Farm workers march to honor Chavez birthday, stop Trump and push for overtime pay

Thousands of California farm workers will march on Sunday, April 3 in the Central, Coastal and Sonoma valleys to mark Cesar Chavez’s birthday, reject Donald Trump and other anti-immigrant presidential candidates, and support state legislation ending their exclusion from overtime pay after eight hours a day.

Organized by the United Farm Workers, farm workers and community supporters will take to the streets to deliver a resounding “No!” to Trump and remind consumers that #WeFeedYou during three separate marches in Salinas, Merced and Santa Rosa. The marches for social justice are held annually to honor the March 31 birthday of the UFW founder, now celebrated as an official holiday in California and other states. This year marchers will also denounce the anti-immigrant views of Trump’s and other Republican presidential candidates, and remind them and the public who produces the food on their dinner tables.

Farm workers, many undocumented, work long hours for meager wages to feed the nation and much of the world. Despite their hard work and sacrifice, they’re excluded from overtime pay after eight hours of work. During peak season, farm workers often labor 10 hours a day without overtime pay. AB 2757, by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, would gradually phase in standards for farm worker overtime, lowering the current 10-hour day level to the standard eight-hours. AB 2757 wold provide farm workers with the same pay other workers in the United States have received since the 1930s.

Date: Sunday, April 3, 2016

SALINAS: 10 a.m., starting at Cesar Chavez Community Park, 205 N. Madeira Ave., Salinas, CA 93905

MERCED: 2 p.m., beginning at West 16th St. & M St., Merced, CA 95340

SANTA ROSA: 2 p.m., starting at 665 Sebastopol Rd., Santa Rosa, CA 95407


United Farm Workers
http://www.ufw.org/