Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, chief executive of the California Labor Federation, who urged Newsom to sign the bill, said it was a win for farm workers statewide.
“At this historic time when workers want unions more than ever, everything we do, including legislation, must be focused on organizing,” she said. . “In California, it’s only natural that our farm workers lead the way.”
In August, dozens of farm workers marched more than 530 miles through the Central Valley to Sacramento to get Mr. Newsom to sign the bill. The march is symbolic and reflects the 1966 trek led by United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez who called for a meeting with Governor Edmund G. Brown to address the farmworker situation. I got
Since the recent marches, UFW members have held rallies in many California cities, along with other farm workers in support of the bill.
One morning this month, 30-year-old Amalia Rodriguez joined 12 supporters of Congressional Bill 2183 outside the State Capitol in downtown Los Angeles.
As a teenager, Rodriguez began working in strawberry fields in Oxnard, a farming community 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles. She said she has seen producers threaten farm workers, much of it undocumented.
“They tell us to appreciate what we make and not be greedy,” she said.
“We’re being treated like we’re nothing,” Rodriguez added, as fellow protesters shouted the union’s motto, “Sí, se puede” (“Yes, we can do it”). Cars passing by cheered and honked their horns.
“We’re working hard, but we’re just being told to keep quiet,” she said.