Word: grapes
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Died. Leo C. Byrne, 66, Coadjutor Archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis and vice president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; of heart failure; in St. Paul. Theologically conservative, Byrne was a social activist who supported Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers' grape and lettuce boycotts. At the 1971 World Synod of Bishops in Rome, Byrne urged that "no argument should be used to exclude women from any service to the church if it stems from male prejudice or blind adherence to merely human tradition...
Therefore, there should be an end to the boycotts and there should be federally supervised secret ballot elections in the grape and lettuce fields of California and Arizona. The workers should be free to make the choice...
Many farmworkers also complained that the hiring halls gave no consideration to ranch seniority or traditional working habits. Members of the same family with one car were assigned to different ranches miles apart. Many grape pickers who had worked on the same ranch for years now saw UFW favorites assigned there while they had to wait. Instead of being able to work permanently with a single employer, workers were sent to many different ranches through the year...
...result, Chavez's boycotts and UFW disorganization have been major factors in causing declines in table grape planting. By 1971 growers had cut back planting by 4000 acres in the Coachella Valley and 8000 in the San Joaquin...
...grape picker explained that some workers lived 70 miles away from the UFW meeting places and had no transportation. Yet they were fined if they missed a meeting. He also said workers have to pay dues even during months when they do not work...