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Support Dairy Farm Workers!Join Dolores Huerta: Tell Sorrento to Stand Against Sexual Discrimination Information for this alert comes from the United
Farm Workers. For more information, contact: rcabrera@ufwmail.com. In this alert:
Background on struggle of dairy farmersOver the craggy Cascade Mountains , the arid plateau of eastern Oregon is a lonely landscape of sagebrush, power lines and ochre dust. Just south of the Columbia River , down a long narrow road, Threemile Canyon Farm stretches across 93,000 acres, housing 35,000 cows. This massive enterprise is one of the most extreme examples of the corporatization that has steadily been swallowing small dairies throughout the country. In just little over a decade, the number of dairies nationally has declined by half but the average size has increased by 73 percent. The federal government collects no statistics about dairy workers, no advocacy groups work solely for dairy worker protection, and federal law has lagged as family farms have been consolidated into corporate enterprises. This failure to develop and enforce even the most rudimentary health and safety standards goes unnoticed because immigrant workers are among the most exploitable members of the workforce. "Despite the fact that the conditions amount to near slavery, dairy workers tend to get ignored," says Brent Newell of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, based in San Francisco . "This industry is extremely powerful." And with consumers mostly concerned about the availability of cheap milk and cheese, there's no public clamor for an improvement of the dairy workers' labor conditions. Workers at Threemile Canyon Farm have been struggling to get a contract for the last 20 months. They have been the victims of harassment, retaliation, sex discrimination and ongoing workplace abuse. Read the letter below from the co-founder of the United Farm Workers, Dolores Huerta, about the struggle of the Threemile Canyon Farm workers and click on the link to the petition to Sorrento , a major marketer of cheese in the United States . back to top Letter from Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm WorkersDear Friends: I've spent my life fighting for farm worker and women's rights and you've always been there to support me. I ask you to take a stand now to help the dairy workers at Threemile Canyon Farms who have been struggling to get a contract for the last 20 months, by signing their online petition today. Workers have been the victims of harassment, retaliation, discrimination and ongoing workplace abuse. Of the 150 employees at this dairy, there are two women. It's hard to believe that's a coincidence. Last month, three women filed suit in Oregon against the dairies over sexual discrimination. They had all applied to work but were never been called for a job while men were hired. A fourth woman has joined the suit. These allegations of sexual discrimination are just the latest in a long list of abuses at Threemile Canyon Farms. Sorrento Lactalis, maker of Precious and Sorrento brand cheeses, currently receives milk produced by Threemile Canyon Farms. Sorrento has refused to use it's influence to help resolve this dispute despite requests from Threemile Canyon Farms customers such as Safeway who has called on Sorrento to sit down and negotiate in good faith with the workers' union, the United Farm Workers. Please make a difference for these workers. Sign the on-line petition calling on Sorrento to use its influence to resolve this situation. Also please pass this petition on to friends and family. A community delegation will join the workers as they hand the petition to the company on November 19. By signing this petition you will also send an email to Sorrento Lactalis. Thank you for always being there for "la causa". Dolores Huerta back to top Sign The Petition TODAY!Go to: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/DHdairy/s63u6irz7n8ekw Petition to be turned in on Nov. 19. |
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