◆ SpookStack

at +5 =~, . "The Truth About the Grapz Boycott," “that in 1967 the “United Farm Workers” organization growers, anxious to end the nationwide b rr Aahe Grape Fraud - ) “» Arizonans who lend themsclves to the so-called preps baycolt are, whether they know it or not, being used. Their cause is an emotional anc, but like £0 many ‘emo- fional causes it is a compound of misinformation ant agitation. . . Careful inspection of the subject by responsible journalists and the American Farm Bureau Federation suggests that the boycott is fraudulent, Far from hely- ing impoverished farm workers, the boycott drive is aimed at helping a handful of agilators who do not represent the work t . oa The point is made clear in a Farm Rurcau pamphlet, hich shows ef Cesar Chavez had 1,973 dues paying inembers out of | sowne ‘170,000 farm workers and 60,C90-plus grape work- ers in California. . “Thus,” the Farm Burea' sents 1.2 per cent of all than 3 per cent of all prape ‘The grap: boycott campaign is taking place precisely because of this weakness of the Uniled Farm Worl in obtaining membership. Unable to get werkers to join up voluntarily, Chavez’ union is try to force con- tracts on growers which would require union member- ship of their employes. . By this method the union can corae up with @ Jarge cperced membership it cannol get through freedom of choice. As columnist Jamcs Jackson Kilpatrick reposted: “Out in the fields, the workers speak of the Ci union with fecr and contempl. They tell of thre: telephone calls at night, of repeated acts of van and intimidation. They are fearful that the b notes, “the union repre- mW ‘Ss, and no more euere oll, amAy yet sell them like so many heads of lettuce to the UFWOC, which thereafter would control when and where they worked.” Co, : That is what the boycott is about—a side of the pic- ture which somchow dogs not get mentioned by the libera! Iwninaries who appear on those TV talk shows, speaking in reverential tones of the wonderful Cesar Chavez and the great struggle in which he and his union are engaged. ss An this area, Safeway stores are the principal target. Their crime, apparently, is that they allow customers + the right to determine whether they will buy grapes. And ii there is one thing the grape boycotiers cznnot ~ tolerate, it is the right of the individual to make up his own mind. . . . . . The snti-grape lobbyists have the right t boycott grapes from now until Judgment Day. But they have no vight to coerce Safeway or any other grocery chain into refusing to sell grapes or any other products. —