Farmworkers meet, reaffirm boycott
1985Shirley Pasholk 1985-09Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 20 →
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20 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1985 TOLEDO, Ohio-Farmworkers from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, and Texas gathered at the UAW Local 12 Hall here to participate in the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's (FLOC) third constitutional convention Saturday, Aug. 3.
A large banner behind the speaker's platform summed up the mood to the delegates: "Boycott Campbell's Until the Contract Is Signed. Hasta La Victoria!"
The first resolution adopted by the convention resolved to continue the struggle for unionization and the boycott of Campbell Soup Co. products. FLOC began as an organization of farmworkers in Northwestern Ohio and Southern Michigan.
Unlike their counterparts in the Southwestern United States, these farmworkers do not work for large growers. FLOC realized that the small farmers who technically employ their members are not the ones who really determine wages and working conditions.
Therefore, rather than concentrate on signing collective-bargaining agreements with individual farmers, FLOC has concentrated on the large canning companies—singling out Campbell's as a target.
Although Campbell's denied any responsibility, increased support for the boycott-including from the Ohio Catholic Bishops-has forced Campbell's to the negotiating table. When it appeared likely the National Council of Churches was going to go on record supporting the boycott, Campbell's leaked word to the press that a settlement was near and that FLOC was calling off the boycott.
Although FLOC leaders are hopeful that Campbell's will settle soon, they emphasize that the boycott is not over. Convention delegates delegates unanimously voiced their determination to continue the boycott until the contract is signed.
"We're not animals"
Several convention resolutions addressed the poor working conditions facing farmworkers. During the debate, delegate after delegate stressed, "We're not animals, but they treat us worse than their animals."
A convention resolution on Nicaragua stated "that FLOC calls on the United States to cease its war of aggression against the people of Nicaragua and end all aid to the contras, and...FLOC calls on the people of the United States to pressure the U.S. government to end its policy of aggression in Central America."
A resolution on South Africa stated, "FLOC's struggle against the Campbell Soup Co. stands in solidarity with the oppressed Black people of South Africa in rejecting the system of apartheid as well as supporting the Black workers' struggle for liberation in that country."
Henry Nicholas, president of the IDEA CREAM OF EXPLOITATION age S5 0) 13054 NET WI-
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BOYCOTT Campbelli