by News from the Farm Worker Movement
Thursday, Aug. 09, 2001 at 6:50 AM
Shouting "It can be done," an estimated 4,000 farm workers and
union supporters marched through Yakima to promote their campaign for
immigrant amnesty and better working conditions.
errorAugust 6, 2001
Thousands Fill Yakima Streets Published in the Yakima Herald-Republic on Monday, August 6, 2001
By MARK MOREY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
YAKIMA -- Shouting "It can be done," an estimated 4,000 farm workers and union supporters marched through Yakima to promote their campaign for immigrant amnesty and better working conditions.
"On this day all of you made history because this is the biggest march ever in the state of Washington," said Arturo Rodriguez, national president of the United Farm Workers of America and the son-in-law of legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez.
The crowd -- estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 marchers -- followed a three-mile route from Miller Park, down Yakima Avenue and back to the park. Along the way, a chorus of cheers arose in support of union solidarity. A truckload of injured workers led the procession.
After the march, speakers at a rally in the park voiced their backing for legislation introduced Thursday in both chambers of Congress to allow widespread amnesty for undocumented workers and their families in the United States.
For too long, speakers said, politicians have ignored working conditions and the reality that illegal immigrants perform much of the field labor in the country.
"It can't stay that way. We want change in the futures of our children," said Tereso Ramirez, a fruit packer from George in Grant County.
Hundreds of other workers traveled by bus, van and car to join the rally from throughout Washington and Oregon. Labor leaders also attended from Mexico, Canada and Brazil.
Rodriguez encouraged the workers to obtain associate memberships in the United Farmworkers. Applications would give lawmakers a solid indication of support for the amnesty bill, he said.
"They need to see your interest," Rodriguez said.
Mexico ranks as the No. 1 importer of Washington apples. Marketers expect retailers there to buy 10 million boxes this year.
For that reason, Mexican unions plan to launch an information campaign asking shoppers in that country to avoid U.S.-grown apples "so that they don't buy apples that are grown in unfairness," said Marco Torres of Mexico's Confederation of Democratic Workers.
Two leaders in the state Democratic party, Reps. Frank Chopp and Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, also recalled their connections to immigration and the fields.
Chopp told the crowd in an interpreted speech that his uncle was an undocumented coal miner in Roslyn, part of that town's early Croatian community. Instead of resisting immigrants, lawmakers of the era changed laws to accommodate the influx, Chopp noted.
Kenney recounted her childhood as a farm worker and mentioned that the state Legislature had made $16 million available for improvements in farm worker housing.
But that's not enough, Kenney said.
"It's been a long time and the struggle is the same. We can't go backward anymore," she said.
The crowd kept a positive view of the chances for general amnesty. The proposed law would allow workers in the country for at least 90 days since 2000 to apply for residency and keep working. Their direct families would also be eligible.
"I have a lot of hope that it will happen," Sunnyside resident Martin Rios said. Rios is general secretary for the union that represents about 250 workers at the Chateau Ste. Michelle wineries in Central Washington. It is the only United Farmworkers unit in Washington, Rodriguez said.
Organization radically improved wages and benefits at the wineries after workers signed a contract following a contentious boycott, Rios said. Both workers and the company wanted to keep themselves in business, Rios said.
"I think it will happen this year, because so many people need it," said Ramirez, the George worker.
Ignacia Diaz, another Yakima fruit worker, said she also thinks the bill will pass soon. It would guarantee more job security for many whom she knows, Diaz said.
But Antonio Balderas -- an announcer for Granger's KDNA-AM, "The Voice of the Farmworker" -- offered a more moderate opinion of the amnesty legislation's prospects in Congress.
"Immigration politics are a mess," Balderas said in a brief radio interview at the park. He warned that some form of partial amnesty seems more likely.
March organizers first estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 would attend. But they were pleased with the somewhat lower turnout, said Guadalupe Gamboa, the United Farmworkers' regional leader in Sunnyside.
The rally only begins an effort to pass the legislation and improve labor conditions, speakers said.
"We have to keep fighting for justice," Rodriguez said.
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