Hide Article Text (OCR)
ELLSWORTH BUNKERRangers Protested UnionByRIO GRANDE CITY,(AP—Union officials claimed cooperatioI form of go -Help i build theii •lions and -« Dom•tlons undf•Charier a| Treaty 0 iaggressior - Help ganization Southeast i carry outand «Tcc-jjuggWednesday that Texas Rangers: “I don’tare in Starr County acting as jtRings. ac‘union busters” as the unionunless yoi'.of greal rprepares for a showdown in tne';ganjze yo critical melon harvest. have timeproblemsbut in atIn look perience itwice as 1watched JJ ffriL that I mewhen I wi mont, and Wall Stret “The s: here. To c subordinal confidence delegate do not h should ta'-Bunker with man* cial Ame:their Viel something essor, Hei not especi Bunker Nguyen C for conve “very cor The Vi been gene “Age is try where Lion of res still prev. Daily Ne* bis colum“What sped an-sagacity * the vigoi youth. 77 sworth Ei combinati riage ape* In Jam Carol Lai;A union spokesmen said complaints about the Rangers were being voiced in Austin and*calm am Washington by Ihe AFL-CIO. taxed,” B° J nr- i««i,As giant harvesting machines moved across the bountiful melon fields in 100-degree weather growers and lawmen for a fledgling farm union movement to take action both sides say will bring a showdown in the ll-month-old labor dispute.La Casita Farms, principal target of the labor organizational drive, began harvesting melons early Wednesday with machines.Only a few pickets were seen near the farm.The union had said earlier it will attempt to cut off the labor supply, halt the shipments of the melons, and try'to persuade consumers not to buy produce from La Casita Farms.Gilbert Padilla, vice president of the militant .United Farm Workers Organizing Committee,AFL-CIO, said be was having difficulty in getting pickets because “they are scared of the Texas Rangers.”Several Rangers are in Rio Gracde City at the request of local law officials.Starr County Atty. Randall Nye said the Rangers have beeu “on call” since labor troubles began here last June.“This is none of their (the Rangers’) business/’ Padilla said. “These Rangers are just unkm-bustcrs, who chould be out chasing bandits instead of pickets.“We are noo-violent and are not looking for trouble. We tell our pickets that if someone strikes them, they just have to take it.”Padilla said all arrangements have been made with a Mexican labor union to set up strike flegs and picket lines across the Rio Grande at Miguel Aleman, Mexico, in an attempt to cut off the flow of Mexican nationals who cross the bridge daily to work in the melon harvest.There was speculation that the attempt might come Thursday.It would mark the first time a labor union in Mexico cooperated with a union based across the Rio CrBndc. Padilla said the! members of the Confederation of:Mexican Workers (CTM) arei ready to block the bridge on the Mexican side.“We are going to do it at the time we feel it can put the great- ; est pressure on La Casita Farms,” Padilla said.He said the bridge blockade can be effective because under Mexican law a worker cannot cross a picket line where the red and black “Huelga” (strike) flag Is posted.The union picked the melon harvest as their showdown with Starr County growers because cantaloupe and honeydew melons are the most perishable cropgrown in the border county.Farm officials say delays caused by picket lines and dcm-onstratirfis could prove disastrous to a crop La Casita says is its best in five years.Starr County has been the scene of almost constant controversy since the union organizational drive began last June.The union seeks a minimum wage of $1.25 an hour and union contracts for the mostly Mexi-can-American field hands who perform stoop labor In the vegetable and melon fields.They claim workers arc paid less than the required federal minimum wage of $1 an hour.Some 25,000 species of wildflowers fiorw in the United States
Newspaper Details
Victoria Advocate
Victoria, Texas, US
Thu, May 11, 1967
Page 26
Full Page
Clipped by
Del M.
Texas, USA 18 Feb 2019
Other Publications Near Victoria, Texas
Victoria Advocate
Victoria Daily Advocate
Victoria Advocate
Daily Advocate
Victoria Weeky Advocate
