History Echoes as Farm Workers Rally for Bill

Thousands of farm workers rallied at the state Capitol on Sunday, passionately pressing their case for legislation that would profoundly transform the relationship between laborers and growers in California.

The farm workers and their supporters, concluding a 150-mile march through the Central Valley that evoked the historic campaigns led by the late Cesar Chavez, called on Gov. Gray Davis to sign a bill that is forcing the governor to choose between the state’s biggest business and his labor base.

“Gov. Davis, don’t do the wrong thing, because we will remember it!” shouted Dolores Huerta, the fiery co-founder of the United Farm Workers, as UFW flags fluttered and farm workers and their families cheered.

The confrontation is over SB 1736, a Senate bill that would arm farm workers with a mighty hammer: the right to binding arbitration in contract negotiations with growers.

The UFW says the bill is needed to fulfill the original vision of the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act, signed in 1975. The union contends that the law has been thwarted by growers who have exploited loopholes to avoid signing union contracts. Leaders say Davis can fulfill the law’s intent and deliver long-overdue justice to poor farm workers by signing SB 1736.

Growers, however, say the bill is a draconian remedy that would drive many California farms out of business. They are asking Davis to veto the bill, and signals from administration insiders suggest the governor will do just that.

Behind that debate is a larger tug of history, one that the farm workers are summoning as they urge Davis to sign the bill. In 1975, Cesar Chavez and his United Farm Workers were on the march and Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown was poised to change the course of California social history with the stroke of his pen.

Then, Gray Davis was Brown’s chief of staff, a good guy in the eyes of many farm workers and their supporters, a man on the right side of history and social justice. Now, 27 years later, a resurgent UFW is once again appealing to Davis--onetime lieutenant to one of California’s most liberal chief executives and a politician who has proudly charted a centrist course in his own tenure as governor.

Davis aides say the governor is torn by the dilemma presented by his conflicting desires to be a friend to the UFW while still supporting the state’s largest industry. They have not definitively said that Davis will veto the bill, but have stressed his previous support for farm workers and organized labor--leading some to conclude that the administration is trying to prepare its labor allies for a disappointment.

Critics of the governor say there is a cold political calculation to Davis’ angst: Unions are the single biggest source of campaign cash for Davis, although the working-poor members of the UFW aren’t major donors. But the growers, too, have contributed heavily to the Davis reelection campaign. Indeed, Davis attended a fund-raiser held by growers the day before the Legislature gave final approval to the arbitration bill.

The UFW says that if Davis allows conscience--rather than cash--to govern his decision, he will sign the bill.

“It should be a no-brainer for a governor who sat next to Jerry Brown during the signing of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, understanding the need that the farm workers have,” said Arturo Rodriguez, UFW president and the son-in-law of Chavez.

Sen. John Burton (D-San Francisco), the bill’s author and Davis’ reliable liberal adversary in the Legislature, is even blunter.

“It’s a clear thing, a choice between farm workers and the big money in agriculture,” Burton said in an interview. A Davis veto “will do irreparable harm to his relationship with the Legislature. There’s going to be a price.”

Farm workers say the evidence is clear that the current law isn’t working as envisioned: Of the 428 elections the union has won since the law was passed in 1975, only 158 contracts with growers have been signed--a rate much lower than in other industries, the UFW says. Growers attribute the lack of contracts to the union’s negotiating ineptitude, an allegation that the union describes as racist.

UFW spokesman Marc Grossman says a Ventura case involving Pictsweet Mushroom Farms is a “poster child” for the grower tactics that make SB 1736 a necessity.

Shortly after the 1975 law was signed, a majority of workers at the Ventura farm voted for UFW representation. The company and workers agreed on a contract that guaranteed incremental raises and medical benefits.

In 1987, however, Tennessee-based United Foods Inc. bought the bankrupt Ventura farm and convinced workers to accept pay cuts and a temporary suspension of the union contract.

Ever since, the UFW has been trying to negotiate a contract with Pictsweet. And after 15 years, workers say they have nothing to show for their efforts.

“When it comes to negotiating the core things like wages, pensions and medical benefits, the negotiations just stop,” said Manuel Salomon, 59, who has worked at the Ventura farm for 22 years and earns about $23,000 a year picking mushrooms in dangerous, cave-like conditions. “The lawyer for the company would just get mad, say, We’ll see you later,’ and set a date real far in the future for the next negotiations.”

Pictsweet did not return calls seeking a comment for this story. The company and its parent have declined to comment on the arbitration bill and the Ventura labor dispute in recent months.

Farm workers and their supporters say the bill’s passage would force companies like Pictsweet to negotiate in good faith or face the possibility of having a contract imposed by an arbitrator.

“This is a simple bill, closing the loophole so that when these people vote for union representation they can sign a contract and therefore have a little more dignity in their lives,” said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Panoroma City), the son of a farm worker and one of several legislators who have demonstrated their support for the bill in recent days by participating in the UFW march, fasts and vigils.

“Right now, we don’t have an equal playing field, and some growers are not acting in good faith,” he said.

Growers say the 1975 farm labor law already gives workers the legal power to punish farm owners if they refuse to bargain in good faith with workers seeking a union contract--power that farm workers say the growers have rendered useless with endless legal challenges.

“This is a pretty profound bill with an incredible impact for the industry,” said Mike Webb, a lobbyist for the Western Growers Assn., which represents 3,500 growers. “We’re hoping that the powers that be will see through all the propaganda and see the true facts of this bill, which would drive up costs and cause family farms to go out of business.”

Davis aides, perhaps preparing farm workers for a veto, are circulating a two-page list of bills on Latino and labor issues--including some UFW-sponsored bills--the governor has signed into law over the last four years. One honors the birthday of Cesar Chavez.

“The governor has been with the UFW down the line,” said Davis spokesman Steven Maviglio.

But, for the moment, at least, all that seems like ancient history to UFW members and their impassioned supporters. Davis suddenly finds himself facing the sort of pressure tactics once used so effectively to shame the conservative status quo and Republican politicians.

At Sunday’s rally, a string of erstwhile Davis allies--ranging from UFW leaders to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante--took aim at the governor.

Bustamante, who usually avoids taking issue with the governor in public, said the choice for Davis is simple: “Justice over injustice, people over money.”

His voice rising in a thundering crescendo, Bustamante pointedly challenged Davis: “Sign the bill that justice demands! It wouldn’t take much, just one stroke of the pen, and the burden of many families would be lightened!”

As the political chess game moves into its final stages, Burton, the UFW’s chief political patron in Sacramento, is threatening Davis with political Armageddon should he veto the bill.

On Friday, the fire-breathing Burton summoned reporters to the Capitol to denounce the governor and his aides. Placing his hand on a Bible for dramatic effect, the famously profane senator swore that the governor had never asked him to hold back or soften the UFW bill.

Davis aides angrily refute Burton’s assertion.

They point out that Davis stated explicitly a year ago, as he signed a bill cracking down on growers and labor contractors who refuse to pay farm workers, that he wouldn’t consider any major farm labor legislation until the new law had been fully implemented and its effect assessed.

Aides also say administration officials have repeatedly advised UFW lobbyists and Burton staff members over the last several months that the governor “has a problem” with any bill that grants binding arbitration to farm workers, said Susan Kennedy, the governor’s deputy chief of staff and cabinet secretary.

“I think everyone agrees there’s a problem” with the existing law, said Kennedy. “Getting a balanced solution on something this monumental with the state’s largest industry is going to require a lot of work, with all the parties at the table.”

Burton and UFW leaders plan to keep the pressure on Davis in the days ahead, playing on the symbolic potency of the farm-worker cause.

“The UFW occupies a unique place in the Hispanic community,” said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at Claremont Graduate University. “It’s been an issue that many Hispanics throughout the state have been able to unite behind. This is really one of these issues that’s symbolic, and you can’t underestimate the power of symbolism.”

Melinda Guzman, chairman of the board of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, says a veto isn’t likely to seriously damage Davis’ standing with Latinos, because of his overall record on issues of importance to the community.

But other experts warn that killing SB 1736 could become political baggage that Davis carries for the rest of his career.

“I think the disappointment will be remembered by many Latinos, so if the governor faces a close run in the future or runs for higher office, it will be brought up,” said Pachon.

“I think it will reinforce the image among some in the Latino community that the governor is a very political animal, and he raises his finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.”

The governor may hope to soften the disappointment of a veto on the farm workers bill by signing another bill of importance to the Latino community, AB 60, which would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

Davis aides say the governor will face criticism, regardless of what he does. Quietly, he is trying to convince the rival camps to sit down to find a compromise, aides say.

“This is really tough for him because the governor is close to the UFW,” Kennedy said.

As the pressure mounts, Davis refuses to say what he will do. Appearing at the state fair in Sacramento Thursday, he sidestepped questions about his intentions, but went out of his way to pay homage to farm workers.

“All I want to say is that we owe a great debt of gratitude to the farm workers in this state who put the food on our table, working under the most difficult circumstances on the planet,” Davis said. “We all ought to say a little prayer at night to thank them for the extraordinary, difficult work they do, day in, day out.”

For farm workers like Manuel Salomon, a prayer isn’t enough.

“If he doesn’t sign it this time, we will keep pushing,” said Salomon, the Pictsweet worker, who drove six hours from Ventura to Sacramento to join the UFW vigil outside the Capitol this past week. “There will be more legislation and more pressure.”

Times staff writer Dan Morain contributed to this report.