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Letter to Governor Brown

I am in favor of equal rights for agricultural workers. This means equal protections and a minimum wage equal to other jobs.

I voted for Jerry Brown because he supported farmworkers' rights in the past, and promised to do so again, in the spirit of Cesar Chavez. I was then very disappointed tonight to read ( http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/emotions-run-high-as-jerry-bro.html ) that Brown has followed the footsteps of Schwarzenegger, not Chavez. Brown vetoed the bill that would allow agricultural workers to protect themselves by organizing.

This bill would improve the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act; it would not destroy it. CALRA's framework is viable no matter how votes are counted.

But beyond that, it is disheartening that Brown has become so cynical. He used his personal relationship with Chavez to win votes during the campaign, but vetoed Chavez's legacy the first chance he got.

Brown does not step foot onto these farms. Brown has not lifted a finger to help the workers since 1983 - but he happily lifted a veto pen to hurt them, last night.

Maybe Brown's conscience is clear, because Chavez is already dead, right? Brown will never have to look him in the eye. But the truth is, farmworkers have lost ground in the past 20 years. Fewer of them are union members, and more of them are paid substandard wages in substandard conditions, by dishonest farm owners. Calfornia's government lacks the will or money to enforce labor and safety laws in the agricultural valleys. Even under Brown's tenure as attorney general, violations increased in the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Valley, and the Coachella Valley. Therefore, the only ethical option is to put that power in the hands of the workers, by empowering unions. With more members, they would have more bargaining power and could at least stop the erosion of workers' rights.

I urge governor Brown to reconsider his alliance with those growers who would exploit workers. If our governor is not happy with this modification to the CALRA, I urge him to support workers, and I hopw his abandonment of them is temporary. Find a new option that would protect our state's hardest workers.

Sincerely,
Kip Austin Hinton, Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles

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