MEChA organizes event in support of farmworkers' right to unionize

By BECKY WALDROP
Gazette-Times reporter

The voices of hundreds of Chicano college students filled the air Friday afternoon in a march down Ninth Street in support of Oregon farmworkers' right to unionize.

The chant "Si, se puede" (Yes, we can), made famous by civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez, was as unrelenting as the rain that soaked through sweatshirts and streaked posters demanding an end to sweatshops in the field and urging support for people who harvest crops.

Marchers stretched out for nearly a block as they walked the two-mile route, taking up one northbound lane of the busy street.

Corvallis police and state troopers handled traffic control for the event orchestrated by MEChA, the Chicano student organization that is holding its national conference at Oregon State University this week.

Police said the march was well panned, and there were no problems, other than a six-minute traffic delay at cross streets and an unrelated streaker near the end of the march.

When the estimated 700 marchers reached the Taco Bell restaurant near the north end of Ninth Street, participants called for a boycott of the fast food franchise, which buys tomatoes from a Florida supplier that farmworkers have struggled to unionize.

Organizers said they wanted to call attention to the struggles of workers at Threemile Canyon Farms dairy in Boardman and in Immokalee, Fla., tomato fields.

"No union, no peace," people shouted.

But in the moment of solidarity, a tall, thin white man wearing nothing but socks and athletic shoes captured onlookers' attention. He darted out from the McDonald's parking lot across the street from Taco Bell and ran across traffic and through the march.

Police were busy directing traffic and did not pursue the man.

MEChA members from college and high school campuses all over the United States are in Corvallis this week to attend workshops and develop a plan of action. MEChA representatives say they want to empower communities to combat legal and educational institutions that have oppressed Chicanos.

Friday's event was a peaceful protest, where children walked hand in hand with parents and students waved and said "Thank you" to drivers inconvenienced by the march.

It was the second large protest in Corvallis in less than a week. Last Saturday, more than 700 people demonstrated against the war in Iraq.

Organizers of Friday's march instructed participants gathered in the staging area on the lower campus near 11th Street and Monroe Avenue to take their time as they walked.

"We don't need to rush. This is a peaceful march," someone said over a loudspeaker. "We have a right to be here on the street."

Corvallis Mayor Helen Berg, City Councilors Rob Gandara and Tina Empol and Benton County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo marched with the students and farmworkers.

Lorenzo Correa, 21, was the only representative from the University of Idaho. He made the trip from Moscow by car and said that he was proud to be part of MEChA because of its stands against discrimination. At the University of Idaho, MEChA protested against a white supremacy group, Correa said.

Luis Martinez, 21, a pre-medical student from Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif., carried a sign that said "Safe working conditions." His friend Yesabel Inga, 20, a psychology student from Chabot College in Haywood, Calif., held a sign that said, "Education for all."

Workers' rights and education are two important issues to MEChA members, Inga said, adding that it felt good to be surrounded by hundreds of people who believe in farmworkers' rights to unionize.

"There's good energy," Inga said. "All of us are uniting to fight for one thing."

Becky Waldrop covers public policy and education for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached at waldropb@gtconnect.com or 758-9510.