FARMWORKER DELEGATION TO CARRY OVER 5,000 SIGNATURES COLLECTED DURING RECENT MARCH TO TALLAHASSEE TODAY

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Date: Thursday, March 16, 2000

re: CIW to Carry 5,000 Petition Signatures to Tallahassee

contact: Lucas Benitez, Romeo Ramirez (941) 821-5483 or (941) 821-5481

Thousands of Floridians support workers call for elected officials and Governor Bush to "use their offices to help move (tomato) industry leaders toward a more modern, more humane relationship with workers in Florida's tomato fields"

Immokalee, FL -- A delegation from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is heading to Tallahassee today, carrying with them over 5,000 signatures they intend to deliver to Governor Bush's office Friday morning. The signatures, collected over the course of the CIW's recent 230-mile march from Ft. Myers to Orlando, support the farmworkers' campaign for constructive dialogue with tomato industry leaders on wages and other working conditions. The petition specifically calls on Florida's elected officials, first and foremost Governor Bush, to use their offices to "help move industry leaders toward a more modern, more humane relationship with workers in Florida's tomato fields."

"Our march was a great success. When we started out, we prepared only enough petitions to collect about 1,000 signatures. You can imagine how we felt when community after community along the route of the march asked to copy our petition and collect signatures themselves," continued Benitez. "We are now at 5,000 signatures and counting, so we are taking what we have now to Tallahassee to let our elected officals know that not only farmworkers, but thousands upon thousands of everyday Floridians also feel that it is time for real, substantive change for Florida's farmworkers."

"We know that this fight will not be won overnight," added Romeo Ramirez of the CIW. "But we are confident that, given the opportunity, Governor Bush will recognize the simple justice of our cause and use his leadership to make the long-needed changes that we so desperately need as farmworkers here in Florida. "

"Governor Bush knows, we believe, that by virtue of the hard and dangerous work we do we have earned the right to talk with our employers about wages and other working conditions. We are fighting for workplace justice and a fair wage for a job that no one wants to do but that must be done," continued Ramirez. "We are counting on Governor Bush to help us move toward a fairer industry, for all of Florida, not just farmworkers but the tens of thousands of people we met along the way of our march who want to see justice done as well."

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