From: "Paul Johnston" To: Subject: Strawberry Debacle (1): The Significance of Citizenship Status Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:50:43 -0700 charset="iso-8859-1" The Strawberry Debacle (1) by Paul Johnston The current spin on the strawberry debacle is understandable, perhaps necessary, not only for the prestige of the labor movement but also for the election appeal process, and I am not suggesting that it be challenged in a public manner. But we won't learn from this episode unless we look beyond the spin. There are important issues to be addressed— in this campaign as elsewhere— regarding organizing methods. Despite the deployment of enormous resources, despite all that can be said about employer opposition and intimidation by anti-UFW workers, and despite (perhaps partly because of...) the purchase of the main organizing target by a pro-union owner, it is evident that the organizing methods employed failed to engage this workforce. But here I want to say a few things about the significance of citizenship status. Overwhelmingly, the strawberry workforce is composed of undocumented Mexican workers. This is one of the unspeakable truths beyond the boundaries of discourse in the labor movement. There's a surprisingly strong consensus among progressive academics who study and support immigrant work organizing that legal status is irrelevant to union organizing efforts. Surprising because not only in the strawberries but everywhere in the U.S.-- right around the corner from every campus-- union organizers involved in the cutting-edge work of organizing immigrant workers are confronting the unique challenges of organizing these workers. The claim that citizenship status makes no difference for organizing appears to some to be an affirmation of equality and a form of support for organizing these folks: a classsic example of allowing our values to bias our assessment of the facts. While good intentions seem to lie behind academics' neglect of the significance of citizenship status, today's AFL-CIO organizing technicians are a good deal more hard-nosed. I attribute their neglect of the issues (and opportunities) here to unfamiliarity with this particular workforce, to overconfidence (give me the troops and I can make any workforce vote for the union!), and to a narrow-gage approach to union organizing held by some that considers any strategy other than a frontal campaign for recognition and any issue other than "Union Yes!" to be a distraction and a waste of time and resources. What ever the reason for neglect of citizenship status, when we neglect such significant factors reality is liable to teach us painful lesson. In the strawberry campaign, lesson time has arrived. The significance of citizenship status for union organizing derives from far more than the special vulnerability of the undocumented workforce. Because citizenship status is so central to the life and fortunes of these workers, an organizing effort which fails to speak to this issue is unlikely hope to resonate within the workforce. Also, workforces with different citizenship statuses present different kinds of organizing challenges and opportunities, and different kinds of social movement potential. Different issues resonate, different currents flow, different resources are needed, and different factors affect timing and other strategic decisions. I believe that this particular target was chosen based on a strategic analysis of the vulnerability of the industry, conducted by researchers far removed from the realities of farm labor in California. This kind of strategic analysis is a strong suit of the organizing technicians who have gained prominence through SEIU's Justice for Janitors and similar campaigns. But it is far from sufficient to assure that sound decisions or effective leadership. I will later to the bearing of citizenship status on the choice of this workforce as the key target for the UFW and the AFL-CIO leadership. Once we decide to organize a predominately undocumented workforce, however, we must have a positive message about the rights of undocumented workers. We cannot evade the issue. So the next posting starts here. Paul Johnston Citizenship Project johnston@cruzio.com