Movie stars back farm hands' rights

One of the most stellar line-ups of Hollywood names assembled for a political cause in recent years has thrown its support behind one of the most impoverished sections of the American workforce. Thousands of farmworkers from across California are descending on the state capital of Sacramento today to demand new union rights, with the backing of some of the entertainment industry's most powerful players.

Actors Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand, James Caan, Elliott Gould, Richard Dreyfus and Martin Sheen, and directors Robert Altman, Stephen Soderbergh, Taylor Hackford, Wes Craven and Michael Apted have all signed an advertisement that appeared in Variety and Hollywood Reporter backing the farmworkers. There are about 600,000 farmworkers in the state's $27 billion industry. More than 75 per cent earn less than $10,000 a year.

The ad calls on Governor Gray Davis to sign a bill that would impose binding arbitration on farm owners and growers in their negotiations with the United Farm Workers union (UFW). Led by the charismatic Cesar Chavez, the union won recognition from the growers in 1975, but since then fewer than half have signed contracts with their workforces.

It claims that a loophole means employers can delay signing a contract indefinitely. The bill which Davis, a Democrat, has been asked to sign would impose a time-frame on negotiations and introduce binding arbitration.

'California's farmworkers are among the lowest paid and most exploited workers in our state,' says the advertisement. 'They toil daily in the fields to bring us our food. They are part of a multi-billion-dollar industry. And yet, historically, their wages and working conditions have been abominable and they are exempt from national labour protections.'

The advertisement claims that, of 428 farming operations negotiating with the UFW, only 185 have signed a contract. One grower, D'Arrigo Brothers, has resisted signing for 27 years, says the union.

The high-profile support was welcomed by union members who are on a 10-day, 150-mile march on the capital from the Central Valley town of Merced. They hope to be joined by more than 100 busloads of supporters.

'It's got a lot of people's attention,' said Marc Grossman of the UFW. He said many of the actors had been long-time supporters and that the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild had helped to marshall backing. While some farmworkers, who are almost exclusively Latino and Spanish-speaking, had not heard of many of the names, he said, 'the fact that a lot of Hollywood big-hitters have given their support has gone down very well'.

The Western Growers Association has expressed strong opposition to the bill. 'It would drive up labour costs and the costs of fruit and vegetables,' said spokesperson Celine Garcia. Last week, the growers contributed more than $100,000 to Governor Davis's campaign for re-election in November.