Rose Bird
* Re “Rose Bird Eulogized for Compassion, Strength,” Jan. 10:
Rose Bird is well known for her principled opposition to the death penalty, which ultimately led to her ouster from the California Supreme Court. But she should be remembered as well for authoring the most significant farm labor law in this country. Before she wrote the controversial Agricultural Labor Relations Act, farm workers had no legal protection when they organized to bargain collectively. Violence and intimidation in the fields were commonplace; farm workers were among the most oppressed workers in our society.
Many of us who worked for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board in the early days paid tribute to Bird last Sunday. Thousands of farm workers in California now have decent wages, benefits and other protections because of Bird.
MARJORIE COHN
Associate Professor
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
San Diego
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