. Demos., 2nd Tue., Dr. Gary Witt, 8512 Grayledge; Phogg Foundation, POBx. 13549, Ax.; Save Barton Creek, every Tue., 472-4104; Sierra Club, 1st Tue., 478-1264; South Aus. Demos., 3rd Tue. or 3rd Thu., 447-4091; Tx. Consumer Assn., 477-1882; Tx. Mobilization for Survival, Sun., wkly., 474-5877; Travis Audubon Scty., 3rd Thu., 447-7155 or 477-6282; Travis Cty. Demo. Women, every Fri., 453-3243; Travis Cty. YD’s, 453-3796; Univ. Mobilization for Survival, wkly., 476-4503; UT YD’s, 452-8516; West Aus. Demos., 2nd Thu., 454-1291; Zilker Park Posse, 472-1053. We thank Lisa Hartmann, Tim Mahoney, Margot Beutler, and David Butz for assistance with the Austin entry. SAN ANTONIO ACLU, 224-6791; Amnesty Int’l., U.S. Group 127, Julia Powell, 828-4141; Women’s Political Caucus, 2nd Tues., 655-3724; Civil Rights Litigation Center, 224-1061; Citizens Concerned About Nuclear Power, 1st & 3rd Weds., 655-0543; Com2nd Th., 222-2367; Demos for Action, Research & Education Wed., 674-0351; Latin-American Assistance, alternate Sats., 732-0960; Mxn.-Amn. Demos., 3rd Mon., Walter Martinez, 227-1341; NAACP, 4th Fri., 2247636; Organizations United for East Side Development, last Tue., 824-4422; People for Peace, 2nd Th., 822-3089; Physicians for Social Responsibility, 1st Mon., Dr. Martin Batiere, 691-0375; Poor People’s Coalition for Human Services, 923-3037; Residents Organized for Better and Beautiful Tue., 226-3973; S. A. Demo. League, 1st Thu., 344 1497; S. A. Gay Alliance, last Wed., Metropolitan Commnty. Church, 102 S. Pine; Sierra Club, 3rd Tue., 341-5990; United Citizens Project Planning and Operating Corp. 224-4278. FORT WORTH ACLU, 534-6883; ACORN, \(11 924-1401, board meets mthly; Armadillo Coalition, 927-0808; Dist 10 Demos., 2nd Sat., 535-7803; First Friday, 1st Fri., 927-0808; F.W. Tenants’ Ccl., 9235071; IMPACT, \(telephone chain, works largely meets on call; Mental Heath Assn., 2nd & 4th Tue., 335-5405; NOW, 3rd Thu., 336-3943; Senatorial District 12 Demos., 2nd Sat. or 2nd Wed., 457-1560; Sierra Club, 3rd Wed., 923-9718; Tarrant Cty. Demo Women’s Club, 2nd Sat., 451-8133, 927-5169; Tues., 534-7737; Women’s Political Caucus, 1st Wed., 336-8700. THE ACLU American Civil Liberities Union chapters, not listed elsewhere: Dallas, 2001 McKinney, Suite 330; Denton, 387806-373-7200; Houston, 524-5925; Lubbock, 806765-8393; Rio Grande Valley, Bill Fulcher, 541-4874 3611; South Texas Project, Jim Harrington, 787At present there are not active chapters in Corpus Christi, East Texas or the Sabine LONE STAR ALLIANCE The Alliance is made up of member groups opposed to nuclear power. The groups, not listed elsewhere: Dallas: Armadillo Coalition, 1st Wed., 348-0005; Comanche Peak Life Force, Wed. wkly., 337-5885. Houston: Mockingbird Alliance, 747-1837. Bryan: Brazos Society for Alternatives to Nuclear Energy, 822-1882. Nacogdoches: Pineywoods Coalition, 218 W. Austin St. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Contact persons for Amnesty International in Texas; Dallas, U.S. Group 189, Renee Berta, 915584-4869, and Group 205, William H. Winn, 214361-4690; Houston, Group 23, Ann Chastang, 6006 Saxon, Houston 77092, and Eileen at 869-5021, x42; Beaumont, Group 221, Karen Dweyer, 420 Longmeadow, Beaumont 77707; Regional membership coordinator, Rita Williamson, 512-441-8078 18 JULY 24, 1981