No 7
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WOAKbA N&WfcL&TL&td
BOYCOTT of LA CASITA BEGINS
AS RANCH FOREMAN SHOOTS AT PICKET
FBI INVESTIGATES ARREST of PRIESTS
254 STOKES COOPERATE
A nationwide boycott of produce
grown by La Casita Farms of Rio
grande City was launched on Feb. 1,
as farm managers and their cop
cronies reacted with violence and
mass arrests. The union, which
brought the giant Schenley Ranch
of Dela.no, California to the bar¬
gaining table through a similar
boycott last year, vowed an all-
out fight until La Casita agrees
to a representation election for its
field workers, among the worst paid
in the nation*
The boycott got off to a highly-
successful start as 2^4 stores agreed
not to buy any more La Casita produce
until the giant factory-in- the-field
comes to terms with the union. In¬
cluded were 148 Safeway stores and
106 stores of another hugo super¬
market chain, according to Gilbert
Padilla, UFWOC vie
о
president who is
coordinating tho boycott. Boycott
offices have been opened in Chicago; '
Now York, San Francisco and Los Ange¬
los, and 66 offices across the country
which worked on tho Schbnley boycott
will bo reactivated to boycott La
Casita products, including lettuce,
celory and melons.
PICKET FIRED AT
La Casita reacted violently to
the initial success of the boycott.
Union farm worker picket B'en Rodriguez,
standing well off La Casita property,
narrowly missod being struck by a
bullet fired by a La Casita assistant
farm manager as he attempted to com¬
municate with strikebreakers . Union
attorneys are, preparing to file chargos
of assault with a deadly weapon.
& few minutes before, five Roman
Catholic priests were arrested on a
charge of "disturbing tho peace" as
they took part in a demonstration near
La Casita on the property of a small
farmer who had given them permission to
bo there. Thc-y are Fathers Sherrill
Smith, William Killian, D. JT. Heffernan
Marvin Do
о
rf lor and William Hayes, all
of San Antonio. Also arrested wore 5
members of tho union. The FBI is con¬
ducting an invostigation of this gross
violation of civil rights by what
Boxar County Commissioner Albert Pena
calls the "Gestapo" of Starr County.
The illegal arrests brought to 55
the number of arrests since the strike
began last June 1st.
Meanwhile, La Casita illegally
fencod off the property of small
farmers who let pickets on their land,
preventing owners’ access to their own
farms •
Three days before, Rev. Jim Drake
was arrested with UFWOC vice president
Padilla on a charge of "disturbing the
janitor in performance of his duties"’
as tho former conducted a prayer vigil
on the steps of the Starr County court¬
house. The group was praying for four
pickets jailed for "use of abusive lan¬
guage" on the picket line the day before.
"’GET OUT OF STARR COUNTY"
This is what Starr County chief
deputy Raul Pena told a group of
university students who also took part
in the demonstration near La Casita
farm at the time of the arrests.
HOW YOU' CAN HELP ON THE BOYCOTT
If you wish to help on the boycott
to bring La Casita to the bargaining
table, contact Oil Padilla or Ernie
Cortez at the University YMCA, 2200
GUadalupe St., Austin, Texas, or phone
Austin OR 2-9246 and ask how you can
help. Perhaps there is already a
boycott committee in your city, or
perhaps you can help form one.
Also, ask tho manager of your
market not to buy La Casita products,
including the brands LA CASITA and
HI -GOAL, and report to tho above
address any stores which are selling
these brands.
VICTORY AT PACKING SHED
The first National Labor Relations
Board election in the history of Starr
County will be held within the next few
weeks at the Starr Produce packing shed,
as the outcome of an NLRB hearing in
Rio Grande City on February 9th.
Union attorney Chris Dixie of Houston
demonstrated that the packing shod is
covered by the ACT, and after the filing
’of briefs by union and company attorneys
a date for the election will be set by
Board officials in Houston.
NLRB attorney Clayton Corley, who
conducted the hearing, called It "a
historic occasion" for Starr County,
adding "it is a hopeful sign to got
both sides together at one- table."1'
The union has signed up almost- all
of the packing shed’s workers, and
feels confident of victory in the
election.
Farm Worker Press
P. 0. Box 621
Rio Grande City, Texas
