Farm Workers See Union as Big Benefit

In what they contend is the first such study of its kind, researchers report finding that most farm workers in the San Joaquin Valley see the farm labor movement led by Cesar Chavez as their best bet for improving their lives.

A survey conducted last summer by researchers for the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis indicated that farm workers in Central California see the labor movement, particularly the United Farm Workers of America, as being highly beneficial.

The survey was conducted in Tulare and Kern counties under the direction of W. Kenneth Barger, chairman of the Anthropology Department.

“I could not believe this type of study had not been done before,” Barger said.

“Before this study, the main information we had about farm labor came from people who were not farm workers,” he said. “Our study was the first one to involve actual farm workers and it is the first to adequately document their views about the farm labor movement.”

In the two months the survey was under way, 195 farm workers, mostly grape workers, were interviewed by researchers.

“We talked to a wide cross section of workers, both union and non-union,” Barger said. “We conducted the interviews in both English and Spanish and made sure we got workers in varied situations.”

He said 138 of the workers interviewed were from the local area and 57 were migrant workers. Twenty-eight per cent were workers at ranches under United Farm Worker contracts and 72% worked at non-union ranches.

Most Backed Union

“Most of them endorsed the United Farm Workers Union and believe the union offers the best alternative for improving their lives,” Barger said.

He said 83% of those interviewed said they think that the union’s efforts and activities have improved the lives of both union and non-union farm laborers.

“A majority of the farm workers think they have poor living and working conditions, compared to other workers,” Barger said.

He said more than half of the workers believe that they are mistreated by employers or supervisors in the fields.

“More than half of them complained about discrimination,” Barger said.

He said the workers covered by UFW collective bargaining agreements expressed more satisfaction with work benefits such as wages, medical insurance, paid vacations and retirement, than did non-union workers.

UFW spokesman Roberto De La Cruz said from the union’s headquarters in Keene, Calif., that Chavez and other union officials were not surprised by the survey results.

“It was no real surprise to us because I think the workers were allowed to answer the survey questions without being intimidated by growers or supervisors,” De La Cruz said. “The workers know the union has been on the forefront over the last 20 years in fighting for a better life for them.”