CALIFORNIA:

UNITED FARM WORKERS:

TELL GUIMARRA THAT THEY ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW:

Guimarra Vineyard is the world's largest table grape company. During the peak season they employ close to 4,000 farm workers. Despite this size it seems that some bosses are not above petty vindictiveness. One hot day Sal Guimarra, the CEO, decided to make his little tour of the fields. One worker, 'Francisco', was working hard, and because there wasn't much shade he was using a spare umbrella to shield himself from the Sun. Sal came upon this and went ballistic on him. He walked over to Francisco's packing table and exploded,

"That umbrella is not for you. It is for the grapes....the grapes are very hot. It is your job to prevent the grapes from getting too hot, and you should remove that shade that is used for your packing tables if necessary to protect the grapes, and don't get any illusions that the shade is for you. It is for the grapes."

So far...two workers have died of heat stroke while working for Guimarra Vineyards. Because of these and several other deaths the State of California has established heat regulations to protect the workers. Despite this the bosses of Guimarra seem to think that they ignore the law. The United Farm Workers has initiated an email campaign to protest the actions of Guimarra. To see more and join this campaign go to http://www.ufwaction.org/campaign/guimarra907