SF 1675

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing the strawberry industry to recognize and 
  1.3             respect the rights of strawberry workers. 
  1.4      
  1.5      WHEREAS, farm workers are an essential part of our nation's 
  1.6   food production system; and 
  1.7      WHEREAS, 75 percent of all strawberries shipped in the 
  1.8   United States in 1995 came from California; and 
  1.9      WHEREAS, the typical California strawberry worker earns 
  1.10  about $8,500 per season for as many as 12 hours of labor a day, 
  1.11  stooped over low berry plants; and 
  1.12     WHEREAS, despite record production levels and sales of 
  1.13  $650,000,000 per year in the strawberry industry, most 
  1.14  strawberry workers have not had a significant raise in ten 
  1.15  years, and the share of each dollar spent on strawberries that 
  1.16  is received by workers fell from 17.5 cents in 1985 to 9.2 cents 
  1.17  in 1995; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, strawberry workers' wages are so low that research 
  1.19  by the California Institute for Rural Studies found that raising 
  1.20  the price of a pint of strawberries by only five cents, if the 
  1.21  money went to the workers, would increase the average strawberry 
  1.22  worker's pay by 50 percent; and 
  1.23     WHEREAS, strawberry workers report that forepersons 
  1.24  sometimes demand sexual favors from workers in exchange for 
  2.1   employment; and 
  2.2      WHEREAS, after years of loyalty, workers must line up each 
  2.3   season to be rehired, and face firings on a whim; and 
  2.4      WHEREAS, sometimes there is no fresh drinking water in the 
  2.5   fields and the bathrooms are often filthy; and 
  2.6      WHEREAS, strawberry workers labor amid pesticides and 
  2.7   suffer chronic back injuries, but often have little or no health 
  2.8   insurance; and 
  2.9      WHEREAS, through their union, the United Farm Workers, 
  2.10  strawberry workers are fighting for justice and dignity, better 
  2.11  wages, and such basic protections as clean drinking water, 
  2.12  sanitary bathrooms, freedom from sexual harassment, health 
  2.13  insurance, and job security; and 
  2.14     WHEREAS, employers have responded by firing and 
  2.15  blacklisting workers who stand up for their rights, plowing 
  2.16  under fields when workers vote for union representation, and 
  2.17  selectively shutting down operations to discourage workers' 
  2.18  organizing efforts; and 
  2.19     WHEREAS, strawberry workers are asking consumers, grocery 
  2.20  store owners, and community and political leaders across the 
  2.21  nation to sign a pledge and pass resolutions supporting 
  2.22  strawberry workers' rights; and 
  2.23     WHEREAS, strawberry workers hope that these pledges and 
  2.24  resolutions, combined with the United Farm Workers' organizing 
  2.25  campaign, will convince the large corporations that control the 
  2.26  strawberry industry to negotiate in good faith and treat workers 
  2.27  fairly; and 
  2.28     WHEREAS, many consumer, environmental, human rights, labor, 
  2.29  and religious organizations, including the Consumer Federation 
  2.30  of America, the Sierra Club, the NAACP, the National Council of 
  2.31  La Raza, the Organization of Chinese Americans, the National 
  2.32  Organization of Women, the AFL-CIO, the Jewish Labor Committee, 
  2.33  and the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United 
  2.34  States have formed the National Strawberry Commission for 
  2.35  Workers' Rights to support fairness for strawberry workers; NOW, 
  2.36  THEREFORE, 
  3.1      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  3.2   that it supports the following rights for strawberry workers and 
  3.3   encourages the strawberry industry to recognize and respect 
  3.4   these rights:  a living wage, clean drinking water and bathrooms 
  3.5   in the fields, job security, health insurance, and freedom from 
  3.6   sexual harassment and other abuses. 
  3.7      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  3.8   State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  3.9   memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States 
  3.10  and the Governor of the State of California.