In 1982 corporate growers gave Deukmejian one million dollars to run for governor of California. Since he took office, Deukmejian has paid back his debt to the growers with the blood and sweat of California farm workers. Instead of enforcing the law as it was written against those who break it, Deukmejian invites growers who break the law to seek relief from the governors appointees. What does all this mean for farm workers? It means that the right to vote in free elections is a sham! It means that the right to talk freely about the union among your fellow workers on the job is a cruel hoax! It means the right to be free from threats and intimidation by growers is an empty promise! It means the right to sit down and negotiate with your employer as equals across the bargaining table—and not as peons in the field—is a fraud! It means that thousands of farm workers—who are owed millions of dollars in back pay because their employers broke the law—are still waiting for their checks. It means that 36,000 farm workers—who voted to be represented by the United Farm Workers in free elections—are still waiting for contracts from growers who refuse to bargain in good faith. It means that, for farm workers, child labor will continue. It means that infant mortality will continue. It means malnutrition among our children will continue. It means the short life expectancy and the inhuman living and working conditions will continue.

better off today because of what the farm workers taught people about organization, about pride and strength, about seizing control over their own lives.

Malnutrition among migrant worker children is 10 times higher than the national rate. Farm workers' average life expectancy is still 49 years—compared to 73 years for the average American.