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I-*1-'»engdIsISwISi't-■eieleleRIO GRANDE CITY, Tex. (AP)— A Roman Catholic social leader says his bishop supports an effort to unionize farm workers and a veteran labor organizer has thrown his support to the striking union in the latest round of labor developments in Starr County.The Rev. Charles MeNaboe said Bishop Thomas J. Drury of the Corpus Cbristi Diocese endorsed a statement issued Monday by the Catholic Association for Social Action (CASA), which MeNaboe heads,Franklin Garcia of Corpus Christi, international representative of the Meatcutters and Butchers Union, AFL-CIO, said Tuesday his union’s movement would be conducted as a strike against Rio Grande Valley growers, rather than civil rightsprotest.Garcia emphasized his union is supporting the striking farm workers only from a labor standpoint. He said he would help the union work out nationwide consumer boycots against growers as a main strike force.MeNaboe said CASA seeks money, unperishable food and clothing for the strikers. The statement issued by McNaboe’supportsgroup urged valley growers to pay the minimum authorized scale under federal legislation.The strike, launched against melon growers by a newly organized independent union, began June I, but has slowed since a court order against picketing was issued June 2.Union leaders have called thestrike a Mexican-American civilrights protest, explaining that most of the farmers were ofMexican-American background.The strike has been conducted by Eugene Nelson, who said his only previous labor union experience was as a picket captain in a grape pickers strike in Delano, Calif.Meatcutters Local 173 voted last -Sunday to aid the striking workers, and Garcia said the union’s 1,800 workers will be assessed money to support the Starr County' movement-.The statement issued by CASA said: ‘‘It has been 74 years since Pope Leo VIII spoke out strongly defending the working man’s needs and right to form unions.”PAY HIKEDRIO GRANDE CITY, Tex. (AP)—A Starr County melonfarm that was struck June 1 by an independent union has raised field hands to $1.00 an hour, a spokesman for growers said Tuesday night.The pay hike was made by La Casita Farm, one of four major Starr County farms struck by the Independent Workers Association, which seeks a $1.25 an hour minimum wage for field workers. The wage for. farms in the county had been 85 cents.The growers’ spokesman, Roland G. O’Con, also said that the manager of La Casita, Raymond Rochester, met Tuesday night with a '’fact-finding committee” composed of representatives of religious faiths.It wasn't learned who attended the fact-finding session. But a spokesman for the National Council of Churches, Betty Whitaker of Austin, Tex., had said earlier that she expected representatives of the Texas Council of Churches, the American Jewish Committee and the Bishops’ Committee for the Spanishspeaking, a Roman Catholic organization, to attend.Miss Whitaker said the committee would . invite growers, workers and union, leaders to speak.She said the purpose would be to “seek solutions to the unrest in the county.”O’Con said the pay raise would be retroactive to the start of the melon harvest. He said La Casita and other farms had intended to raise the houriy wage until the strike began, then shelved it “because they didn’t want to appear to be bending to pressure.”La Casita is one of the largest farms in Starr County and O’Con said the raise didn’t necessarily set a precedent for other growers in the area.mPrince Marks 55th BirthdayTHE HAGUE (UPI) -Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands, husband of Queen Juliana, today observed his 55th birthday with only private celebrations planned by the royal family.The occasion was marked officially by flying the national colors from government buildings. Prince Bernhard was bom in Jena, now East Germany, as Prince Bernhard Zur Lippe Biesterfeld.Vi
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Light
San Antonio, Texas, US
Wed, Jun 29, 1966
Page 51
Full Page
Clipped by
Del M.
Texas, USA 18 Feb 2019
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