"Please email Governor Davis today and ask him to sign SB 1736 "

[nefar559]

"
Tens of thousands of California farm workers never got what they voted for in state-conducted secret-ballot
elections: the union contracts that bring them fair wages, benefits and protections.

Farm workers have waited for years, sometimes decades, while growers drag out negotiations. Out of 428 companies where farm workers voted for the United Farm Workers since 1975, only 185 growers have signed contracts with the Cesar Chavez-founded union.

The existing remedy for bad-faith bargaining requires years of costly litigation. SB 1736, by state Senate leader John Burton, would replace litigation with mediation and arbitration.

SB 1736 simply grants all California farm workers the same right to binding arbitration that Gov. Davis and the Legislature conferred last year on backstretch workers at race tracks who are also classified as agricultural employees.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Too many farm workers never realized the promise of the original 1975 farm labor act.

For more information contact the UFW's Legislative and Political Department at 916-341-0612 and visit http://www.ufw.org/1contarb.htm for background information."


"Please send your e-mail today! Farm workers need your help getting what they voted for!

It passed the Senate and the Assembly. Now E-mail Governor Davis today and say please sign SB 1736! It's about fairness for farm workers!

You can take action on this alert either via email (please see directions below) or via the web at:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/SB_1736_Gov/k5d3i2pdem

Visit the web address below and tell your friends to take action and e-mail Gov. Davis today!Farm workers need your help!
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/SB_1736_Gov/forward/k5d3i2pdem

We encourage you to take action by September 6, 2002

It passed the Senate and the Assembly. Now E-mail Governor Davis today and say please sign SB 1736! "

 

[nefar559]

help out the farm workers! please email the governor,
from the link above.

 

[dboss]

Done did it..... Gotta support the farm worker to the real.....

 

[nefar559]

not to late to email davis




__________________

San Jose Mercury News


United Farm Workers offer Davis a compromise
UNION WILLING TO RELY ON MEDIATORS INSTEAD OF BINDING ARBITRATION
Posted on Thu, Aug. 29, 2002

By Dion Nissenbaum
Mercury News Sacramento Bureau


SACRAMENTO - In a bid to head off a veto by Gov. Gray Davis, the United Farm Workers offered Wednesday to abandon a controversial bill that would have given the union the right to force recalcitrant growers into binding arbitration in favor of a new measure that would instead rely on mediators to work out labor disputes.


While the proposal still needs to be fine-tuned, the UFW crafted the alternative after getting strong signals that the Democratic governor would veto the original binding arbitration bill that has become one of the most emotional issues to hit the Capitol this year.


The new plan might give Davis a face-saving way to avoid an embarrassing veto that would alienate his core liberal and labor supporters, but still ensure that the UFW gains more leverage in contract talks with California growers. California farmers, who have been major supporters of the governor's re-election campaign, have been urging Davis to reject the attempt to impose binding contract deals as an unfair burden on the industry.


UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said Wednesday that his union is prepared to shelve the first bill if Davis backs the alternative.


``It's a fair way to resolve some of the issues raised by the governor, and I would imagine some of the issues raised by the industry, to bring resolution to this -- if we're all acting in good faith,'' he said.


But there is no indication that the alternative plan will be any more palatable to Davis than the original bill.


``I don't know how well this is going to fare,'' said one administration official familiar with the negotiations.


Under the original bill by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, the UFW would have had the ability to push stalled contract talks with growers into mediation. If that process broke down, a deal could then be imposed on both sides by an independent arbitrator.


Farmers vehemently opposed SB 1736 and noted that only one other private industry in California -- horse racing -- is forced to use binding arbitration to resolve labor disputes.


The latest plan would instead place the decision-making power in the hands of a mediator, who would craft a contract that would have to be approved, rejected or revised within 10 days by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, the five-member board charged with overseeing the $27 billion industry.


Should either side object to the board's decision, they could take their case directly to the California Supreme Court. In an effort to appease growers, the proposal would also exempt farmers with fewer than 25 workers from the process.


The plan was the byproduct of marathon talks this week among the Davis administration, UFW and agricultural leaders designed to work out a compromise. But talks broke down when administration officials suggested that they impose a two-year limit on the program and limit the number of times the UFW could use the process.


``We're not sure what would be palatable to the governor, but I think at this point we would be uncomfortable with anything that wasn't a pilot program,'' said the administration official.


The issue has put Davis -- who is running for re-election -- in a political straitjacket. On one side, he is being pressured by major growers in the powerful industry who have been major contributors to his campaign. On the other side, he is facing open revolt from supporters who view the governor's decision as a bellwether for his commitment to the Democratic Party's liberal base.


When word surfaced that Davis might reject the bill, the UFW launched an 11-day, 160-mile march up the Central Valley that ended Sunday with a huge rally at the state Capitol.


Last week, Burton also warned Davis that rejecting the bill would be the biggest moral and political mistake of his career.


Contact Dion Nissenbaum at [email protected] or (916) 441-4603.



http://www.laweekly.com/ink/02/41/news-bradley.php