It’s hard to believe that it took five years to count the 2000 votes of farmworkers by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB). The votes were counted this week and it was clear that Latino workers, in this case, had no interest in joining the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. By a vote of 1,098 to 197, the farmworkers rejected the UFW. On Tuesday after the ballot count, Gerawan attorney Ron Barsamian stated,
This shows that workers do matters. They were faced with an injustice and they did not give up.
Latinos come to this country for a better life and the promises offered by democracy. Let’s hope that in the future, that farmworkers will be treated with respect and that their right to make choices about their workplace will be honored quickly, impartially and free of politics.
