The United Farm Workers endorsed President Joe Biden today, making this a critical day for workers nationwide.
Bonita Villalobos-Rivera: The United Farmer Workers is here today to announce endorsement of President Biden and Vice President Harris.
That was Bonita Villalobos-Rivera, one of the executive vice presidents of the union. United Farm Workers, made up of about 7,000 farm workers, said it was a clear decision to endorse the candidate. Labor movements and strikes have been highly active nationwide over the past few months, and the endorsement decision by the UFW came on the same day Biden joined a United Auto Workers picket line in Michigan.
Villalobos-Rivera: Through his life, President Biden has been an authentic and meaningful champion for workers and working families regardless of where they’re from or where they work.
She said the union will be deploying members and activists to swing states to amp up support for candidates who support the union.
The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, stood united with about 20 farm workers and union members at the Muranaka Farm in Moorpark.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez: And so I look forward to working with them hand-in-glove in making sure that we reelect President Biden and Vice President Harris in November 2024.
Chavez Rodriguez is the granddaughter of Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the United Farm Workers and a key figure in the agricultural labor movement.
She said the current administration has been the most pro-labor in decades.
Chavez Rodriguez: And this is an administration and a president and a vice president that have been the most pro-union, pro-labor in my lifetime.
But, farm workers have been particularly vulnerable to a growing decline in union membership. UFW Communications Director Antonio De Loera-Brust said they’re optimistic about a broader revitalization of the labor movement.
Antonio De Loera-Brust: I think it absolutely matters that we have a president in the White House who’s supportive of that, who’s literally on a picket line today. That’s never happened before, not even FDR was on a picket line.
He said both the union and the president are focused on making sure farmworkers are not left out of this labor resurgence, like they were in the 30s.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Alexandra Goldberg.