Earlier this month, 15 farm workers at Crisalida Farms, in Oxnard, Calif., left work early because a nearby wildfire had caused ash to fall from the sky and produced dangerous levels of smoke making it hard to see and breathe.
The bosses at Crisalida Farms, however, disregarded the dangerous working conditions and fired all 15 workers for leaving.
The incident received widespread publicity, and the workers themselves did not meekly accept their firing but fought back. Although they were not union members, they contacted the United Farm Workers to help them regain their positions.
According to Los Angeles NBC TV4, union representatives met with the farm’s upper management and applied a union rule: “No worker shall work under conditions where they feel his life or health is in danger.”
Company backs down
Facing a public relations disaster and pressure from the union, the company quickly backed down. Company officials said it had all been a misunderstanding and offered to pay the workers for the hours they had worked. Later, after more negotiations, the company settled with the union and offered to rehire all 15 of the workers.
Only one of the 15 has returned to Crisalida Farms, however. The others by this time had found work at other farms. Nevertheless, the outcome represents a significant victory.
The wide publicity this incident received, the public outcry it generated and the involvement of a union with a past history of militant struggle on behalf of farmworkers produced the quick reversal by the company. This outcome demonstrates the value of union organization, a willingness to struggle, and worker solidarity in preventing worker victimization.
Employers hate unions because the higher wages and better working conditions organized workers can win cut into their profits—always the number one priority of capitalist owners. As this incident shows, workers need to organize in order to fight injustice. All workers deserve the democratic right to form a union, with no employer interference in exercising this right.
