Tell NC Gov. Cooper to VETO Farm Bill - Stop attacking farm workers right to organize!
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Anti-Union Bill S615 Attacks Farmworkers Right to Organize
After a series of recent farm worker wins in NC - from kale workers to sweet potato pickers and a growing campaign against tobacco corporate giant RJ Reynolds - politicians that are also growers are now trying to use their legislative power to stop workers on their own farms from organizing for better wages and working conditions. Farm Bill S615 is a shameful abuse of power that takes aim at our union in a blatant attempt to stop farm workers from achieving union agreements that include wage increases, job security, benefits, and improved working conditions. Farm Bill S615 has already passed the NC House and Senate, and we are calling on Governor Cooper to veto the bill.
The Legislature had originally sought to pass SB375 to eliminate union payroll deduction for ALL employers, including private and public. But, after mass pressure from UE local 150-NC Public Service Workers Union, NC Association of Educators, NC AFL-CIO and others, they backed off the bill, and instead decided to attack farm workers alone!
The bill has two parts: 1. It makes it illegal for farmers who have signed union agreements to deduct dues from union members who want to pay dues, seeking to weaken the only farmworker union in the state, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) 2. The bill makes it illegal for farmworkers to ask growers to sign an agreement with their union as part of settling wage or other legal violations, making it more difficult for farmworkers to achieve union agreements that include wage increases, job security, benefits, and improved working conditions. This, FLOC believes, is occurring in retaliation for a series of lawsuits their members have brought over the past few years, seeking to end wage theft, intimidation, and retaliation across Eastern NC.
TELL NC GOVERNOR ROY COOPER:
Veto Farm Bill, S615, a bill designed by farmers elected to the NC State Legislature to stop farm worker union’s progress
TAKE ACTION:
1. SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION TODAY!
2. Get your Union or Organization to write an official letter from the organization to Gov. Cooper calling on him to veto SB615. Send letters to
[email protected] and
[email protected] and CC a copy to
[email protected] and
[email protected]
3. Follow-up with a personal phone call. Call 919-716-6400 or 919-814-2000
To: Governor Roy Cooper
From: [Your Name]
I am shocked to hear about Farm Bill S615, the latest attack that farmers elected to the State Legislature launched against farm workers.
State Rep. David Lewis, a tobacco farmer in Eastern NC, was pushing Senate Bill 375, which would make it harder for farm workers on his own farm to organize for better wages and working conditions. Not having the votes to pass the bill, Rep. Jimmy Dixon, a farmer from Warsaw, NC snuck it in as an amendment to Farm Bill, S615, which was passed on June 28 without opportunity for full discussion. These farmers are abusing their power as legislators to pass self serving laws to stop their own workers from unionizing.
Farm workers are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act and other worker protections like minimum wage, child labor, and workers compensation laws, among others. However, through the efforts of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), farm workers have won union contracts that include wage increases, job security, and improved working conditions, and this bill aims at stopping this progress.
We want to thank you for all of the good work you have done to reverse the mistakes of the past administration. As a long time advocate for working people, we ask that you veto Farm Bill, S615.
SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION TODAY!
Copyright © 2017 Southern Workers Assembly, All rights reserved.
You either attended an event hosted by the Southern Workers Assembly or have signed one of our online petitions.
Our mailing address is:
Southern Workers Assembly
PO Box 934
Rocky Mount, NC 27802
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