Center For Worker Freedom

722 12th Street NW Suite #400

Washington, D.C. 20005

For Immediate Release                                                                         Contact: John Kartch

September 26, 2014                                                                              Phone: (202) 785-0226

                                                                                                              Email: jkartch@atr.org

Farm Workers to Storm Labor Hearing

Will plead with California Governor Jerry Brown for help on October 1.

On Wednesday,  October 1, at 10:00 a.m., farmworkers will hold a press conference to voice their opposition to being forced into the United Farm Worker’s Union  (UFW) by California labor authorities.

The workers, from Fresno-based Gerawan Farming, voted last November to decertify the UFW, but those ballots have been sequestered by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) and remain uncounted in a flagrant violation of the workers’ First Amendment freedoms of speech and assembly.

The workers, led by Silvia Lopez, a single mother and long-time Gerawan employee, will address California Governor Jerry Brown and ask him to aid them in their fight against forced unionization at a press conference outside an ALRB hearing on Wednesday, October 1, at 10:00 a.m.

Lopez will be joined by more than 100 of her co-workers and their families as well as California Assemblyman Jim Patterson, Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, and other elected officials concerned about the ALRB’s outrageous pro-union actions. Patterson recently sent a letter to Governor Brown urging him to act to preserve the Gerawan workers’ civil liberties.

The Center For Worker Freedom (CWF) will be helping to coordinate the press conference.

What: Press conference addressing Governor Jerry Brown

Where: The Radisson Hotel, (Sierra Grand Ballroom) 1055 Van Ness Avenue Fresno, CA 93721

Who: Farmworkers and elected officials

When: Wednesday, October 1, 10:00 a.m.

Why: Because every worker should have the right to decide whether or not they belong to a union

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 CWF is a special project of Americans For Tax Reform dedicated to educating the public about the costs and consequences of unionization.