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Resolution
Compliance of Vega vs. Mallory
WHEREAS,
the State of California has reached a tentative
settlement agreement with migrant farmworkers
and their representatives in Vega v. Mallory,
to pay back money it took illegally from migrant
farmworkers in the 1996-1997 growing seasons;
WHEREAS,
the State
illegally doubled the rent on the
State-regulated migrant camps, not just once but
twice, the second time after the State
Superior Court of the County of Sacramento had
previously ruled the action illegal;
WHEREAS,
the class
action suit Vega v. Mallory, California
State Superior Court of Sacramento County, No.
97AS06548, affects the lives of over 12,000
migrant farmworkers, as well as hundreds of
growers who rely on the state-subsidized housing
provided for their migrant workers, without
which the workers would not be able to continue
doing farm work, as their wages are so low and
the work so arduous and dangerous that they
would be unable to afford housing at standard
rental rates;
WHEREAS,
hundreds
of tree fruit and row crop growers who
desperately need the migrant housing program to
utilize the labor of the workers living on these
camps, benefit from the state-run migrant
centers as a form of farm aid, because they not
only provide migrant housing such that growers
do not have to, they stabilize the price of
housing and hence the farmworkers’ expenses,
encouraging them to return in the growing season
year after year;
WHEREAS,
we are
certain the State can find a way to compensate
the farm workers without taking that
money from the migrant housing budget and
forcing the camps to cut back the length of time
they are open, thus penalizing the very
farmworkers who have already been aggrieved by
the State’s actions;
NOW THEREFORE, BE
IT RESOLVED,that
the League of United Latin American Citizens
(LULAC) supports the just struggle of farm
workers, and urges all parties involved to come
to a swift and equitable resolution to the class
action suit Vega v. Mallory, Sacramento
County Superior Court No. 97AS06548 by the
California State Legislature, and the Governor’s
office doing what ever you can to stand for
justice;
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED,
the State will
allocate sufficient funds to the CHCD for the
operations or improvements deemed necessary on
the migrant centers, so CHCD is not dependent on
an increase in current rents charged to the
migrant families.
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED,
that the League
of United Latin American Citizens are opposed to
any increase in rent charged to migrant worker
who reside at State Office of Migrant Services
(OMS) housing.
Submitted by Zeke
Hernandez, President of Council #147.
Approved this 21st day of June, 2003
Hector M. Flores
LULAC National President |
