Don't use us and dump us.That's the message dozens of farmworkers plan to deliver to Republican California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on Tuesday at a protest scheduled to take place at Whitman's Los Angles and Cupertino headquarters.
Whitman supports a guest-worker program to temporarily import hundreds of workers to work on the nation's farms, but opposes a measure that would allow them to remain in the U.S. legally.
Whitman's critics say that's tantamount to legal slavery.
Many of the workers will carry signs that say "I am Nicky." The slogan alludes to Whitman's former housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan. Santillan alleges Whitman knowingly hired her even though she was an illegal immigrant, refused to pay some of her wages, and summarily fired her to prevent political damage.
The issue threatens to siphon valuable Latino votes from the Republican candidate. Although Whitman has spent millions wooing Hispanics in the Spanish-language media, the fact remains that her immigration stance is much less forgiving of illegal immigrants. And that issue resonates with Latinos, many of whom have relatives, friends, or neighbors who are undocumented, according to surveys.
According to the Keene-based United Farm Workers, the union founded by labor leader Cesar Chavez, many of the newly imported agricultural guest workers under Whitman's plan would not return home after their legal employment finished. That was the case with many workers during the 1942-1964 bracero program and under the existing H2A agricultural guest worker program.
Former state Governor Jerry Brown, who supported Chavez and the UFW since the 1970s, skewered Whitman's plan in a Fresno debate last week.
“You don't just bring in semiserfs and say do our dirty work, and then [tell them] we're finished with you like an orange and just throw it away,” he said. “That's after you've squeezed it. That's not right!”
Brown supports the bipartisan Ag JOBS bill, negotiated by the UFW and the nation’s growers, which would give farm workers the opportunity to earn legalization by continuing to work in agriculture for a certain amount of time.
Information about the UFW is available here:
Many of the workers will carry signs that say "I am Nicky." The slogan alludes to Whitman's former housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan. Santillan alleges Whitman knowingly hired her even though she was an illegal immigrant, refused to pay some of her wages, and summarily fired her to prevent political damage.
The issue threatens to siphon valuable Latino votes from the Republican candidate. Although Whitman has spent millions wooing Hispanics in the Spanish-language media, the fact remains that her immigration stance is much less forgiving of illegal immigrants. And that issue resonates with Latinos, many of whom have relatives, friends, or neighbors who are undocumented, according to surveys.
According to the Keene-based United Farm Workers, the union founded by labor leader Cesar Chavez, many of the newly imported agricultural guest workers under Whitman's plan would not return home after their legal employment finished. That was the case with many workers during the 1942-1964 bracero program and under the existing H2A agricultural guest worker program.
Former state Governor Jerry Brown, who supported Chavez and the UFW since the 1970s, skewered Whitman's plan in a Fresno debate last week.
“You don't just bring in semiserfs and say do our dirty work, and then [tell them] we're finished with you like an orange and just throw it away,” he said. “That's after you've squeezed it. That's not right!”
Brown supports the bipartisan Ag JOBS bill, negotiated by the UFW and the nation’s growers, which would give farm workers the opportunity to earn legalization by continuing to work in agriculture for a certain amount of time.
Information about the UFW is available here:
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