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Latino-Native American Cultural Center newspaper clippings, 1972-1988
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9/24/73 Gallo workers evicted Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted with the permission of the Guardian magazine. Fifty striking United Farm Workers famalies are fighting for their jobs and homes against the country's largest winemaker. E. & J. Gallo Co., here in California's central valley. All of the striking famalies are year-round residents of Gallo housing. Shortly after Gallo signed a sweetheart agreement with the Teamsters union last July 10, Gallo began eviction proceedings which threaten to put 500 people, most of them children, on the streets. Some have lived here for as long as 14 years. One of the nation's largest privately own firms, Gallo grossed $250 million in 1971 and made profits estimated at $35 to $40 million before taxes. The Gsllo winery sold 100 million gallons in1971--one half of all California wine and almost two times the volume of its nearest competitor. About 150 persons, mainly of Mexican and Portuguese descent, work for "el Gallo" all year and live with their families in the barracks-type housing situated in a half-dozen small clearings in the vineyards. At harvest time the workforce swells to 500, some of whom are the wives and children of the regular workers. Conditions in the houses are deplorable, with the facilities in bad repair. Nearly 20 famalies are forced to use one bathroom. For the past six years, Gallo has had a contract with the United Farm Workers (UFW). That contract ran out last April 18. Shortly thereafter, four unuon organizers and four other workers were fired. Gallo broke off negotiations with the UFW in late June. The following day, 85 per cent of the 150 workers went out on strike. Two weeks later, Gallo signed a contract with the Teamsters, who announced that an "election" had been held in which they had won over UFW by a vote of 158 to 1. The "election" was an obvious sham, since none of the striking workers had voted. With the picket line gaining in effectiveness around his vineyards, Gallo mounted a double-barreled legal attack on t he worker's housing rights. Despite the fact that all strikers in the company housing are permanent residents. Gallo filed a suit July 21, claiming that the strikers are not tenants at all but "licensees" and thus not entitled to the rights of tenants under the law. Gallo seeks to revoke the "license" to their homes and declare them trespassers. 2/18/75 DAILY IOWAN Right to Work TO THE EDITOR: As I understand it, a right-to-work law allows me to work without joining a union. To deny a person the choice to join or not is to limit his freedom. It is my decision to work for a particular employer, and it is my decision whether to support the union at the place of my employment. Even more so, it is my decision whether or not to support the union at some place other than where I work. In particular, it is my decision and mine alone whether to boycott Gallo Wine or any type of lettuce. I resent the actions of people who try to make my decision for me. I wish people would be sure enough of their cause to try explaining the issue without the use of such words as: ridiculous, reactionaries, scabs, goon, outrageous, absurd, and profit-hungry. I can decide for myself if any of these labels apply. William McCauley E3
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9/24/73 Gallo workers evicted Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted with the permission of the Guardian magazine. Fifty striking United Farm Workers famalies are fighting for their jobs and homes against the country's largest winemaker. E. & J. Gallo Co., here in California's central valley. All of the striking famalies are year-round residents of Gallo housing. Shortly after Gallo signed a sweetheart agreement with the Teamsters union last July 10, Gallo began eviction proceedings which threaten to put 500 people, most of them children, on the streets. Some have lived here for as long as 14 years. One of the nation's largest privately own firms, Gallo grossed $250 million in 1971 and made profits estimated at $35 to $40 million before taxes. The Gsllo winery sold 100 million gallons in1971--one half of all California wine and almost two times the volume of its nearest competitor. About 150 persons, mainly of Mexican and Portuguese descent, work for "el Gallo" all year and live with their families in the barracks-type housing situated in a half-dozen small clearings in the vineyards. At harvest time the workforce swells to 500, some of whom are the wives and children of the regular workers. Conditions in the houses are deplorable, with the facilities in bad repair. Nearly 20 famalies are forced to use one bathroom. For the past six years, Gallo has had a contract with the United Farm Workers (UFW). That contract ran out last April 18. Shortly thereafter, four unuon organizers and four other workers were fired. Gallo broke off negotiations with the UFW in late June. The following day, 85 per cent of the 150 workers went out on strike. Two weeks later, Gallo signed a contract with the Teamsters, who announced that an "election" had been held in which they had won over UFW by a vote of 158 to 1. The "election" was an obvious sham, since none of the striking workers had voted. With the picket line gaining in effectiveness around his vineyards, Gallo mounted a double-barreled legal attack on t he worker's housing rights. Despite the fact that all strikers in the company housing are permanent residents. Gallo filed a suit July 21, claiming that the strikers are not tenants at all but "licensees" and thus not entitled to the rights of tenants under the law. Gallo seeks to revoke the "license" to their homes and declare them trespassers. 2/18/75 DAILY IOWAN Right to Work TO THE EDITOR: As I understand it, a right-to-work law allows me to work without joining a union. To deny a person the choice to join or not is to limit his freedom. It is my decision to work for a particular employer, and it is my decision whether to support the union at the place of my employment. Even more so, it is my decision whether or not to support the union at some place other than where I work. In particular, it is my decision and mine alone whether to boycott Gallo Wine or any type of lettuce. I resent the actions of people who try to make my decision for me. I wish people would be sure enough of their cause to try explaining the issue without the use of such words as: ridiculous, reactionaries, scabs, goon, outrageous, absurd, and profit-hungry. I can decide for myself if any of these labels apply. William McCauley E3
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