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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Public Health Official Speaks the Truth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Labor Access to Farmworkers

 
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2021
Labor Access to Farmworkers

 

fresnoThe Fresno County Democratic Party condemns Governor Newsom’s decision to veto the law that would have allowed farmworker unions to provide a vote-by-mail option for their eternal elections similar to California’s statewide process. The party stands in solidarity with the United Farm Workers as they march in protest from Tulare to French Laundry, the Napa restaurant where Newsom visited during Covid restrictions to much legitimate criticism. Hamstringing unions is a poor way to repay the hard work progressives just put into saving Newsom’s job.
California’s own experience, including the election that just allowed Newsom to retain power, shows that vote-by-mail elections can be conducted in an effective and secure manner, and are a vital tool for increasing the power of the public.
Now, instead of following his own example, Newsom has bowed to the interests of rich agricultural landowners who do not want anything that might tip the lopsided power arrangement toward equality with those who provide their labor.
    With sickening timing, the Trump-packed Supreme Court has set Americans back again, by striking down a 50-year-old California law that gave farmworker unions the right to approach work sites to recruit members. This law had been an achievement of legendary labor organizer Cezar Chavez, who campaigned to end the special exemption that provided farmland more protection than other industries.
Since farm labor is characterized by occurring within expansive swaths of privately owned land with no public facing presence, California’s law allowing union organizers to approach workers where they congregate is necessary. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority decision to value property rights over worker power will only hurt our nation.
Ag owners like to say that any potential lessening of their privilege is a threat to the general food supply. But the landowners are just one part of the chain—the ones who can get rich off it.
We know who’s really doing the planting. Agricultural workers are more likely to be poor with unreliable access to communication technology and reside in multiple scattered locations as they pursue seasonal work.
Direct contact with union organizers was a lifeline for a population otherwise far too vulnerable to exploitation, and now the law crafted to protect them has been slashed apart while a law to strengthen their operation has been stopped at the gate.
The conservative campaigns to weaken unions have been a major contributor in the gulf of inequality that has grown between those who labor and those who profit off ownership. Pressure from California unions has just succeeded at helping pass a speed-quota transparency law, aimed at combating the culture of ambiguity and fear that Amazon has used to extract extra labor from its warehouse staff.
If elected Democrats such as Governor Newsom continue to act in agreement with conservative judges by weakening unions, the future of working people in the United States looks bleak.
For more information, contact the Fresno County Democratic Party at 559-495-0606 or dems@fresnocountydemocrats.org.
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092821-FCDCC-Press-Release.docx

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:School Board Trustee Carol Mills

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:School Board Trustee Carol Mills

FOR-IMMEDIATE-RELEASE-School-Board-Trustee-Carol-Mills


 

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2021
School Board Trustee Carol Mills

 

 
FRESNO – We of the Fresno County Democratic Party mourn the passing of Carol Mills, and give our condolences to her family and friends. 
A professional attorney and tireless public servant, Carol Mills served on the Fresno County School Board for seventeen years. She was a lead appellate court attorney for the 5th District Court of Appeal. The first in her family to go to college, during her time as an elected trustee she advocated for expansion of access to the International Baccalaureate Program, Career Technical Education, arts, and athletics. She fought to make after school activities available to every child. This year, she won a great victory in that effort as she guided the disbursement of pandemic relief funds in exactly that direction.
    Her tragic death after a battle with ALS, our community regrets not only the absence of her expertise and dedication, but will also miss the warmth and profound sense of caring she brought to those who knew her. She was someone who could be counted on to attend every meeting, every committee meeting, and show up at every football game. She dressed up and rode down the block in a convertible at the Fresno High Harvest Festival because it made the children smile. 
    As a trustee, she put her legal expertise to the public benefit. She sheparded every district budget with care, read every resolution. When the great recession hit in 2008, FUSD weathered it better than most in the state, thanks in part to the reserves Carol Miller created in the years prior.
    While she placed utmost importance in the nonpartisan nature of her elected position, her other deeds show her commitment to democratic ideals. She was a tireless worker for women’s issues, democratic engagement, and someone who could always be counted on to show up when something needed to be done. Even in her disease, she found strength through her experience and spoke out on the subject of ableism. It was her belief that it was key to keep your thoughts positive, because thoughts become words, and you should keep your words positive, because words become behavior.
Carol Mills delivered a speech during the Fresno Unified 2020 digital commencement ceremony to all the students, families, educators, and alumni who were not able to gather together under the shadow of the pandemic. Now, a year later, her words still provide us a guide:

 

“I hope that the extraordinary times we are in, with its challenges, setbacks, and successes have taught you that you have the resilience, perseverance, and courage to face whatever comes your way in life.”

 


 

Fresno County Democratic Party
1033 U St
Fresno CA 93721
Office: 559-495-0606