◆ SpookStack

AMENDING MIGRATORY LABOR LAWS 361 concedes that the losses in tbe 1905 harvest year were due to a shortage of adequate labor. The Board feels that unless there ia an additional supply of supplemental labor at the right time, there will be a repetition of the dis Astrous losses in the asparngus harvest thia year. This loss, of course, will be reflected in @ critical shortage of white aymragus in the foreign export market. : After careful consideration, the Board of Directors, representing the aspara- gus industry in the State of California, agreed that they would not initially volicit the hetp of the State Department of Employment and the Federal Government in the recruitment of labor for the asparagus harvest; it was Proven to all growers last year that the quality of the help recruited by these agencies proved to be inadequate. The growers have indicated they will initiaRy utilize private recruitment agencies to scour the country to obtain the type af labor that can adequately barvest the crop economically. The growers realize that they will be in competition with other producing vegetable crops in California and will have to pay wages on a plece rate incentive scale that will farorubly compete with these areas and will attract and hold workers as long sgidle. They recognize that in the late spring, upon conversion from ragus to white asparagus, piece rates must be competitive and higher than those paid in other crops in order to hold the worker. an historical fact that when conversion from green to white asparagus tal ce, there is a shortage of domestic labor. Whenever this occurs in 1966 The growers will need supplemental labor at the riak of losing production of thousands of acres of aspe! ragus. ‘The growers do not intend to adhere to any minimum wage in 1966 harvest- ing of asparagus, but they do intend to offer plecework rates that will attract the man interested in working hard and earning a good wage. In the event ‘that supplemental help is necessary, and it is an historical fact that it will be, the growers will be able to furnish the U.S. Department of Labor with facts and figures showing the wages paid and the rate of earnings on a piecework basis to be far above those that the 1965 wage survey indicated. It is the feeling of the growers that when this information is made available, the Secretary will not refuse to certify the need for supplemental labor to save the asparagus industry in California. Our growers feel that the imposition of criteria upon the growers in 14 and 1965 is responsible for the reduction in acreage in this industry from 58,181 acres in 1964 to 46,565 acres from the crop year 1986. The responsible agencies while attempting to manipulate our industrial affairs, from @ layman standpoiut, have not only crippled the asparagus in- dustry in California, but have also severely impaired our international foreign market relationship which our government ha§ labored so strongly to pre- serve, maintain and improve. Realizing these facts, the asparagus industry feels that it can no longer do business on the basts of the criteria issued by the Secretary of Labor. The California Asparagus Growers’ Association's Board of Directors are of the opinion that Senate Bill 1867 will not solve its harvesting problems. The California Asparagus Growers’ Association ls opposed to Senate Bill TOOT ree Senator Wusraxs. We had to adjourn this noon for lurich before hearing from Mr. Cesar Chavez. He was a morning witness. If Mr. Chavez would come forward now, we apologize for delaying you, sir. You're wearing a button. Someone’s up for reelection or election? STATEMENT OF CESAR CHAVEZ, GENERAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL FARMWORKERS ASSOCIATION MrACaavez. This is a “Huelga” button. Senator Williams, Sen- ator Murphy, Congressman , We are meeting, once again, to discuss the problems of the farmworker and what might be done to correct these problems. Such meetings have been called for decades, and unfortunately things have not changed very much in spite of were ewe ee Eris? . -