Call For End To 1935 Exclusion Of Nations Farmworkers and Domestics From Protections Of NLRB
LABOR JUSTICE ANNOUNCEMENT - WE INVITE YOUR PARTICIPATION - THANK YOU! - CO-FOUNDERS, JERRY COHEN & LEROY CHATFIELD LABOR JUSTICE Message from LeRoy Chatfield & Jerry Cohen
When we published Jerry Cohen’s letter to Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, calling for an end to the 1935 exclusion of our nation’s farmworkers and domestics from the rights and protections of the National Labor Relations Act, we did not know what reaction to expect. Were we alone we asked each other? Now we know! The wave of positive reaction can be summed up in three words, “it’s about time!” One domestic worker said it in one word, “finally!”
Today, Cesar Chavez Day 2009, we launch a national initiative to reverse 74 years of government-sanctioned racial and economic discrimination directed at farmworkers and domestics. As our letter to Hilda Solis stated, “if not now, when?”
We are not alone – the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC) and Teamster Local 890 (Salinas) are co-sponsors. These are the heroes who work every day helping to empower and organize farmworkers and domestics. In addition, 222 like-minded and committed people from 25 states have already written to us asking to be included as founding members of LABOR JUSTICE.
We are not naïve. Calling for a national initiative to erase racial discrimination and bring justice to farmworkers and domestics is easy, but as Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from his jail cell in Birmingham, the work of developing the constructive and nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth to right these wrongs will be difficult, but it can be done!
Empowered by the words of Dr. King, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice,” we look forward to the day when this last vestige of slavery and segregation will forever be erased from our nation’s history.
¡SI SE PUEDE!
Now down to business! We need 1000 Founding Members for LABOR JUSTICE. Today, we have 222. Will you come in with us? Can we count on you? Are you willing to speak out against this government-sanctioned racial discrimination directed at farmworkers and domestics?
If your answer is YES! – email laborjustice2009@hotmail.com. Give us your NAME, your TITLE or OCCUPATION, your CITY & STATE. - - WE WILL RESPOND.
LABOR JUSTICE Mission Statement:
The 1935 exclusion of farmworkers and domestics from the protections of the National Labor Relations Act is one of our nation’s last vestiges of slavery and segregation. Now is the time to bring labor justice to farmworkers and domestics by including them in a reformed, fair and workable Act.
LABOR JUSTICE Disclaimer:
(1) It is not the responsibility of LABOR JUSTICE to write the words of federal legislation to include farmworkers and domestics in the National Labor Relations Act. When that time comes – hopefully, as a result of our national initiative – the task of writing/negotiating the words of legislation will be the responsibility of those, such as FLOC and the National Domestic Worker Alliance and others, who throughout this nation work day-to-day organizing/helping farmworkers and domestics. (2) LABOR JUSTICE is a volunteer organization and will remain so.
LABOR JUSTICE Founding Members (a work in progress):
* (institutions listed for identification purposes only, no endorsement is implied)
Douglass Adair Pato's Dream Date Gardens Thermal CA Rudy Ahumada CFO Loaves & Fishes Sacramento CA Jose Celso de Castro Alves Assistant Professor of History and Black Studies Amherst MA Lupe Anguiano Executive Director, Stewards of the Earth Oxnard CA Jose Artiga Executive Director, SHARE Foundatin Washington DC J. Camilo Artiga-Purcell University of San Francisco Law School San Francisco CA David Averbuck Jazz Disc Jockey at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Radio Station New Orleans LA Joaquin Avila Assistant Professor of Law, Seattle University School of Law Seattle WA Elfie Ballis Co-Director/Producer SunMt Movement Multimedia Center Prather CA Maia Ballis Co-Director/Producer SunMt Movement Multimedia Center Prather CA Frank Bardacke Adult School Teacher Watsonville CA Richard Barrera Vice-President, San Diego Unified School District San Diego CA Alejandro Beltran Attorney New York NY Denise Bergez Development Officer Oakland CA Ana Maria Bidegain Associate Professor Florida International University Miami FL Jeff Blum Washington DC Pat Blumenthal Jewish Communal Professional Denver CO Paul Booth Washington DC Heather Booth President, Midwest Academy Washington DC Rev. Gene Boutilier Minister, United Church of Christ Claremont CA Tim Bowman Lecturer/Ph.D. Candidate Southern Methodist University Dallas TX Msgr. Eugene J. Boyle Palo Alto CA Gregory Boyle, SJ Founder and Executive Directory Homeboy Industries Los Angeles CA Jeffrey S. Brand Dean/ Professor of Law, University of San Francisco Law School San Francisco CA Msgr. John Brenkle Pastor, St. Helena Parish St. Helena CA Jerry Brown Attorney General, State of California Sacramento CA Jerry B. Brown, Ph.D. Founding Professor, Florida International University Miami FL John Burton California Senate ProTem (Ret.) San Francisco CA Roberto Bustos Captain, 1966 March To Sacramento/Delano Grape Striker Tulare CA Mary Quinn Byrne, Ph.D. Field Education Coordinator, Salem State College Cambridge MA Roberto R. Calderón, Ph.D. Associate Professor, History, University of North Texas Denton TX Duane Campbell Professor Bilingual/Multicultural Education Sacrament State Univ. Sacramento CA Terence Cannon Retired Writer/ Activist Santa Monica CA Mike Casey President, UNITE-HERE San Francisco CA Jim Cassell Founder Berkeley Agency Berkeley CA Carlos Castaneda Student, Santa Ana College Santa Ana CA Bill Chandler MIRA! Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance Jackson MS LeRoy Chatfield Co-Founder LABOR JUSTICE / www.farmworkermovement.us Sacramento CA Federico "Freddy" Chavez Administrative Law Judge California Unemployment Insurance Oakland CA Boren Chertkov Former General Counsel, CA Agricultural Labor Relations Board Sacramento CA Ed Chiera Union Consultant Oakland CA Sherri Chiesa Executive Vice-President HERE-UNITE San Francisco CA Emmon M. Clarke Retired Rohnert Park CA Mike Clements Vice-President, Justice In Education Fullerton CA Gary Clements, Esq. New Orleans LA Jerry Cohen Attorney / Co-Founder LABOR JUSTICE Carmel CA Marc Coleman Law Offices of Marc Coleman Long Beach CA Kate Colwell MD Kensington CA Ernie Cortes Southwest Regional Director, Industrial Areas Foundation Austin TX Guy Costello Milwaukee WI Gerry Cox Director, Anderson Valley Farmworker Housing Association Navarro CA Kathleen Cox Vice-President, Anderson Valley Farmworker Housing Association Navarro CA Sister Mary Ann Coyle Loretto Community/ Editor, Loretto Earth Network News Denver CO Sister Mary Ann Cunningham SL Loretto Women's Network/Editor, CouRAGE Denver CO Ron D'Aloisio Consultant - Education & Organizing Ashland OR Bob Datz Marketing Communications and Publicity Consultant Brimfield MA Amin David Los Amigos of Orange County Santa Ana CA Susan Packer Davis/Hille Esq. Director, Concord High School Santa Monica CA Mark R. Day Day Productions Vista CA Petra DeJesus Attorney San Francisco CA Margaret Dolan MD Family Doctor Chicago IL Sister Diane Donoghue SSS Sister of Social Service Development Officer Los Angeles CA Maria Echaveste Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton Berkeley CA Christopher Edley, Jr. Dean and Orrick Professor of Law, Boalt Hall UC Berkeley Berkeley CA Donald B. Edwards Retired Ajijic MX Ellen J. Eggers Public Defender Sacramento CA Sister Marie L. Ego Loretto Community Lakewood CO Jean Eilers Community Organizer SEIU Local 49 Portland OR Elaine Elinson Editor San Francisco CA Nancy Elliott Santa Cruz CA Berny Enriquez Organizer, SEIU-UHW Santa Ana CA Alberto Escalante Organizer/Political-Social Cartoonist/Graphic Artist Port Hueneme CA Martin Espada Poet Amherst MA Bob Everts Co-President, Equal Exchange Cambridge MA Joseph J. Fahey, Ph.D. Chair, Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice New York NY Mike Farrell Actor / Producer / Author Los Angeles CA Francis Fernandez Lawyer San Francisco CA Dr. Jason M. Ferreira Assistant Professor, Race and Resistance Studies, SFSU San Francisco CA Alfredo Costa Figueroa Author: "Ancient Footprints of the Colorado River" Blythe CA R. Michael Flynn Labor/Employment Law Attorney Oakland CA Lotus Yee Fong Caregiver San Francisco CA Larry Francis Teacher Applegate OR Linda Fullerton Attorney Point Richmond CA Herman Gallegos Founding Executive Director, National Council of La Raza Galt CA Guadalupe Gamboa Labor Attory Seattle WA Marshall Ganz Lecturer in Public Policy Harvard Kennedy School Cambridge MA Jesus Garcia Founding President, Latino Policy Forum Chicago IL Jose Gomez Member of Faculty, Evergreen State College Olympia WA Jim Gonzalez Former San Francisco Supervisor Sacramento CA Jennifer Gordon Law Professor, Fordham Law School New York NY John Govea On Behalf of Jessica Govea and Govea Family NJ Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL Executive Coordinator, National Coalition of American Nuns Mt. Ranier MD Julie Greenfield School Nurse Castro Valley CA James N. Gregory Professor, Department of History, University of Washington Seattle WA Victor Griego President, Diverse Strategies For Organizing Los Angeles CA Elise Salaam Guillot Teacher Angwin CA Gary Hamelin Professor, Southern Maine Community College South Portland ME Rev. Chris Hartmire Former Director, National Farm Worker Ministry Claremont CA Sister Kathleen Healy Sisters of the Presentation San Francisco CA Zeke Hernandez LULAC Santa Ana CA Fred Hirsch Executive Board/Delegate, South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council San Jose CA Suzanne Holland Ph.D. Chair, Department of Relgion, University of Puget Sound Tacoma WA Jack Holmgren Center for Citizenship and Immigration Communities Monterey CA George D. Horwitz Author Chapel Hill NC Father Ken Irrang Retired Catholic Priest St. Cloud MI Kathleen H. Jackson Teacher San Anselmo CA Fahari Jeffers Co-Founder, Past Secretary-Treasurer United Domestic Workers Spring Valley CA Charles Jefferson Project Manager Mascoutah IL Nick Jones Chief Negotiator, SEIU Local 1021 Oakland CA Olivia Flores Jourdane Educator, Cesar Chavez Service Club San Diego CA Hon. Maurice Jourdane (Ret) San Diego CA Mary Quinn Kambic Catholic Labor Network/Adjunct Professor Baltimore City CC Baltimore MD Peter Kardas Director, Labor Education & Research Center, Evergreen State Olympia WA Ron Kaye Former Editor Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles CA Mary Keller Assistant Director Programs and Services, San Francisco State U. San Francisco CA Jackie Kendall Executive Director, Midwest Academy Chicago IL Elizabeth Keogh Former UFW Volunteer/Retired Social Worker Bakersfield CA Rev. Charles Kyle, Ph.D. Priest and Educator Chicago IL Ellen Lake Attorney Oakland CA Sister Maribeth Larkin, SSS Organizer, Industrial Areas Foundation Los Angeles CA Daniel C. Lavery Retired Civil Rights Attorney Granada Hills CA Ken Leap Retired Merced CA Carlos E. LeGerrette Executive Director, Cesar Chavez Service Club San Diego CA Linda LeGerrette Deputy Director, Cesar Chavez Service Club San Diego CA Carolyn Lopez MD Family Doctor Chicago IL Mary Fran Lottes Professor of Theology Nerinx KY Emma Lozano Executive Director, Centro Sin Fronteras Chicago IL Dianna Lyons Lawyer with Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley, PLC Oakland CA Cardinal Roger Mahony Los Angeles Archdiocese Los Angeles CA Sister Mary Ann McGivern, SL Loretto Community St.Louis MO Jessica McGuire Public Defender Sacramento CA Dick Meister Freelance columnist San Francisco CA Sue Minor National Farmworker Ministry Los Angeles CA Ramon Miramontes Dean, Los Angeles Community College District Pasadena CA Bill Monning Assembly Member 27th Assembly District Monterey CA Shelley Moskowitz Public Interest Advocate Washington DC Isadora Moura Mota Archivist Amherst MA Rev. John Moyer United Church of Christ ME Patrick Mullins Filmmaker/Educator El Paso TX Marcos Munoz Original Striker for the United Farm Workers Chicago IL Andrea O'Malley Munoz Retired, Health Care Administrator Chicago IL Alderman Ricardo Munoz Chicago City Council Chicago IL Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr. Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley Albany CA Cathy Murphy Photographer Bisbee AZ Margaret Murphy RN Case Manager Milwaukee WI Thomas Nagle Retired Deputy Labor Commission, State of California San Diego CA George Nee Secretary-Treasurer Rhode Island AFL-CIO Providence RI Rev. Donald Nevins Pastor, St. Agnes of Bohemia Chicago IL Gavin Newsom Mayor of San Francisco San Francisco CA Denise O'Malley Educator Brockton MA Jack Ortega Former California State Legislative Advocate, MAPA San Rafael CA Gilbert C. Padilla Co-Founder/Former Secretary-Treasurer United Farm Workers Fresno CA Esther N. Padilla Former Council Member, City of Fresno Fresno CA Alison Pease Public Defender Davis CA Sister Lydia M. Pena, SL Educator/Fundraiser, Sisters of Loretto Denver CO Professor Juan F. Perea University of Florida School of Law Gainseville FL Julio Perez Orange County Federation of Labor Santa Ana CA Janis Peterson Educator El Cerrito CA Berlinda Phillips Civil Rights Officer Denair CA Denise Plunkett Counselor for Gambling Addictions Chicago IL Sally Kelly Porter Retired School Teacher Hinghan MA Esther Preciado Legal Secrtary/Worker Benicia CA Luz Prieto Widow of Dr. Jorge Prieto Chicago IL Sister Mary Priniski OP MidAtlantic Chapter Prioress, Adrian Dominicans Roswell GA Carolyn Purcell Nurse Mountain View CA Eileen Purcell SEIU Organizer San Francisco CA Michael B. Reagan Graduate Student, San Francisco State University San Francisco CA Adam Reich Ph.D. Student Sociology, UC Berkeley Berkeley CA Clint Reilly Clint Reilly Holdings San Francisco CA Eric Reyes Executive Director, Institute for Socio-Economic Justice, Inc. Brawley CA Alex A. Reza Educator Newhall CA Abby F. Rivera Library Literacy Kingsburg CA David Robinson Executive Director, Pax Christi Eerie PA Al Rojas VP, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement AFL-CIO Sacramento CA Rev. Juan Romero Catholic Priest Palm Springs CA Fred Ross Jr. SEIU Organizer Berkeley CA Sal Rosselli Interim President National Union of Healthcare Workers San Francisco CA Sarah Ryan Member of Faculty, Evergreen State College Olympia WA Frances Ryan Social Worker Ashland OR Juan Salgado Director, Instituto del Progresso Latino Chicago IL Mary Helen Sandoval Co-Member, Sisters of Loretto Denver CO Alfredo Rodriguez Santos c/s Editor, La Voz Newspapers Austin TX Paul Schrade Union/Community Organizer (60 years)/UAW Local 887 Los Angeles CA Arthur Z. Schwartz General Counsel of ACORN New York NY Ken Seaton-Msemaji Founder/Past President United Domestic Workers of America San Diego CA Reuben Serna Photographer/ Retired Union Representative Sacramento CA Teresa Sharpe Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology, UC Berkeley Berkeley CA Mark Sharwood UFW Volunteer 1976-1982/SEIU Local 1877 Sacramento CA Randy Shaw Activist and Author San Francisco CA George Sheridan Teacher Garden Valley CA Jean Stokan Policy Director, Pax Christi Washington DC David J. Stump Professor San Francisco CA Jeff Sweetland Attorney Milwaukee WI Hugh Tague Self-Employed/Not Affiliated With Any Church or Union Souderton PA Peter Tappeiner Volunteer Organizer, National Union of Healthcare Workers San Francisco CA Ron Taylor Author: "Chavez and the Farmworkers" & "Sweatshops in the Sun" Walnut Creek CA Dorothy Taylor Teacher and Education Consultant Walnut Creek CA Rick Tejada-Flores Filmmaker Emeryville CA Harriet Teller Manager Stewardship/Events University of Michigan Library Ann Arbor MI Raymond Telles Filmmaker Oakland CA Ken Thorbourne Editor, The Jersey Journal Hudson County West Orange NJ Fern Tiger Professor and President, Fern Tiger Associates Oakland CA Helen Tirben Gift Shop Manager Napa CA Senator Art Torres (Ret.) Chairman, California Democratic Party San Francisco CA Larry Tramutola CEO/President Tramutola Company Oakland CA Sister Hilda Molina Urrea St. Agnes of Bohemia Chicago IL Luis Miguel Valdez Filmmaker & Playwright/ Founding Artistic Dtr El Teatro Campesino San Juan Bautista CA Lupe Trujillo Valdez Screenwriter & Producer/Founding Member El Teatro Campesino San Juan Bautista CA David Valladolid President & CEO Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) San Diego CA Teresa Pasqual Valladolid Coordinator, Change That Works Campaign SEIU Local 221 San Diego CA Julie Van Pelt Writer/Editor Port Townsend WA Don Villarejo Founder/Director Emeritus California Institute for Rural Studies Davis CA Father Louie Vitale OFM Franciscan Province of Santa Barbara Peace and Justice San Francisco CA Eula Walsh Retired Educator Boston MA Don Watson Bay Area Labor History Workshop Oakland CA Ellen Widess Rosenberg Foundation San Francisco CA Chris Woods Washington DC Kriss Worthington Berkeley City Council Berkeley CA Fr. Robert Wright, OMI Catholic Priest / Professor San Antonio TX Richard M. Ybarra Senior Consultant, Ybarra Company Public Affairs San Diego CA Albert "Abby" Ybarra Environmental Education Specialist-Organizer Chesapeake Beach MD Daniel Ybarra Attorney San Diego CA
LABOR JUSTICE Co-Sponsors: (a work in progress):
NATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS ALLIANCE (NDWA) CO-SPONSOR LABOR JUSTICE New York NY Mujeres Unidas Y Activas (NDWA) San Francisco CA POWER (NDWA) San Francisco CA San Francisco Day Labor Program Women's Collective of La Raza Central Legal (NDWA) San Francisco CA Filipinos for Affirmative Action (NDWA) Oakland CA Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (NDWA) Los Angeles CA Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California (NDWA) Los Angeles CA CASA de Maryland (NDWA) Silver Spring MD Damayan Migrant Workers Association (NDWA) New York NY Domestic Workers United (NDWA) Bronx NY Unity Housecleaners Cooperative (NDWA) Hempstead NY Las Mujeres de Santa Maria (NDWA) Staten Island NY Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (NDWA) New York NY Andolan (South Asian Workers) (NDWA) Jackson Heights NY Houston Interfaith Worker Justice (NDWA) Houston TX Southwest Workers Union (NDWA) San Antonio TX CASA Latina (NDWA) Seattle WA Centro Humanitario (NDWA) Denver CO Fuerza Laboral (NDWA) Central Falls RI Wage Theft Task Force (NDWA) Miami FL Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (NDWA) Miami FL South Florida Jobs With Justice (NDWA) Miami FL FARM LABOR ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, AFL-CIO (FLOC) - Baldemar Velasquez, Founder TEAMSTER LOCAL 890 (Salinas) - Cresencio Diaz, President
Please visit www.farmworkermovement.us
Farmworker Movement Documentation Project
LeRoy Chatfield, Director
5131 Pleasant Drive, Sacramento, CA 95822