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Class Action
October 2007 E-news:
Class and the Harvest
In this Issue
1. Class and the Harvest
2. New Space & New Friends
3. New Colleagues
4. Featured Articles
5. Featured Resources: Class and the Harvest
6. Review of the Month: The Milagro Beanfield War
7. Share your Experience: Class Action Survey asks for your first
experiences with working the land
8. October Action Against Classism
9. Job Opening at Class Action: Development Director
10. Get Active with Class Action: Internships and Volunteer
Opportunities
1. Class and the Harvest
Autumn in New England. The leaves are turning. The air is chilling. The Red Sox are in the playoffs. And here in Western Massachusetts, a mere two hours west from where Emerson’s “embattled farmer stood / and fired the shot heard ‘round the world,” it’s harvest time.
But before taking a bite of that McIntosh apple, or a slice of that pumpkin pie, we pause to consider the state of today’s farms, and the workers who labor on them. This month Class Action looks through its class lens at the harvest. From tomato pickers in Florida, to farm workers in California, the seeds of classism are being sowed in fields both near and far.
2. New Space & New Friends
In just three short years, Class Action workshops and presentations reached over 7,600 people, our web site traffic grew to 15,000 visits a month, and we’ve been on air more than 150 times. We’re proud of this growth, and thank all of you who work with us to inspire action against classism. Our recent move to 104 Russell Street provides us with room to build upon this success in the coming years. Over 50 supporters, colleagues and new friends welcomed us into our new space and joined in celebration of Class Action’s third birthday. Rob Peck captivated everyone’s attention with a gravity-defying balancing act honoring Class Action and Felice Yeskel provided an inspiring look into Class Action’s accomplishments while Carlyn Saltman from Your Story Matters filmed it all.
Thank you to the following businesses and people for donating food to help make the open house a delicious success: Big Y, Esselon Café, the Food Bank Farm, Moshi Moshi, the new Sam’s Pizza in Northampton, Stop & Shop, Henion Bakery, and Whole Foods.
3. New Colleagues
This summer Rhonda Soto joined Class Action as our Race/Class Intersections Program Coordinator. Join us on October 25th as we open our doors to welcome Rhonda, and formally kick off this compelling program. To read more about the party or to RSVP click here. You can also call Sarah at 413.585.9709 ext. 201 or email her.
Other new colleagues include Ruth Trimarchi, who recently joined Peter Redington on Class Action’s K-12 Education Team. An educator who recently taught at Amherst Regional High School, Ruth brings a love of teaching and an eye for detail. She and Peter will be developing new curriculum and providing training for teachers in the coming months. Our interns include Debbie Lopes da Rosa, a graduate student at the School for International Training and Olivia Levins Holden, from Smith College.
4. Featured Articles
"Fighting For Justice in the 'Factories in the Field' - Farmworkers in the U.S." by Justin Akers
SHAKING OFF the early morning chill, Algimiro Morales and the other farmworkers get ready for another long day in the vegetable fields outside of the coastal city of Oceanside, California. Read More..
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"After Immigration Crackdown, Farms Lack Workers" coverage by ABC News
PUBLICLY, the White House has been forceful about border enforcement--giving little to the plight of farmers. Read More...
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"The Invisible Harvest" by Michael Blanding
Exploitation. Coercion. Poverty wages. New England has its own Grapes of Wrath, and it's happening now. Inside the hidden world of the migrant farm workers who put food on your table. Read More...
5. Featured Resources: Links
The United Farmworkers Union, the first successful and most influential farm labor union in the United States, website lists several Key Campaigns and ways to Take Action. Check it out, do one today.
www.ufw.org
The Student/Farmworker Alliance is a national coalition of farmworkers and youth working to end the sweatshop conditions in many farm fields. Currently, they are targeting fast-food giant Burger King.
www.sfalliance.org
Working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Alliance for Fair Food promotes socially responsible food industry purchasing “to ensure the human rights of farmworkers at the bottom of the corporate supply chains.”
www.allianceforfairfood.org
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee of the AFL-CIO describes itself as “both a social movement and a labor union.” FLOC’s immediate constituency is migrant workers in the agricultural industry, but FLOC is also involved with immigrant workers, Latinos, local communities, and national and international coalitions concerned with justice.
www.floc.com
6. Review of the Month
Robert Redford’s classic film, The Milagro Beanfield War explores land development issues and water rights in the mountains of northern New Mexico, along with everything that has come to be associated with such a complex concern: civil rights, environmental justice, economic development, poverty, and of course, power. Read more…
7. Survey Question of the Month
Have you, a family member or friend ever worked in agriculture? What were the circumstances?
Click here to read responses or to give us your own.
8. Action of the Month
Farmworkers do some of the hardest labor in the country, providing people across the nation with the food necessary for their survival. Yet farmworkers are among the least protected workers, facing exposure to toxic pesticides and herbicides and working long hours, all while being exempt from the (albeit far too low) minimum wage guaranteed to laborers in other industries.
Click here to read more and take action to help farmworkers.
9. Job Opening at Class Action: Development Director
Put your fundraising experience to good use building Class Action’s development program. Join committed staff and volunteers inspiring action to end classism. Read more about this position.
10.Opportunities to get active with Class Action: internships and volunteer activities
Fall is here. Whether or not you are heading back to school, now’s a great time to get involved with Class Action. We’re looking for interns to help with marketing, communications, administration and program work. Click here for details. If you’d like to volunteer, please fill out a volunteer form, or just come by the office and fill one out. We’d like to meet you and find ways for you to get involved!
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