Word: hemmeter
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Dates: during 1977-1977
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Kathy Rettig, a recent graduate of Penn State, also drove across the country with Eileen and me. She was sent to Hemmet, and had this to say about the experience there...
...Hemmet was a small retirement town in central southern California. It is white upper-middle class; the average age is 64. Also there is Hemmet Wholesale nursery which employs 150-200 agricultural workers. They voted to be represented by the UFW two years ago, and it has been two years of stalling negotiations. Our job was to bring Hemmet Wholesale to the negotiating table, harass the people connected with Hemmet Wholesale, and build up support in the town. We began with a petition of support on which we got some 500 signatures. We presented the list to the city council...
...kinds--some worked on a benefit yard sale, some sold union graphics, buttons, and jewelry on the beach. I worked door to door, and discovered that with occasional exceptions, people give inversely to how much money they make. The other main activity was continuing to put pressure on Hemmet Wholesale's retailer outlets...
...Hemmet, by this time, was coming to the bargaining table, but in body only. In particular, we concentrated picket lines in front of Nurseryland, because they had at one time agreed not to carry any more Hemmet products until a contract was signed and has then gone back on the agreement. So we took the case to the customers, and many turned away...
...Maids" and "The Grapes of Wrath" and sponsored a Cinco de Mayo celebration with La Raza. This year the struggle continues; for example we have brought and may again need to bring pressure on Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. which owns a controlling interest in Coachella Growers, who, like Hemmet Wholesale, are refusing to bargain in good faith. The UFW experience certainly changed my viewpoint on farmwork, and agribusiness...