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Medina on UFW: No Regrets

by Marc Cooper

I’m still in the midst of a border journalism conference in Arizona and will spend all day Wednesday in Mexico; so posting will remain light.

During the few free moments I’ve had available I’ve been keeping up with the news as best I can. Reporter Miriam Pawel’s Los Angeles Times series thumping on Cesar Chavez’ United Farm Workers continues to hold my attention. My cellphone has been buzzing from friends who want to talk about it.

I found Tuesday’s installment on how Chavez –in the last 15 years of his life– purged the union of opponents, dissidents, organizers and generally anyone who challenged his domination to be a gripping and wholly depressing tale. It’s a maddening story that should anger any clear-thinking person on the Left; as it was precisely the Left that Chavez drove from the union, helping to seal its overall fate.

Pawel’s series relies heavily on stinging quotes from one-time Chavez protege Eliseo Medina who sat on the UFW board until 1978 and who was once considered by many to be Chavez’ most logical successor. After leaving the UFW, Medina achieved an admirable career in other unions and today sits as Executive Vice-President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

By pure coincidence I saw Medina today. He was one of the speakers I had scheduled a few months ago for the border reporters’ conference I have organized for this week. So I asked him today if he had any regrets about how the L.A. Times’ articles have turned out. After all, his quotes were being used as some of the heaviest ammo against the course the UFW has chosen.

Answering my question, Medina grimaced, shaking his head. "No," he said. "This all had to be said. It was time."

It’s an intriguing response from Medina. The UFW joined with the SEIU last year in forming the new Change To Win Coalition, though the latter did not take the step of actually leaving the AFL-CIO as Medina’s union did. For Medina to now openly speak out so critically about one of his union’s allies can only signal the growing recognition among the rest of labor that the UFW has rendered itself to be rather irrelevant. Sad. But true.
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MARC COOPER
Wed, Jan 11, 2006 4:40PM
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