330 MILES TOWARD JUSTICE

March 17, 2003

Farmworkers launch 330 Miles toward Justice, a march to Albany

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (February 28, 2003) -- In the tradition of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King Jr., the Justice for Farmworkers' Campaign (JFW) and the Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agricolas (CITA) will sponsor simultaneous marches to Albany commencing on Saturday, April 19, from Seneca Falls, N.Y. and on Easter Sunday, April 20, from Harlem. The marches, arriving in Albany on Wednesday, April 30, are sponsored by farmworkers and their allies who wish to challenge the New York State Senate's continued indifference to the just treatment of farmworkers.

Marchers will demand that the Senate Labor Committee sponsor omnibus legislation to remove the legislative exclusions, which deny farmworkers the same rights as other laborers in New York. These basic workers' rights include the right to a day of rest, the right to overtime pay, disability insurance, and collective bargaining protections. A bill upholding the rights of farmworkers has passed in the State Assembly for the past four years but companion legislation has failed to pass in the Senate. This year, Assembly Bill A02859 has been introduced by Assembly Member Catherine Nolan (D-District 37, Queens County). The bill enacts the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, granting collective bargaining rights and unemployment benefits, etc. to farmworkers.

"The federal case of farmworker slavery in Western New York this past year is ample proof that farmworkers are vulnerable," according to the Rev. Richard Witt, executive director of the Rural and Migrant Ministry. "The New York State Senate and the Governor have consistently refused farmworkers their dignity and their equality. They refuse to pass legislation that removes all of the legislative exclusions that deny farmworkers equality."

Among those endorsing the march are the New York State United Teachers, the New York State-Labor-Religion Coalition, United University Professions, and the Public Employees Federation.

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