The main premise by Los Angeles Times reporter Miriam Pawel?that the United Farm Workers is "failing to organize California farm workers"?is directly contradicted by reporting from no less than 22 Los Angeles Times reporters and two columnists between April 25, 1994 (when the current UFW organizing drive began) and Sept. 23, 2005. These stories chronicle substantial UFW organizing, election, strike and boycott activities plus new union contracts and legislative victories.

Either all the stories by these Times reporters are wrong or Pawel's stories are wrong. They both can't be right. Following are citations for just 48 stores from the Times archives on relevant UFW activities covering 1994 to 2005. There are many others.

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Kicking off the UFW's current field organizing and contract negotiating campaign with a 343-mile march from Delano to Sacramento in 1994.

"Pilgrimage to Mark Strategy Shift for UFW," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1994.

"UFW Pledges New Activism as March Ends. Labor: Cesar Chavez's successor urges a return to grass-roots organizing during a `summer of freedom' to recoup the faltering farm union's successes," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1994.

A string of UFW election victories and campaigns to win contracts that followed, with workers at 32 companies voting for the union in secret ballot elections. Among them were dozens of UFW contract successes, including the largest strawberry, rose, winery and mushroom firms in California and the nation.

"UFW pledges new activism as march ends," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 1994

"UFW Leading in Oxnard Election. Labor: At stake is right to negotiate on behalf of 600 produce workers. Balloting is the union's first in the county in years," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1994

"UFW Plans Protest at Dole Chief's Office," by Miguel Bustillo, Los Angeles Times, June 23, 1994

"Union's focus on fields starts to bare fruit," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, July 18, 1994

"UFW Wins Recount of Workers' Ballots," by Miguel Bustillo, Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1994

"UFW Steps Up Organizing Efforts in Area. Labor: The drive is the most intensive activity in the county since 1990. The focus is on two firms in Oxnard and Moorpark," Scott Hadly, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 7, 1994

"UFW-Grower Pact Prevents Strike. Labor: Tentative agreement between union and Muranaka Farms would lead to the first pay hike in four years for workers," by Scott Hadly, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 22, 1994

"With New Pact, Union Takes Big Step Back to Prominence. Labor: United Farm Workers concludes its eighth contract in a year, signing 1,400 flower workers," by Michael Parrish, Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1995

"UFW Members Picket Outside Produce Firm," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1995

"Labor Dispute Sparks Protest at Dole Office," Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1995

"COLUMN ONE: The UFW GETS BACK TO ITS ROOTS: The late Cesar Chavez tried to build a social movement, but the union's new president is staging a comeback and adding members," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 17, 1996

"Teamsters and UFW Talks Could Yield Historic Alliance. Labor: But the effort to organize Washington apple pickers and packers would be haunted by bitter memories of unions' fights in California," by Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 1996.

"UFW, Grower May End Long Dispute. Labor: After two-decade battle, Bruce Church Inc. and union reach tentative pact," by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1996

"AFL-CIO Targets Berry Growers for Union Push," by Robert A. Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 14, 1996

"Ralphs Backs UFW on Bid for Reforms in Berry Fields," by Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20, 1996

"Strawberry Fields a Hard Row for UFW. Labor: The work is tough and low-paid, but grower opposition and worker fears impede organizers," by Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1997

"UFW Rallies to Organize Strawberry Workers," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1997

"UFW Launches Organizing Drive in Ventura County," by Daryl Kelley, Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1997

"UFW Adds Irvine Growers Group to Lawsuit. Labor: Trade association's meeting is picketed. Union's dispute centers on alleged sham workers organizations," by Barbara Marsh, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1998

"Labor Panel Voids Election That Favored UFW Rival. Farming: Board backs the union's contention that a vote to organize Coastal Berry Co. workers is invalid," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1999

"Judge Calls for 2 Separate Labor Units. Union: Ruling could mean that UFW, which lost statewide vote to rival group, could get to represent Ventura County pickers," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2000

"UFW Seeks Pizza Hut's Help in Labor Battle," Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2000

"Board Gives UFW a Victory in Oxnard. Agriculture: Labor panel decision awards union the right to represent more than 700 strawberry pickers," by Gina Piccalo, Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2000

"UFW Wins Contract With Gallo," by James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 2, 2000

"Wash. Workers Seek to Reap More Fruit for Their Labors," by Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 6, 2000

"Ralphs Stores Stop Orders From Mushroom Farm," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 27, 2000

"UFW Wins Key Election at Berry Firm. The union, which already represents workers at the Oxnard operation, will represent nearly 900 pickers in Watsonville," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 11, 2003

"Pictsweet Workers Win Contract. A new state law helps resolve the dispute at the Ventura mushroom farm, where crews had labored for 17 years without a union pact," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 18, 2004.

The UFW won a historic 2002 state law imposing private-sector binding mediation when growers refuse to negotiate union contracts after farm workers vote in secret ballot elections. If upheld by the courts, it could produce many more UFW contracts.

"CAPITOL JOURNAL. Farm Workers March to the Capitol, but Davis' Steps Will Come Later," by George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 26, 2002

"History Echoes as Farm Workers Rally for Bill. Labor: Bid to establish binding arbitration puts pressure on Davis, a UFW ally in '75 triumph," by Gregg Jones, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 26, 2002

"A Big Win for Farm Workers. Agriculture: Davis Signs two bills mandating mediation in disputes," by Gregg Jones, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1, 2002

"UFW Used Brinkmanship to Win 2 Laws. Labor: The union's legislative team cornered Gov. Davis into signing mediation bills," by Gregg Jones, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 3, 2002

"Pictsweet Workers Win Contract. A new state law helps resolve the dispute at the Ventura mushroom farm, where crews had labored for 17 years without a union pact," by Fred Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 18, 2004.

Fierce grower resistance to farm worker organizing means the UFW often fights just to keep what it already won, diverting attention from organizing new workers. The most recent example was the 22-month legal and contract campaign and three-month boycott to renew the UFW pact with Gallo winery in Sonoma County.

"Probe Delays vote Count on Gallo Workers' UFW Petition," by Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2003

"Labor Complaint Filed Against Gallo Winery," by Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2003

"Farm Union at Gallo Unit Wins Ruling. A state labor panel voids a decertification of the UFW," by Marc Lifsher and Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 2004

UFW Plans Wine Boycott in Effort to Pressure Gallo," by Miriam Pawel, Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2005

"Gallo, Farm Union in Pact," by Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 14, 2005.

In 2005, the UFW mounted a major organizing campaign among Central Valley table grape workers. The union forced growers to grant modest pay hikes. Despite fierce grower opposition, the UFW nearly won the largest private-sector election in the nation last year, according to national union observers. Last November the state of California ruled the UFW proved a "prima facia" case that grower law violations "tainted" the election and the state ordered a hearing on whether the vote should be invalidated.

"UFW Thinks Climate Is Right to Grow Its Ranks," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 31, 2005

"Vineyard's Workers Appear to Reject Joining UFW," by Miriam Pawel and Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 2, 2005

"UFW Alleges Grower Threatened Pickers Before Vote, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 13, 2005

New laws and regulations aiding farm workers the UFW has won since 1999 include a law requiring seat belts and other safety measures for farm labor vehicles, two 2001 state laws providing new protections for farm workers cheated out of their pay by farm labor contractors; the 2002 binding mediation law; a new 2004 law with new pesticide protections for farm workers and other rural residents; a 2004 state regulation banning hand weeding and the 2005 emergency regulation to prevent heat deaths and illnesses.

"Bitter Taste in the Grape Fields: Farm worker says his father, 53, didn't have to die of heatstroke," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 30, 2004

"Deaths Rally Farm Laborers. Three men have died after working in the recent intense heat of the Central Valley, sparking a demand for more safeguards," by Mark Arax, Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2005

"Gov. Orders Shade, Water for Workers Sickened by Heat," by Nancy Vogel and Robert Saladay, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 3, 2005.

The UFW spent three years negotiating with national grower groups to create the landmark AgJobs bill that would let hundreds of thousands of undocumented farm workers earn the right to stay in the U.S. by continuing to work in agriculture. AgJobs became the first major immigration reform measure winning majority support in one house of Congress, in the U.S. Senate in April 2005.

"Immigration Measure Blocked. A proposal to hold out legal status to 500,000 farm workers fails to advance in the Senate," by Mary Curtius, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2005

"Fair Deal for Farm Workers," Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2001.

A 2003 UFW-sponsored state measure offering incentives for growers to provide health benefits for their farm workers nearly passed the Legislature.

See "UFW Seeks Improved Health Care," by Gregg Jones, Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2003.