After years of nation-wide boycotts, protests, and activist campaigns, Farm workers at Pictsweet Mushroom Farm in Ventura, Calif. have won their 17-year battle for a United Farm Workers union contract. The contract is the first to result from a law passed through the California State Legislature in 2002 allowing agricultural workers and companies to file for binding mediation when the parties fail to reach an agreement.

On Feb. 13, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board adopted a report from a state mediator deciding the terms of a union contract, seven months after Pictsweet workers filed for mediation in accordance with the new state law. The contract went into effect this week, after a two-week period giving both parties time to challenge the mediator’s proposal. The proposed agreement went unchallenged, notwithstanding a scathing statement issued by Pictsweet condemning the binding mediation law and process. Pictsweet is one of six plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed a year ago on behalf of California agribusinesses who aim to overturn the legislation.

“How fitting that Pictsweet mushroom workers are the first California farm workers to benefit from the historic binding mediation law that allowed them to end their 17-year nonviolent fight for a union contract,” said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez as he officially called off the union’s more than three-year long boycott of Pictsweet mushrooms.

The new contract, which is retroactive to January 1s, includes a 2.5% salary increase per year for workers and complete family medical coverage for Pictsweet’s 300 workers.

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS VICTORY!!!

SB indymedia? When did that come about? I used to live in SB and would have been stoked if anything like this existed back then. We relied on photocopied flyers to get the word out...

Just got our site up a couple of weeks ago! Check out www.sbindymedia.org, and tell all your friends and folks on the Central Coast. We'll also be heard on KCSB 91.9 fm and seen on SB Channels Public Access TV.

How come the main IMC site does not link to it?

It could be a Department of Mass Confusion sting operation.

:)

the reek of right wing topics are absent.
Yeah, it isn't in the main IMC menu but let's wait and see..
they do support KCSB which is a fiesty listener supported college station. Now a Monticito IMC I would suspect....
Anyway, why is everyone such a timid soul nowa days?
If we all hide under our beds we don't deserve a democracy.

no matter about SB IMC, this is a grat victory for the Pick Sweet workers. We shold be joyful about it. Ventura is a bit on the conservative side, believe me.

The IMC says that, to get listed in the official list, you need to agree to a number of conditions, like having meetings of five people. Then you have to apply for the privilege.

Maybe their application is not in, or is pending approval.

In any event, the site looks great!

getting a little trigger happy with the editorial process aren't we?
I can't figure you people out at all sometimes...
Posts that get Orwelled for no apparent reason.

"What's with you folks at the control board?"

You answered your own question Sheepdog. Control. Heirarchy. The finger on the button. It's happening in more places than just here. Becoming the very thing that one despises in others. Saying one thing and doing another. They can run but they can't hide.

Big up to SB-IMC from a former Santa Barbaran and Goletian! Had a look at the site and it looks great. Not only have you managed to keep the place free of right-wing kooks, the Israel-Palestine conflict has not taken over the board as if it were the only issue on the planet. Plus, you have lots of coverage of local issues. This is what IMC is meant to be! Keep up the good work and if I ever make it down to SB I'll be looking you folks up.

The stuff that was hidden was garbage. Just read it.

Some of the stuff, I passed by the group. The Justin Raimondo stuff was discussed. He writes for the American Conservative (a paid gig I assume) and the libertarian antiwar.com. That stuff is posted to antagonize, and it's pointless.

The cryptome harrasment posts were hidden but not deleted. The discussion on the second cryptome article is good. It's a tough call on that one.

I hid a post from a far-right conservative who had "nader" in his title. The "trojan horse sneak attack" aspect of the post rubbed me the wrong way. I also hid the "Indymedia Killer" post, because I didn't see the connection. I believe that the killer had posted on IMC before. The post was a smear tactic.

Sometimes, things show up in hidden that are ok, but are double posts or were hidden by IMCers on request from the author.

Generally, the community people I've talked to are happy about the article hiding that's been happening. It discourages spam posts and makes for a more useful site. If All this angry shouting is about as much fun as an assfuck with a cheese grater. Some people enjoy it, but 95% of people don't. Go outside and *talk* to someone about politics instead of doing it from behind a keyboard.

I've moderated a dozen websites and lists, and this is probably the least authoritarian one around. If we really deleted posts, you wouldn't be able to observe what was being hidden.

don't you think these 'Nigga King' wet farts qualify for clean up?
I know it's difficult to stay on target without a dedicated crew but please...
I've noticed that some subjects are far more sensative than others in the IMC's colective's eyes.