Jorge De Haro does not believe workers should be forced to pass physical exams in order to work. He believes it is the company’s way of discriminating against some of the older workers.  “If we don’t pass the exercises, they can fire us,” he said. “After working 33 years of my life for the same company, this is how they compensate us? By kicking us out into the street?”

“I need the union so I can have a better life,” said Alfredo Alvarenga.  Working for more than 20 years in the fields, Alfredo has never worked under a union contract. He’s given 10 minutes to eat his lunch for the day. “Workers need to eat like animals to be done in time,” he said. “I know workers who work at companies with union contracts.  They have a sense of power about where they work. They know they are worth something.”

Photo: Lloyd Levine

Alejandro Garcia has been singled out by his company for being pro-UFW. “The company tries to intimidate me that they’ll fire me,” he said. Still, he says, he will continue to fight for a union contract.  He says they are not asking for anything unreasonable. “All we are asking is for the company to sit at the table with us and negotiate a contract in good faith with the workers and with the union,” he said.

Photo: Rona Talcott

Gonzalo Picasso Lopez believes one day, his company will have a union contract.  “I am 100 percent sure the UFW can get us one,” he said. “The people in the fields, we need union contracts. Otherwise, we have no medical plan, no pension – nothing, nothing, nothing.”

Photo: Rona Talcott

Ramona Aguilar says she feels fortunate to work under a union contract. “Other companies treat their workers so badly,” she said. “It is a little difficult because of the heat, but we have good insurance and the water is in good condition and the restrooms are clean,” she said.

Photo: Rona Talcott

When Carmen Medina’s son was born prematurely, she was not worried at first about going on maternity leave. She had worked out the details months in advance with her supervisor. Yet, in April, while tending to her newborn, Carmen discovered she had been fired while away. “I felt very bad and disgusted because it showed how the company does not understand a women’s necessity to take and be on maternity leave,” she said. “All the company cares about is getting richer and working us like slaves in the process.”

Benito Zeferino makes less than minimum wage and has a family to support.  “We are so thankful our children our healthy because we cannot afford any medical insurance for them,” he said. “When our children do get sick, we have to pay with money that we don’t have.  This puts a strain on our ability to pay our basic necessities, but what are we to do?”

With 38 years of experience working in the fields, Luz Carlos knows about horrible working conditions.  Blood tests show she has pesticides in her bloodstream.  She remembers kneeling to work in fields so dirty that the next day all the female workers suffered from vaginal infections and rashes. "People really have no idea what farm workers have to endure," she said.

Photo: Jocelyn Sherman

While nearly seven-months pregnant and working in the fields, Maria Rosario Chocoteco left her row to go to the restroom.  Being an open UFW supporter, Maria’s supervisor harassed her often. “He watched me go into the restroom,” she said. “He went into his truck [that was hitched to the portable restrooms] and decided to move it. Meanwhile, I was inside. The toilet started leaking and with the movement, I was hit hard in the stomach. I had to stop working.”  No one ever checked to see if Maria was hurt. Years later, she believes her son’s learning disability is a result of the incident.

Photo: Moses Reyes

Margarita Mendez remembers Cesar Chavez.  “He had a calm presence,” she remembers. “But he could fill any room with his energy and strength.  Together with Cesar, we fought and won good fights: drinking water, restrooms and 10-minute breaks.” Although Margarita says many successes have been won in recent years, there is much work to be done.  “There is still a need to fight for the farm workers,” she said.

Photo: Jocelyn Sherman

Leticia Aburto remembers asking her boss for time off when her youngest son was sick with asthma. “He asked me, ‘What is more important? Your job or your sick child?’ I left right there. The most important thing is my child,” she said. “It is very sad. I care about my job. I pay rent, bills, we need to eat, but my son was sick. The bosses, they just don’t care.”

Photo: Jocelyn Sherman

When Pablo Alvarez’ sons were teenagers, he gave them two choices – either study or go to work in the fields with him.  “I’d ask them, ‘Do you want to go burn in the hot sun and get paid minimum wage to do it?’ And they’d always answer, ‘No! I will finish high school.’” Looking back, he says his strategy must have worked – all his children finished school and not one is working in the fields.

Photo: Jocelyn Sherman

Reynaldo Arevalo has picked mushrooms for 16 years. He says the union has not changed his life as much as it has helped improve it. “Before the union, we never received raises, had vacation time or any paid holidays to spend time with our families. If my foreman asked me to do something, even if I thought it was wrong, I had to do it. With a contract, I can voice my opinion without the fear of losing my job.”

Photo: Rona Talcott

Sergio Andrade is 26.  He says he is thankful his company has a union contract.  “The union has helped us tremendously,” he said. “We need union representation because many people don’t care about us, our lives just don’t affect them.”

Photo: Rona Talcott

Rufino Vega has five children.  Before his company signed on with the union, he said health care was too expensive to provide. “But now, I don’t have to pay anything because the union provides me and my children with one of the best insurance providers,” he said. He doesn’t want to see his children work in the fields. “An education is essential for them to have a better future.”

Photo: Rona Talcott

Olga Velado has spent the last 32 years of her life working for a company that refuses to promote women to better paying positions.  The discrimination angers the female workers. “Women are not even taken into consideration for the higher-paying jobs,” she said. “The company believes the men are more capable. We are just as capable as the men.  In some cases, we are even more capable.”

Photo: Rona Talcott

Daniel Navarrete knows the life of a farm worker is not easy.  “We work despite the conditions,” he said. “It may be raining or freezing, yet we believe we must fulfill our working responsibilities.” Working under a union contract, he said, makes things better.  “We have job stability. We also have benefits, such as health care and worker’s compensation packages because of the UFW.”

Photo: Isela Pena-Rager

Maria Cervantes works for the only grape company that makes workers pack grapes on their knees all day. From kneeling in the soil, her knees are stained.  She says she feels embarrassed to go to parties unless her knees are covered.  She also says she can tell when the fields have been sprayed with pesticides. “Once I had to tell my husband I couldn’t keep working. I had to leave I felt so nauseous.”

Photo: Lloyd Levine

Aaron Miranda picks grapes with his wife Monica at the same company.  He said the most difficult thing is watching his wife work in uncomfortable conditions. “She has allergies,” he said. “And a particular plant they let grow in the fields makes her very sick.  I told the foreman and supervisor, but they were of no help. I had to take her to different doctors to get her allergies under control.”

Photo: Roberto De La Cruz

Monica Martinez prefers to wear long pants to any special gathering.  After working eight years on her knees packing grapes for 10 hours-a-day, her knees are stained the color of the earth’s dark soil.  She’s tried scrubbing them, but the stains hold firm.  Her grape company is the only one left that makes its workers pack all day on their knees.  “The black spots, they just won’t come off,” she said.

Photo: Roberto De La Cruz

Tired of her checks being shorted regularly and pressure from her supervisors to work faster, Leonar Ramos believes the UFW should enter every ranch and increase awareness among workers of the benefits the union can bring to their lives. “All people need to know their rights in the workplace,” she said. “That includes farm workers.”

Photo: Roberto De La Cruz

Rocio Ontiveros used to cry over how one of her supervisors harassed her.  When she first started learning to work in grapes, he would call her a “monkey” and tell her she did not know what she was doing. He yelled at her constantly, at one point, throwing grapes in her face. “No one fought back,” she said. “We needed our jobs. We all have families to support.”

Photo: Roberto De La Cruz