photo by Jon Lewis (c.1966). After the table grape vine has been pruned, 6 canes – sometimes only 5 – are tied to the guide wires. This labor intensive work is called “tying”. Imagine table grape boxes (approximately 25 lbs each) stacked end-to-end and 12 boxes high for a distance of 3000 miles – this is the size of the annual California table grape harvest. In the cultivation and the harvest of table grapes, farmworkers perform 10 hand operations. If you multiply 10 hand operations x 3000 miles of stacked boxes, you have a good idea what role farmworkers play in this $3 billion dollar industry, the 3rd largest commodity crop in California. What’s missing? Labor rights – these farmworkers were excluded in 1935 from all protections of national labor legislation and remain segregated 74-years later. Farmworkers (and domestic workers) are victims of U.S. labor apartheid and it is time for labor justice – if not now, when?

(This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 5:25 pm.) .