Word: chavez
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Those who joined the boycott must have felt that the farmworkers had won a great victory and that their living standards would improve. But the truth is that supporters of the boycott had forced farm workers into the UFW where Chavez hurt them both personally and financially, ultimately causing the living standards of many farmworkers to decline rather than improve...
...problems began with the UFW contracts themselves. Chavez contracts required growers and workers to use a hiring hall system. Under the plan, growers could not hire workers. Instead they would notify the UFW of how many workers they needed and when. Meanwhile, anyone who wanted to work would go to the hiring hall where the UFW would pass out assignments. This meant that a worker could only get a job through the union, worker could not get a job through the union, establishing a closed shop. The closed shop is illegal under the Taft-Hartley Act, but the act does...
Furthermore, the contract made it clear that there was to be no limit to Chavez's discretion in assigning jobs. One of the conditions for working is that a worker must be in good standing with the UFW. The term good standing is not explicitly defined. But as a hint the contract reads, "The union shall be the sole judge of the good standing of its members," and also, nothing in the contract "is intended to limit the grounds for determination of good standing...
...Chavez's contracts left the workers defenseless. If anyone wanted to work he had to be in "good standing" with Cesar Chavez. As one Washington columnist wrote, "These glorious contracts reek of the docks--the docks of Charleston and New Orleans 120 years ago. Like slave traders and plantation owners, Chavez and the growers are buying and selling human beings...
...secret memorandum of agreement that Chavez signed with growers, he explained how he planned to use this power. "It is agreed between the company and the union that there are certain employees who the union claims have impaired its unionizing activities. Therefore, the company agrees to explain to said employees that if they continue to do so, they will be immediately fired...