COTM ISSUE 9 SUMMER 2014

Indonesian workers consider foreign investment opportunities.

US fast food workers spelling it out
In this issue: Indonesian labour p 2; fast food p4; the millions in action p7; solidarit
interview p!; farm workers round"table p#$; the e%tras p#4.
&ction in &sia ' Indonesian labour
(hat are the prospects for labour in the
second of the so"called )I*+ economies,
Indonesia-
Let's put this question into its proper historical
contet ! the e"er#ence o$ a ne% la&our
"o'e"ent in the countr( $ollo%in# the )e"ise
o$ the Suharto re#i"e in the late 1990s* Un)er
the iron cloa+ o$ Suharto, no in)epen)ent tra)e
unions %ere allo%e)- the state controlle) la&our
$e)eration ser'e) as the sole le#iti"ate &o)(,
%ith its a$$iliates un)erta+in# no #enuine
representation* Spora)ic out&ursts &( %or+ers
%ere $ace) )o%n %ith state repression an)
in$iltration. outla%e) la&our or#anisations
&rie$l( $lourishe)* En#ul$e) &( econo"ic crisis
an) political protests a#ainst the re#i"e,
Suharto's rei#n en)e) in 199/*
Le#alisation o$ tra)e unions an) pro"ises o$
#reater political an) ci'il ri#hts quic+l(
$ollo%e)* 0 rash o$ la&our or#anisations
appeare)- re$or"ist &rea+a%a(s $ro" the ol)
state $e)eration, re'i'al o$ earlier unions &ase)
on reli#ious a$$iliation, as %ell as ne% ra)ical
&o)ies lin+e) to Le$t political $or"ations*
Thou#h )i'i)e) on "an( issues these or#ans all
sou#ht $ree)o" $ro" state inter$erence an) the
esta&lish"ent o$ collecti'e &ar#ainin#*
1ut this le#al shi$t %as ne'er #oin# to &e the
%hole ans%er* Un)er Suharto In)onesia ha)
&eco"e a "a#net $or $orei#n in'est"ent see+in#
cheap an) )ocile la&our, an) this )(na"ic
continue) into the 21
st
centur(* 2ithout )irect
state control, e"plo(ers an) their pri'atel( hire)
"ilitia %or+e) to preser'e their $ree)o" $or
"anoeu're a#ainst e$$orts to or#anise the
"illions o$ In)onesian %or+ers*
.ast forward to 2$#/ and the picture looks
something like this....
There are aroun) 11/ "illion %or+ers in the
countr(, %ith "a(&e one thir) lac+in# secure
e"plo("ent, an) "an( in the in$or"al sector*
This "ass o$ precarious %or+ is a "a3or concern
$or the ne% la&our "o'e"ent, alon#si)e the
$i#ht $or a li'in# %a#e* In 2014, "a3or a)'ances
ha'e &een "a)e on &oth $ronts*
1ol)est action %as the sta#in# o$ a t%o )a(
national stri+e, Oct 41 5 6o' 1, in the na"e o$
achie'in# a living wage* 2ith o'er 1*7 "illion
%or+ers participatin#, the authorities %ere le$t in
no )ou&t that action %as nee)e)* Responses
'arie) 8 so"e %or+$orces #aine) su&stantial
%a#e rises. others li+e in the 9a+arta area o$$ere)
onl( sin#le )i#it rises, %a( &elo% the risin# cost
o$ li'in#* 0ction has continue) into 2014 in
these areas to "o'e the authorities to%ar)s a
"ore plausi&le settle"ent, as happene) in the
pre'ious (ear*
The stri+e ta&le) other )e"an)s, concernin#
health insurance, outsourcin#, an) le#al
protection $or )o"estic %or+ers*
In ter"s o$ outsourcing and precarious
emploment , there ha'e &een nu"erous protests
o'er the last (ear throu#hout the econo"(*
Thou#h ne% la%s %ere intro)uce) li"itin# the
use o$ outsourcin# in 2012, the practice is still
%i)esprea) as e"plo(ers tr( to re)uce la&our
costs an) the li+elihoo) o$ )isruption*
0precarious work divides the working class0
The pu&lic sector in In)onesia has &een a "a3or
tar#et $or union action o'er the last (ear* 0cross
the electricit(, oil an) #as, an) teleco"s
in)ustries, %or+ers ha'e repeate)l( )e"an)e)
their con'ersion to per"anent status*
In the case o$ the :T :L6 electrical co"pan(,
%or+ers at one sta#e threatene) to turn o$$ the
li#hts in 9a+arta* This $ollo%e) earlier protests
%hen o'er 4;0 outsource) %or+ers %ere lai)
o$$, instea) o$ &ein# "a)e per"anent* So"e
%or+ers clai" the( ha'e &een %or+in# there $or
20 (ears on rollin# contracts****
:erta"ina, another state o%ne) co"pan(, has
%itnesse) a lon# stru##le %ith the <1E!S1SI
union o'er outsourcin#* 0t the "o"ent 4=0
%or+ers are suspen)e) %hilst the co"pan(
"ounts le#al challen#es to the rulin# o$ the 0ceh
In)ustrial Court that the( shoul) &eco"e
per"anent %or+ers*
One o$ the &i##est 'ictories thou#h happene) in
t%o t(re "a+in# plants run &( 1ri)#estone*
>ere a "ass con'ersion o$ te"ps to per"anent
e"plo(ees %as %on &( the In)ustri0LL a$$iliate
?E: S:SI* 0lthou#h the use o$ a#enc( %or+ers
on a pro)uction line %as ille#al in In)onesia, the
co"pan( ha) sho%e) no concern a&out this
&e$ore en#a#in# in tal+s %ith the union**** 1( the
en) o$ 2012 su$$icient pro#ress ha) &een "a)e
to trans$er 99; %or+ers to a "ore secure $uture*
O&'iousl( it isn't all #oo) ne%s $or the $ourth
lar#est population on the planet* C oercive
powers continue to &e use) &( the e"plo(ers in
the sacre) cause o$ pro$ita&ilit(*
<ro" the crop o$ recent stories consi)er these**
the 0ustralian "inin# co"pan(, Thiess,
has &een cau#ht e"plo(in# police an)
"ilitar( sta$$ as #uar)s at its "ines,
pro"ptin# %or+er protests.
@octors sta#e) a %al+out in protest a$ter
the cri"inalisation o$ three o$ their
collea#ues, %ho %ere i"prisone) $or
alle#e) "e)ical ne#li#ence.
2or+ers at a 6i+e $actor( %ere su&3ecte)
to inti"i)ation $ro" "ilitar( personnel,
as the e"plo(er sou#ht to #ain an
ee"ption $ro" ne% "ini"u" %a#e
rises.
>otel %or+ers $ace) suspension or
)e"otion $or their union acti'ities at the
Aran) B >otel*
1ou can see the attraction for investors.
<ortunatel( the ne% In)onesian la&our
"o'e"ent is pro'in# itsel$ a prett( )eter"ine)
a)'ersar(* 9(r+i Raini o$ In)ustri0LL-
CAlthough the Indonesian trade unions have
achieved a great deal, struggles lie ahead. But
with their force, commitment and ability to
organise Im convinced that we will see the
minimum wage move closer to becoming a decent
wage. Indonesian trade unions are an inspiration
to us all.
Object1
.ast .ood .ootwork
(al" )art isn0t the onl household name
compan in &merica currentl under fire for
its labour conditions. +he fast food sector '
)c2onalds, 3.4, 5urger 3ing et al ' has
come under sustained pressure over the last
ear from its workers and their allies******
Our stor( &e#ins in 6o'e"&er 2012, %ith the
lar#est e'er )irect action &( non!unionise)
%or+ers across the %hole $ast $oo) sector in
6e% Dor+, in'ol'in# 200 people* Inspire) &(
the ea"ple o$ OUR 2al!Mart, a ne% cross!
co"pan( or#anisin# co""ittee shape) this
action, supporte) &( co""unit( allies an) the
Ser'ice E"plo(ees International Union* Lo%
%a#es an) anti!union retaliator( "easures &(
their e"plo(ers %ere "a3or sources o$
)iscontent, a E17 %a#e rate their "ain )e"an)*
Soon other cities %ere in on the act, li+e
Chica#o an) @etroit, re$lectin# the rapi) #ro%th
o$ the lo% %a#e sector in the US econo"( a$ter
the 200/ crash* Li+e OUR 2al!Mart, these
%al+outs are a no'el t(pe o$ non!or pre!"a3orit(
or#anisin# that is #ainin# "ore attention in the
US union "o'e"ent*
Into 2014 "ore actions o$ this t(pe ca"e thic+
an) $ast across the %hole countr(, so"eti"es
sin#l(, at other ti"es as part o$ nation%i)e
protests*-!
400 plus %or+ers in 6e% Dor+ F0prilG
o'er 700 in @etroit protests FMa(G
national )a( o$ action in hal$ a )oHen
"a3or cities F9ul(G
%or+ers %al+ out in 7/ cities, in o'er
1,000 stores an) restaurants F0u#ustG
another national protest %ith action in
o'er 100 cities F@ece"&erG
These protests ha) so"e i""e)iate &ene$its $or
the $ast $oo) ar"(* So"e %on pa( rises, others
#aine) &etter %or+in# con)itions an) treat"ent
&( local "ana#e"ent* The $ocus o$ this
"o'e"ent ho%e'er is to tar#et the entire sector
an) achie'e a uni'ersal %a#e rise plus $ree)o"
to 3oin a union- 0we can0t survive on 67.270.
(hich (a .orward-
This ta+es us to the strate#ic heart o$ the $ast
$oo) %or+ers ca"pai#n* SEIU is the union
$un)in# "uch o$ this or#anisin#, 'ia co""unit(
coalitions li+e 6e% Dor+ Co""unities $or
Chan#e an) the 2or+ers Or#aniHin# Co""ittee
o$ Chica#o* Their $ocus is as "uch on the local
an) $e)eral authorities %hich set "ini"u" %a#e
le'els an) the %hole US lo%!%a#e econo"( as
the i""e)iate e"plo(ers in the sector*
2al+outs are )esi#ne) to hi#hli#ht the pli#ht o$
the $ast $oo) %or+$orce, an) eert "oral
pressure $or local li'in# %a#es* So $ar, not "an(
%a#e!settin# authorities ha'e hee)e) the call*
O&a"a ai"e) to raise the $e)eral "ini"u" to
E10*10. 6e% Dor+ state %ill slo%l( increase its
rate to E9*27* 1ut these $all a lon# %a( short o$
the <i#ht $or E17*
Union reco#nition is not an i""e)iate #oal o$
the $ast $oo) ca"pai#ners, an) this has &een
criticise) %ithin the ran+s o$ the US la&our
"o'e"ent 8 shoul) the ai" o$ political le'era#e
ta+e prece)ence o'er "o&ilisin# %or+ers po%er
on the 3o&I FF<or "ore on this issue see our
inter'ie% %ith <ran+ 1ar)ac+e p;G*
Others counter that the structure o$ the $ast $oo)
in)ustr( an) its reliance on $ranchise operations,
lea'es an in)ustr(!%i)e a#ree"ent %ith the
parent corporations, &ac+e) &( store %al+outs
an) political pressure, as the &est option*
8ooking into the Industr
Recent US aca)e"ic research into the $ast $oo)
sector shines a harsh li#ht on %or+in# li'es*
Lo% %a#es co"&ine) %ith part ti"e hours,
"ean that o'er hal$ this %or+$orce cannot
sur'i'e %ithout rel(in# on pu&lic assistance
pro#ra""es o$ one +in) or another* E'en %ith a
40 hour %ee+, "an( still $all short, an) so"e
ha'e to ta+e secon) 3o&s to sta( a$loat* The cost
o$ this pu&lic su&si)( to the "e#a $ast $oo)
corporations is up to E; &illion each (ear*
Moreo'er the co""on notion o$ $ast $oo)
%or+ers as stu)ents or (oun# people is $alse 8
o'er =0J %ere a)ults an) the "ain %a#e
earners in their househol)s* (e can0t wait for
the econom to produce better 9obs0.
On top o$ this inco"e )e$icienc(, $ast $oo)
%or+ers co"plain o$ poor %or+in# con)itions-!
ecessi'e heat in restaurants
lac+ o$ pro"otion opportunities an)
$a'ouritis"
irre#ular shi$t patterns
a##ressi'e "ana#e"ent
etra )uties at %or+
)raconian atten)ance "onitorin#
*otes from :regon:
a moment to cheer from :regon ;oo, where
its food service workforce <mostl temps=
won an election and 9oined 8aborers 8ocal
4!/ in the autumn of 2$#/

(age +heft
The lo% pa( o$ $ast $oo) %or+ is co"poun)e)
&( the ra"pant practice o$ %a#e the$t that
pla#ues the %hole sector* Reports o$ this are all
too co""on- %or+ers $orce) to )o tas+s a$ter
the( ha'e cloc+e) o$$, $ailure to $ull( pa( $or
o'erti"e hours, )enial o$ le#all( &ac+e) "eal
&rea+s* Latest sur'e( results su##est al"ost 90J
o$ $ast $oo) %or+ers are 'icti"s*
<ortunatel( the %or+$orce has starte) to $i#ht
&ac+* 0t Mc@onal)s a class action la%suit is
un)er %a( in'ol'in# %or+ers $ro" three states*
1ac+ in March 24 @o"inoKs :iHHa outlets in
6e% Dor+ a)"itte) to %a#e 'iolations an)
a#ree) a settle"ent o$ aroun) hal$ a "illion
)ollars %ith their %or+$orce*
In the %or)s o$ Sarita Aupta, )irector o$ 9o&s
%ith 9ustice- ' 0n) to &e clear, these 'iolations
aren't 3ust so"e $lu+e in our corporate!
)o"inate) culture !! the('re a )irect result o$ the
%a( $ast!$oo) corporations operate*'
She su"s it up li+e this- ' The real "essa#e $ro"
all o$ these %a#e $i#hts is clear- Until %e hol)
so"e o$ our countr('s lar#est e"plo(ers
accounta&le to pa(in# their %or+ers &etter Fnot
to "ention pa(in# the" %hat the(''e actuall(
earne)G, %e'll continue to see tapa(ers $ootin#
the &ill $or corporate irresponsi&ilit(*'

>lobali;ing +he Struggle


Earl( in Ma( 2014 the $oo) in)ustr('s #lo&al
$e)eration, the IU<, con'ene) its a$$iliates to
)iscuss $uture cross!&or)er sectoral action*
Ma( 17
th
%as the result- a spectacular response
in o'er 40 countries, %ith coor)inate) action
)ra"atisin# the #lo&al squeeHe on $oo) %or+ers

Lea)in# the %a(, o'er 140 cities in the US0
sa% $ast $oo) $oo) protests * This ti"e thou#h
the $ocus has $allen on the action in other
re#ions an) continents across the #lo&e- 0sia
an) 0ustralasia, Europe, Latin 0"erica******
2e tal+e) to Massi"o <ratinni $ro" the IU<
a&out these )e'elop"ents* > eplaine) that
the ori#ins o$ Ma( 17 la( in the IU< support
$or a #roup o$ US $ast $oo) %or+ers &ac+ in
9une 2014* 0$ter%ar)s the IU< %as as+e) &( its
a$$iliates to #et "ore in'ol'e)* The nee) $or a
#lo&al $ocus %as clear sai) Massi"o-

'%orkers across the world face same
problems and same struggles: low wages,
precarious jobs and retaliation if workers
try to join or form a union. These issues are
global and thats why the campaign must be
global and visible.'
In so"e countries, inclu)in# the U? an) 6e%
Lealan), unions acte) alon#si)e co""unit(
allies, $ollo%in# the US "o)el* Else%here
unions acte) on their o%n 8 the case in Ital( an)
1raHil, Aer"an( an) <rance*

0cross in 6e% Lealan), the <i#ht $or <i$teen
"essa#e %as ta+en up enthusiasticall(, in one o$
the $e% countries %here $ast $oo) %or+ers
alrea)( ha'e union ri#hts* Ca"pai#n lea)er
Ta(lor McLoon eplains-
"Were showing both solidarity with fast food
wor!ers in the "nited #tates and around the world,
and also showing $c%onalds they should be
improving conditions in &ew 'ealand as well,"
Si"ultaneousl( 9apanese %or+ers too+ their
"essa#e to the heart o$ To+(o's retail area*
One thin# %e can &e sure o$ is that this stor( still
has a lon# %a( to run*
+he )illions in &ction I*2:*?SI& 2$#/
Solidarit Interview ' .rank 5ardacke
.rank 5ardacke is the author of an epic
histor of the United .arm (orkers of
&merica " 0+rampling :ut +he @intage0.
The UFW were known for combining workplace
action with broader activities - boycotts and
community alliances; political campaigning to gain
leverage over state legislation.
You argue this was dangerous - the 'two souls'
came into conflict, and workplace action became
secondary. Yet today many unions look to extra-
workplace activity as an essential part of their
campaigns and strategies. What lessons does
the UFW experience teach us here?
What do you mean by "essential"? That's the key.
There is nothing wrong with extra-workplace
activity. It is very helpful to have allies and to build
relationships with them. Dockworkers need truck
drivers. Truck drivers need people who work in
warehouses. And on and on. People can even
build useful relationships across classes and
countries. Garment workers can benefit from the
support of high-end clothes' consumers. But those
aren't the essential concerns of unions. What's
essential is the active, committed participation of
the rank and file union member. Without that, a
union holds only a handful of sand.
Here the experience of the UFW is instructive. The
union was able to mobilize a powerful set of allies:
consumers, students, progressive religious folks,
Chicano activists, other unionists. In its early
years, through its boycotts the union was able to
use the support of these allies to force growers to
sign contracts. But that early success helped to
turn the union's attention away from its rank and
file members.
Union staffers became boycott organizers, not
farm worker organizers. The union spent its
resources organizing and mobilizing supporters,
not its members. The union had such disdain for
the power of its own membership that it didn't
even establish local unions, but rather appointed
all local officials. The members job was to follow
the lead of the top officers of the union, not to
make any important decisions about the union's
future.
Farm workers who fought for power within the
union were defeated. Eventually, rank and file
support melted away. The union was left with the
help of its allies but without its own powerful core.
The end was near.
Many today identify community organising (and
the work of Saul Alinsky's IAF) as a key tool for
unions to expand their horizons, and build wider
support for their campaigns. You show that the
influence of Alinksy on the UFW was a negative
one in some ways: it imported / reinforced an anti-
democratic tendency in Chavez's and UFW
practice that damaged the functioning of the union
and its ability to be a genuine rank and file body.
Is community organising a double-edged sword for
trade unions?
The Alinsky tradition is a mixed bag for any kind of
political organization, not just for trade unions. At
the center of that tradition is the idea of the hero
organizer who organizes and mobilizes an
otherwise apathetic, weak group of people who
are hopelessly divided from each other by their
own selfish, particular interests. The hero
organizer, through his or her special political
knowledge, converts these divided groups into a
tight, active community. In this view, the local
leaders are essentially parochial, unable to see
beyond their own little groups' agendas, unable to
unite with each other until the organizer comes
along to help them.
Such a scheme has within in it an anti-democratic
seed. A seed, that under some conditions, can
flower into a full anti-democratic ethos, as
happened in the UFW where local leaders couldn't
be trusted to see the interests of the whole union.
They always needed the guidance of the far
seeing organizers at the top of the organization.
The experience of local leaders, this crucial
experience that is the basic building block of any
union, was undervalued, even ignored, by the
people who were supposedly organizing them.
Some of that had roots far removed from the
tradition of community organizing. But some of it
came from the ideas of Saul Alinsky.

The boycott was an effective weapon used by
the UFW to pressurise growers to recognise the
union and sign contracts, especially in its early
days. Today we see numerous similar campaigns
mounted against employers that target their
products and working practices. These may
involve an international dimension - whether this
be the ubiquitous email protest or a call to
physically boycott goods in other countries - that
the UFW story lacked.
Do you think international solidarity action has a
part to play in future efforts to organise farm
workers in the US?
Sure. International solidarity can always help. But
it is not the crucial ingredient in organizing farm
workers. Farm workers are going to have to get it
together themselves before they go out and seek
help. I don't believe that outsiders can help all that
much in the initial stages. People should focus
their attention on the problems closer to home.
Our main task is in our own lives, on our own
jobs, in our own communities. We should give
people far away a helping hand when they ask for
it, but I don't think that international solidarity
should ever be the essence of our politics.
Sometimes thinking about other peoples'
problems is a way to avoid thinking about our own.
In a radio interview with KALW you identified three
factors underpinning farm workers power in
the UFW's heyday: the craft skills of field workers
(immune to mechanisation); the collective spirit of
the work crews; and the vulnerability of the
growers due to short harvest time frames.
Do these factors still exist today, three decades
later, for farm workers to draw upon?
Harvest time will always be a vulnerable time for
the growers, and a time of great opportunity for
farm workers. I don't think that will ever change,
unless agriculture as an unique activity disappears
and is totally merged into industrial production.
That hasn't happened in the last several hundred
years, and I don't think it will happen even in the
most dystopian future.
The agricultural engineers are always trying to
mechanize production, but they have been
remarkably unsuccessful in fresh fruits and
vegetables. The tree shakers damage the roots of
the trees; the fruit harvesters damage the fruits;
and most importantly the engineerswith few
exceptionshave not been able to make nature
mature all at once, and therefore the bosses still
need human eyes and brains to decide which
fruits or vegetables are ready to harvest and which
ones must be left for the next pass through.
Nonetheless, they (and the research departments
at public universities) still spend millions of dollars
every year trying to mechanize farm workers out
of existence. Let's hope they can't do it.
As to the collective spirit of the crews, I couldn't
tell you because I no longer am working on one,
and you would have to be working on one to know.
I think all the highly portable electronic music
probably does some damage, getting in the way of
people talking to one another. I hope it hasn't done
too much damage. As hard as it was on my body, I
remember my seven seasons on a harvest crew
as one of the best times of my life precisely
because of the full, active life of the crew.
Organised violence had a large part to play in
UFW history. Do you think this turn to coercion
could recur if any large-scale organising efforts
took off in the Californian fields today?
History doesn't teach much, but it would seem to
tell us that if people with power are in danger of
losing their power they will fight with everything
they have. And one of things they have is state
power, that is, the legitimate use of violence.
Which is a way of saying that if a farm workers'
movement becomes a threat to the growers again,
they will have the police at their disposal. And they
will use them. As they have used them in the past.
As far as vigilantes are concerned, I can only say
that I don't know. Which seems as good a way as
any of ending an interview
<ran+ 1ar)ac+e
Round-table forum: the legacy of the UFW
(he new movie, )esar )have* + ,istory is $ade -ne #tep
at a (ime, directed by %iego .una, tells the story of the
/rape #tri!e of 0123. (his epic 3+year labor battle led to
the organi*ation of the "nited 4arm Wor!ers, and made
)esar )have* a social movement hero. (he movie has
provo!ed controversy over its depiction of his role, and the
accuracy of the history it recounts of those events. In this
roundtable, labor 5ournalist %avid Bacon, an e6 organi*er
for the "4W e6plores these themes with four guests.
7liseo $edina was a farm wor!er when the stri!e started,
and became a noted labor organi*er, first in the "4W and
later in the #ervice 7mployees "nion. %oug Adair was an
activist in the 0123 stri!e. %awn $abalon is a professor of
history at #an 4rancisco #tate "niversity, and an authority
of the history of 4ilipinos in )alifornia. 8osalinda /uillen
comes from a farm wor!er family, was a "4W organi*er,
and today organi*es farm labor.
David: How did the movie square with your memories
of the grape strie as a participant!
"liseo: Its a good time for this movie to come out and
show not only the challenges immigrants face, but also the
fact that theyre willing to struggle and that when they do
they can win, regardless of the power structure. It couldve
done a much better 5ob of telling the full story, but its
impossible to tell 09 years worth of history in : hours. Its a
movie, not a documentary, and its aim is not to tell the
story of the whole movement. (o do that would ta!e a lot
more than 5ust one movie.
David: #he film presents the UFW as a movement
mostly of $hicanos and %e&icanos' but it was also a
multinational union' including (frican-(mericans'
(rab' and even white people) #hat doesn*t come
through as much)
"liseo: When I was a farm wor!er, before the stri!e
began, we lived in different worlds ++ the .atino world, the
4ilipino world, the African+American world and the
)aucasian world. We co+e6isted but never understood who
we were or what each other thought and dreamed about. It
wasnt until the union began that we finally began to wor!
together, to !now each other and to begin to fight together.
I do wish that that had been more e6plicit because
certainly the contribution that was made by the 4ilipino
wor!ers to the stri!e and the movement was an incredible
part of the success of the union. (he fact that we also had
)aucasians and African+Americans participating in the
stri!e never even gets brought up. It was always multi+
racial. I do wish it had focused more on showing what can
happen when people wor! together and fight together and
ma!e changes, not only for one group, but for everybody.
David: #here has been criticism of the movie*s
portrayal of Filipino worers) How do you feel about
that!
Dawn: 4ilipinos had been organi*ing, not 5ust that year,
but for decades before. (he growers had always divided
$e6icans and 4ilipinos. What was so powerful about that
moment in %elano was that those two groups defied this.
But way they came together was downplayed. (here was
so little conte6t that theres no understanding that it was
these other people, in particular .arry Itliong, who really
spar!ed the stri!e.
.arry went to %elano in the early 0129s, sent by the
Agricultural Wor!ers -rgani*ing )ommittee, the A4.+)I-
union founded in #toc!ton. ,e already had decades of
labor e6perience with the Alas!an salmon cannery union.
,e organi*ed a failed stri!e of asparagus wor!ers in
#toc!ton in 01;< and a successful stri!e in 01;1. ,e had
more e6perience than everyone, %olores ,uerta and
)esar included. "nfortunately he died a few years after
the "4W and didnt leave much behind for us. Were still
trying to piece together how important he was, not 5ust to
the 4ilipino+American community, but to American labor in
general. But we !now he was really pivotal to this stri!e
and to the early years of the "4W. ,e resigned in 01=0, so
he often gets left out of that larger history.
Also, the first person !illed in the stri!e was a >emeni
wor!er, but in the movie, its portrayed as someone whos
$e6ican. (he filmma!ers didnt really understand what
made the stri!e so powerful.
Doug: (he original spar! in %elano was when 4ilipinos
wor!ers began sitting in at the camps. It wasnt a stri!e
with pic!et lines, but a sit+in and refusing to go to wor!.
.arry began going around to the camps seeing if he could
use the sit+ins to negotiate better wages.
David: #he film did show the sit-in in the camps'
which surprised me) +ot many people now that
happened' and it*s a very important part of history)
#he movie starts with a little section where $esar is
the head of the $ommunity ,ervice -rgani.ation
/$,-0' but doesn*t show him organi.ing protests
about the bracero program' in which growers were
able to bring worers from %e&ico under very abusive
conditions' sending them bac at the end of the
season) ,hould the movie have said more about it!
Doug: Wor!ers first went on stri!e in )oachella in the
spring of 0123 because the bracero program was being
phased out. With braceros, it was almost inevitable that
stri!es would lose. When the government said growers
had to offer ?0.;9 an hour if they wanted to hire braceros
AW-) demanded the same wage.
(hat was the spar! that set off the stri!e. Actually if it had
been up to )esar, there wouldnt have been a stri!e in
%elano because he didnt feel our union was ready. (here
was no money in the ban!, and he wanted to do more
organi*ing. ,e used to say "were not a union, and were
not gonna start stri!es."
Rosalinda: 4or us, organi*ing farmwor!ers and opposing
guest wor!er @bracero+typeA programs today, its clear why
)esar opposed the bracero program. /rowers at that time
used the program to brea! stri!es, when wor!ers tried to
form unions. Its still happening today, to farmwor!ers in
Burlington, Washington who went on stri!e last year.
When I 5oined the "nited 4armwor!ers in 0112, the union
opposed the ,:A guest wor!er visa program very strongly.
.eaving out that history was a wasted opportunity to
include more political conte6t that is still important to us.
David: #he movie stops when the industry-wide grape
contract gets signed) Did the contract and the union
change life for farmworers and was it a permanent
change!
Doug: When I wor!ed under that first contract our wages
and benefits were over double the minimum wage of
American wor!ers. We had a health plan that was the envy
of many other unions. We could sit down with the growers
and negotiate over grievances. We wouldnt always win,
but we could negotiate our wor!ing conditions.
(he movie did show that wor!ers can 5oin together in spite
of appalling conditions and improve their wages and
wor!ing conditions. (hat did come through. It is a possible
to change history with concerted action, by getting
together.
Rosalinda: (oday farmwor!ers can organi*e because of
the e6ample of the farmwor!ers in the 29s and =9s in
)alifornia. (he movie shows clearly what it loo!s li!e to
organi*e and come together. (his is one of the legacies of
)esar )have*, this coming together of different wor!ers
with different religions and different political views.
"nfortunately, today we have a splintered movement and
divided communities. We see the same old attac!s, li!e
this guest wor!er program, to stop farmwor!ers from
organi*ing for better wages and better treatment.
Doug: But I thin! the movie did show the viciousness of
the growers and their local power structureB district
attorneys and the cops and thugs on the side of the
growers. (he whole local structure was against the union
and the farmwor!ers.
Rosalinda: And its still li!e that.
David: How much presence does the union have
today!
Doug: (here are no contracts in the grapes today. Wages
are nowhere near even the miserable minimum wage,
which is not enforced. (here are a few advances in
pesticide regulations and toilets in the fields and shade,
drin!ing water + minimal things that didnt e6ist in 0123. But
the presence of the union in the )oachella Calley is a
shadow of its former self. Dust a few pensioners li!e me.
Dawn: $y father died wor!ing the asparagus nine years
ago. I wish the film had been much stronger in saying
these conditions still e6ist today and we still have to fight
for farmwor!ers. I was hoping at the end of the film you
would have this feeling of inspiration and a call to action,
but you get the sense that now we won and its over.
"liseo: )learly the union was able to begin lifting wor!ers
out of poverty. (hey had paid holidays, vacations and
health insurance. "nfortunately, at the time when we were
poised to completely change these wor!ers lives we lost
focus. As a result, wor!ers today are bac! where they
were before the union. $ost are wor!ing at minimum
wage again. 7mployers are bac! to 5ust trying to get the
wor! done in the cheapest way possible, regardless of the
impact on wor!ers. (hey are ma!ing the rise of another
farmwor!ers union inevitable. Eeople are only going to put
up with e6ploitation for so long before they rise up and
begin organi*ing. (hats going to happen in agriculture.
Its not a matter of if + its a matter of when. I have no
doubt about that.
David: 1 want to tal about how the film treats radical
politics) #here is a scene in which the sheriff and the
growers accuse the unions of being $ommunist' and
$esar and says that*s silly' we*re $atholic) 2ut the
Filipinos' in their prior organi.ing' had been very
leftwing) 1s this underplayed!
Dawn: Ive always seen tension between the 4ilipino
leftistsF$ar6istsF)ommunists and anti+communism within
the "4W. .arry Itliong considered )hris $ensalves one of
his mentors, who organi*ed 4ilipino lettuce wor!ers in
#alinas in the 01G9s and was considered by the 4BI one of
the most dangerous )ommunist labor organi*ers of his
day. (he union .arry came from, I.W" .ocal G=, was led
by leftists and members of the )ommunist Earty. @"4W
leaderA Ehilip Ceracru* was an ardent leftist. By erasing
4ilipinos, you also downplay those radical roots. 7ven
nonviolence was a tension for 4ilipinos, who were used to
shooting at scabs who crossed the pic!et lines, and were
uncomfortable with hunger stri!es, marches and religious
pageantry. (his history of the grape stri!e + about
negotiation and collaboration and what people learned
from each other + is missing in the movie.
Doug: (he movie stressed )esar saying "-h were
)atholic, so we couldnt possibly be )ommunists", but in
fact there was a strong element in the union that was very
anti+clerical. (he church in $e6ico was always on the side
of the growers and the wealthy and always against the
peasants and the poor. (ypically the Erotestants among
farmwor!ers had rebelled against the )atholic )hurch and
were rebels at heart and were especially receptive to the
union.
(he young 4ilipinos in the movement were the
revolutionaries, fighting to overturn the whole system. We
called them "the ,u!s." (he march to #acramento was a
very radical statement + that we wanted to overturn this
whole corrupt structure. We were the people that were
feeding America and that we had a right to be at the table.
David: (t one point the growers say they are going to
bring in 3illegals3 - they use that word' not
3undocumented3 - by the trucload) Do you thin this
e&perience shaped how $esar saw the question of
immigration!
"liseo: (he growers !new very well that divide and
conHuer was an important strategy, so they were not
above using wor!ers to brea! the stri!e, whether they were
documented or undocumented. And they certainly felt that
having a captive wor! force would ma!e it easier for them.
)esar was well aware, as were all of us, that many
stri!ers who undocumented. What the union wanted was
to ma!e sure that no one was used to brea! the stri!e,
regardless of their status. (he union and the stri!e was a
movement of documented and undocumented people.
#ome of the strongest and most active people were
undocumented.
In many cases when wor!ers began to organi*e, growers
would call in the Border Eatrol to scare people and arrest
and deport them. 4or the undocumented, being for the
union was a lot more serious because it potentially meant
arrest and deportation, leaving their families behind. (he
union was very conscious about this and made it their
policy to defend those wor!ers
Doug: Whether they had papers or not, if they were
stri!ebrea!ers we wanted them out of there. At different
points in the unions history, its ta!en a very hard line
against people without papers. (he unions base were the
permanent families who lived in %elano. But of course
there were a lot of people who lived in labor camps.
David: ,o there was always tension about new
migrants' not 4ust the undocumented' as being either
4ob competitors or part of the union) Did you thin of
the union as being hostile to undocumented people' or
4ust hostile to striebreaers!
Rosalinda: ,ostile to stri!ebrea!ers. In my time in the
union, from 0112+:99G, I did not see any behavior that was
anti+immigrant in any way. I !now how ugly things can get
when growers use this tactic of turning $e6ican against
$e6ican or 4ilipino against 4ilipino, turning people against
each other, the poorest of the poor and the desperate.
(oday when were opposing guest wor!ers were not
against $e6ican wor!ers who are being brought in. Were
against this program that puts them in vulnerable
situations. Its legali*ed wage theft, because theyre
displacing the wor!ers who are already here. In fact, the
whole issue of bloc!ing the guest wor!er program was
central to the unions political wor!, because the
agricultural industry uses this program to slow down
farmwor!er organi*ing.
David: #he Filipino community was not united in how
it looed at the union or $esar' was it!
Dawn: (he #toc!ton community is divided over the legacy
of the "nited 4arm Wor!ers. I thin! that .arry Itliongs
compadres became very bitter about what happened to
him, and that 4ilipino voices had been drowned out in the
union. #o there was a lot of silence and bitterness when I
was growing up. And then theres also the issue of )esars
visit with @Ehilippine dictator 4erdinandA $arcos. (he
community was already split about the $arcos
dictatorship. Its a very comple6 legacy, with some people
not even !nowing that 4ilipinos were part of "4W, and
others who do !now having a comple6 relationship with the
ways in which 4ilipinos were treated
Doug: $any of the leaders in the 4ilipino community were
foreman. (hey had a tradition of representing their wor!ers
and trying to get better wages and wor!ing conditions for
the crew. .arry mostly organi*ed through them and got
whole crews on board. But when it became clear the stri!e
was going to be bro!en a lot decided it was time to go
bac! to wor!, and made a deal with the growers. When the
contracts did come in, the powers of the foremen were
stripped away. (hen when the (eamsters "nion came in,
they offered those foremen their powers bac!. $any of the
4ilipino foremen urged their crews to switch to the
(eamsters. But many of the strongest 4ilipino wor!ers,
who had been foremen, stayed with the "4W because
they were too radical to negotiate with the growers.
Rosalinda: &ow more than ever we need to see how
movements are built. -rgani*ing is not perfect + there is
conflict. Its almost li!e this movie was pulled together to
ma!e )esar a !ind of superhero instead of understanding
how difficult it is to build a union from the bottom up.
David: %ost people*s e&perience of the union was not
in the fields' but as supporters in the boycotts) #he
union had an enormous impact on growers' by
basically appealing to people not to buy grapes) #here
are scenes in the movie of people piceting stores' of
growers complaining it*s hurting them' and it even
shows $esar going to 5ondon) #he boycott is one of
the most important and powerful weapons worers
have in addition to the strie) What do you thin about
the picture that the movie painted of it!
Doug: I thought it was good enough on the boycott. By
late &ovember @0123A, it was clear that the stri!e had been
bro!en+we werent going to win the grape stri!e in the
fields. (he boycott was one of )esars many ideas to
finesse the local power structure and get the American
public involved.
)esars genius was not in being the one handing out
leaflets but in putting together a team, and sending people
out to cities all across the country, and in fact, all across
the world. A woman named 7laine 7linson went to
.ondon. (he American embassy was promoting grapes
and the transport wor!ers and the other unions in 7ngland
supported the boycott. )esar went to 7urope much later,
but he never went to .ondon
Dawn: .arry Itliong and other 4ilipinos li!e Eete Celasco
were also a strong part of the boycott. 4or the 4ilipino+
Americans who were inspired by .arry, those were some
of their best memories of being involved in the movement
David: (ny last words!!
Doug: I cry in movies, and I cried in this one. It brought
bac! a lot of memories. Im loo!ing forward to the movie
on .arry Itliong.
Dawn: A talented 4ilipino filmma!er from Ba!ersfield,
$arissa Aroy has made one called "(he %elano $anongs."
#hes unearthed some ama*ing archival footage of the
4ilipinos stri!ing, of .arry Itliong tal!ing about his
e6periences. It provides some rich nuance for
understanding this movement.
As disappointed as some of us may be, I thin! the movie
has given us this ama*ing opportunity to dialogue, and to
continue to be involved in farmwor!er 5ustice and all these
issues where we need to coalesce with the .atino
community, li!e immigration reform. Its made young
4ilipinos go, "Why arent we in it, and I want to !now
more." I thin! thats ama*ing.
"liseo: )esars legacy today is that thousands of people
learned the s!ill of organi*ing and are ma!ing their own
contribution to a more 5ust society. A lot of the strategy
and inspiration comes straight out of the farmwor!ers
movement. I hope the %iego .unas of the future will be
inspired to ta!e a loo! at the whole story. It has a lot of
lessons about organi*ing and perseverance, and the
theory and practice of non+violence and how it can lead to
ma5or social change. Its a story that needs to be told.
+he ?%tras
:n the emergence of the new Indonesian labour movement see 2an la 5ot; 0)ade in
Indonesia0 <2$$#=. .or current developments tr the &sia )onitor Aesource 4enter "
http:BBwww.amrc.org.hkB " and the e%cellent coverage on 8abour Start.
+he US fast food movement has man news outlets. .ast .ood .orward is a good starting
point " https:BBwww.facebook.comB.ast.ood.orward. In +hese +imes has good coverage of
the 2$#/ events and strategic debates " http:BBinthesetimes.comB . .or recent research into the
sector see http:BBfastfoodforward.orgBnew"report"fast"food"povert"wages"the"public"cost"of"
low"wage"9obs"in"the"fast"food"industrB
.rank 5ardacke0s book 0+rampling out the @intage0 was published in 2$## b @erso books.