4 Citizenship, Earnings, And Work Organization
1. As continues to be the practice today, firms harvest and market lettuce under different labels. The label names correspond to the quality of lettuce packed. For example, Miracle Vegetable markets lettuce under three labels: Imperial, Prince, and Viceroy, in order of descending quality. [BACK]
2. In company literature distributed to employees at this and other companies, the use of drugs and alcohol on the job are specifically prohibited. However, even at companies that prepare these employee booklets, most workers reported never having received the literature. In any case, only a small percentage of the workers I interviewed could read English or Spanish. [BACK]
3. Despite persistent requests made of a total of eleven firms, none would allow access to such data. Many of the firms expressed fear that they would lose competitive advantage should such data be revealed—even when assured that records would remain anonymous. Others flatly refused or suggested that the union might find the information useful. Also, even if companies were to divulge production figures, there would be no way legally to obtain verification of citizenship status from workers for the purpose of comparison. Attempts were also made to gain access to blind earnings records of United Farm Workers members through the union's accounting apparatus. Citing the urgency of preparations for contract negotiations, the UFW declined to participate in the study. It was later revealed to me during consultation with union staff that the UFW did not keep track of production, even for developing contract proposals. [BACK]