Lourdes “Lulu” Cárdenas is among the marchers walking 24 days to urge California Gov. Gavin Newsom to support and sign legislation expanding union rights. In announcing the 335-mile trek from Delano to Sacramento earlier this month, United Farm Workers (UFW) referred to it as a “sacrificial” march.
This is very painfully true for Lulu. The undocumented farmworker’s participation in the march means she’s going without pay for the month. “I was working in the peach harvest, but decided to stop working because this fight is worth more than the job,” she told The Sacramento Bee. “That money isn’t going to increase sick days or benefits. I prefer to stop working to gain what we deserve: benefits, respect, equality.”
RELATED STORY: Farmworker marchers receive blessing from bishops as 335-mile pilgrimage for union rights continues
“The fields are the only place you can go in (to work) as an undocumented person,” Cárdenas told The Sacramento Bee. She arrived to the U.S. two decades ago. “I don’t have papers, and that’s where we all start because we can’t find a better-paying job because of our status.” While she became a union member when she found some part-time work at a San Joaquin Valley winery, she works most of the year without union protections.
“She said she has experienced firsthand what it’s like to work without those protections,” the report continued. “’Here in the fields, there is a lot of abuse, wage theft, bad treatment, and violations,’ Cárdenas said. ‘There are a lot of abuses.’” The Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act, supported by Cárdenas and other marchers, would give laborers more choices in how they can vote in their union elections, like being able to vote from home. This would also help protect farmworkers from intimidation. “If I vote in front of the supervisor, I’m sure that they’re going to retaliate against me,” Manuel Gonzalez told Vallejo Times-Herald in April.
But while Newsom successfully fought back a recall with the help of mail voting, he vetoed a form of the bill last year. Cárdenas and marchers have now walked 20 miles a day, in intense heat, to convince him to change his mind. UFW said marchers began Friday—their 17th day of marching—at 7 in the morning, with breakfast, thanks to the Stanislaus County Central Labor Council.
Andres Chávez, the grandson of UFW co-founder César Chávez, told The Sacramento Bee that Cárdenas has been an inspiration throughout the march. “Every time I see her on the march, no matter if it is at mile one or like yesterday at mile 19, she has a smile on her face and she’s really carrying the pace of the march.” Last week, marchers were joined by Fresno’s Catholic bishop, who prayed with marchers and expressed hope that Gov. Gavin Newsom will be convinced to support the legislation. “That’s the purpose,” Bishop Joseph Brenna said. “That’s our prayer.”
The march is set to end in a week’s time. August 26 was previously declared “California Farmworker Day” by Newsom. He can appreciate farmworkers by supporting this legislation. Farmworkers are set to continue walking through the weekend, beginning in Manteca on Saturday, and Stockton on Sunday. Click here if you’re in the area and interested in supporting. If you’re interested in sponsoring a bus ride for a farmworker, check out the link below.
Farmworkers and their advocates marked César Chávez Day this past March 31 by holding rallies in more than a dozen cities urging Newsom to sign AB 2183.
"Without this law, farmworkers don't have a fighting chance,” said farmworker Francisco Naranjo. “Growers will continue to manipulate the process and intimidate us to take away our voice. Being allowed the privilege to vote offsite would allow farmworkers to make their own decision and vote for a union with its benefits without supervisors' interference."
As noted at the time, the legislation comes at a particularly vulnerable moment for farmworkers. Undocumented laborers remain without permanent relief as the conservative Supreme Court last year “overturned a California regulation allowing union representatives to visit agricultural properties to talk to farmworkers at specific times when they won’t interrupt work,” Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson wrote at the time.
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