United Farm Workers Back Bustamante at Rally

August 31, 2003 E-mail story Print


United Farm Workers Back Bustamante at Rally
The lieutenant governor visits supporters in the Central Valley, who accuse rival Schwarzenegger of being anti-union.

By Matea Gold, Times Staff Writer


DELANO, Calif. — Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante on Saturday visited the birthplace of the United Farm Workers movement, where more than 200 members of the union gathered on a dusty field vowed to back his campaign for governor and keep the Republicans from taking power.

Chanting "Recall no, Bustamante si," farm workers clad in the union's signature red T-shirts welcomed the lieutenant governor to the Central Valley spot where Sen. Robert F. Kennedy visited leader Cesar Chavez in 1968, as Chavez ended a 25-day fast to rally support for a grape boycott.

Union leaders sought to contrast that relationship with the bond between former Gov. Pete Wilson and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose wife, Maria Shriver, is Kennedy's niece. They warned that if the recall of Gov. Gray Davis succeeds and Bustamante is not elected, Schwarzenegger or another Republican could overturn labor laws.

"Cruz is on the right side and Arnold is not," said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez, noting that Schwarzenegger has described unions as "special interests."

"We can't risk having another Republican governor who is against the farm workers and for the corporate growers," he said. (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/recall/la-me-recall31aug31,1,1336245.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Cruz needs to get a huge turnout among latinos and if he does he is virtually unbeatable in a large field like this.