Migrants on the march

Farm workers finding support on the road to seeking better wages from the growers

THE SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE

Friday, February 25, 2000

Section: A SECTION Page: 1A

By Timothy O'Hara STAFF WRITER

After days of marching, Lucas Benitez was exhausted. He stood before a crowd of supporters outside Incarnation Catholic Church in Sarasota and told his story once again.

It was the same tale of low wages, little health care and even less respect, a tale that a group of about 80 migrant farm workers have told dozens of times on their trek across Southwest Florida this week.

Benitez and other members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers have marched about 80 miles from Fort Myers to Palmetto. This morning they will continue the walk north toward Tampa. Later, they will turn toward their ultimate destination, Orlando, where they hope to confront the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association with their demands for higher wages and better working conditions.

Although the marchers may not get the wage increase they want, they have brought their concerns out of the fields of Immokalee and to the front doors of thousands of residents in Southwest Florida, including in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties.

"It has been a long, hard march, and we are all tired. But it has been good to meet so many wonderful people," Benitez told a crowd of about 100 Tuesday. "It is people like you that keep us going."

As they marched along U.S. 41, honks of support came from young professionals in $40,000 sport utility vehicles and parents in minivans. Grandmothers, working parents and children of all races have attended the forums where migrant workers tell their stories.

"This has had a huge impact on my kids," said Wendy Perkins, who brought her three daughters to the rally at Incarnation Catholic Church. "They never knew people lived like this. No telephone, no cars, no TV. These people have no other options. I am a huge believer in capitalism, but you have to pay people what they deserve. These people are hard workers, and they are not asking for a handout."

Ray Curran felt compelled to leave his home in Siesta Key and lend his support. "I feel that the migrant farm worker population in this state has been exploited for years," Curran said as he listened to Benitez speak at the church parking lot Tuesday.

"I feel it's my obligation to do whatever I can to support them. Basically, this is a cause we must become involved in. These are our brothers and sisters."

Miles down the road, the farm workers were approached by a retired auto worker. He did not know their grievances, but was familiar with issues raised by blue-collar workers.

"We are all workers in some way or another," said John Grimes, who retired to Sarasota after working 35 years in an auto plant in Michigan. "When one of us doesn't have a voice, none of us have a voice. When employees don't have recourse, that's when things get bad. We have unions in this country for a reason."

He handed one of the workers a couple of dollars.

The marchers' call for dialogue between farm workers and farm owners has become the cause of others. Bishop John Nevins of the Diocese of Venice marched with them in Venice. They have been greeted with cheers at New College in Sarasota. They shared stories with other farm workers in Manatee County.

"This is the new civil rights movement," exclaimed the Rev. Charles S. McKenzie Jr., a state director with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. His words Tuesday were greeted by cheers from the mostly white retiree crowd at Incarnation Church.

The issue, Coalition of Immokalee Workers members say, is not racial. It is a worker's issue.

Farm workers receive 45 cents for each 32-pound bucket of picked tomatoes. At that rate, workers have to pick more than a ton to make $30. They are asking that the pay be raised to 75 cents a bucket.

Farm owners contend that the workers make about $9 per hour, but farm workers say they make far less than that.

In 1997, 2,000 of the 2,500 farm workers in Immokalee signed cards saying they wanted the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to represent them for wage and working conditions issues.

The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, which represents farm owners across the state, does not recognize the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as a union and has said it will refuse to talk with the workers when they reach Orlando. The owners association says it sees the group as an outside party trying to influence workers.

Ray Gilmer, spokesman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association, said the wage increase could have serious economic impact on farm owners. Tomato farms in Florida, overall, have been losing money every week since October, he said. Florida farmers also are competing with their Mexican counterparts, who have flooded the American market with inexpensive tomatoes.

Gilmer said Florida tomato farmers made a profit last year.

Immokalee pickers got a 13 percent pay raise last year, their first in almost 20 years.

But workers say it's not enough.

At one rally, a small boy asked Benitez why he doesn't leave the fields and get a better job. His response was simple.

"I could leave and get a better job, but someone else would come and replace me. And he would be stuck in the same place," he told the boy. "It is far better for me to stay and try to change it."

Staff writer Timothy O'Hara can be contacted at 742-6158 or tim.ohara@herald-trib.com.