California Grape Boycott
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Although an “effective protest doesn’t require a majority,” it does require a high level of integrity, which the United Farm Workers lacks. If Chavez were correct and he had inflicted damage on the table grape industry, farm workers would be out of work. Workers have in fact, however, just completed the most successful harvest in the California table grape industry’s history. Unlike other years, in 1990 farmers were selling grapes directly to retailers.
According to UFW records submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, the union has spent more than $10 million to promote its 6-year-old grape boycott. The boycott is a failure because farm workers have not supported the union’s effort. The industry has experienced peace and harmony with its 50,000 workers.
The UFW is not the union it pretends to be, but a badly wrecked relic of the past. Farmers are not rushing to pull out vines or sign UFW contracts; farm workers are not lining up to join the UFW.
ADAM ORTEGA
Grape Workers & Farmers Coalition
Los Angeles
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