United Farm Workers joined by thousands in Sacramento at state capitol
SACRAMENTO -— Thousands of people rallied around the United Farm Workers at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on Friday, marking the end of a 335-mile march that started in the Central Valley.
The path, first walked in 1966 by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, was marched again during this 24-day march that consisted of 19 permanent farm worker pilgrims who endured triple-digit temperature days throughout the journey to Sacramento.
The group made the journey from Delano to the California State Capitol to urge Gov. Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2183, which they say will make it easier for farm workers to vote and unionize without intimidation.
In the final stretch of the march on Friday, Huerta marched front and center to the west steps of the state capitol.
"It means something to the heart," said Emmanuel Sandoval, who said his parents and grandparents were farm workers. He attended the final rally alongside his family, including his five children.
As of Friday, Gov. Newsom has not signed AB-2183, but a spokesperson said this in an email:
"Governor Newsom is eager to sign legislation that expands opportunity for agricultural workers to come together and be represented, and he supports changes to state law to make it easier for these workers to organize. Our goal is to establish a system for fair elections-requiring employers to abide by rules that guarantee union access and provide key enforceable protections to ensure a fair election. If employers fail to abide by those rules, they would be subject to organizing under a card-check process.
However, we cannot support an untested mail-in election process that lacks critical provisions to protect the integrity of the election, and is predicated on an assumption that government cannot effectively enforce laws.
We welcome an agreement with UFW on the ground-breaking legislation the administration has proposed."