Word: ferrara
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...response to my letter in Thursday's Crimson (Oct. 24), Peter Ferrara claims that the figure of $10.90 I cite as the median daily earnings of a full-time farmworker includes only base pay and not piece work. This is simply not true. The figure comes from the Department of Agriculture's booklet, "The Hired Farm Working Force of 1970," which Mr. Ferrara will find in the Business School library. It includes base pay, piece work, and all other forms of cash payment, and is an average only over the days the worker can find employment. The same publication also...
...Ferrara is still under the impression that farmworkers are somehow rich, and Baker Library is too far for him to walk, he will find in Littauer another Department of Agriculture publication, "Income of Farm Wageworker Households in 1971." There he will discover that, for families whose head performs agricultural labor at least 150 days a year, median total family income is only slightly over $4000 a year, of 40 per cent of the national median for all families. He will find that only 16 per cent of such families (and these include skilled machine operators as well as field workers...
...mistake to print Peter Ferrara's article, "Has Chavez Fooled Harvard?" without investigating the "facts" it presents. A comprehensive reply is called for; in the meantime, here are a few corrections...
...Ferrara doubts that workers want to be represented by the UFW, he should consider the fact that since 1966, scores of elections have been held among field workers: most were by card-check or ratification, and some were held with secret ballots. The workers voted for UFW representation in all but two elections. unfortunately, such votes are not binding for agricultural employers. In addition, the enormous amount of strike activity organized by the union is worthy of note. Ferrara presents nothing more recent than his misinformation concerning the 1965 strike...
When you add $.10 in increased wages to self dignity and self determination, the farm workers under UFW contract in 1970, were the "richest" in the world! Ferrara also fails to mention the increase to $2.41 per hour in 1973 under the UFW contracts; and, other U.S. Dept. of Agriculture statistics like: Infant Mortality in farm workers in 125% higher than the national rate; Maternal Mortality is 125% higher than the national rate; Influenza and Pneumonia is 200% higher than the national rate; TB is 260% higher than the national rate; and, the average life expectancy is only 49 years...