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Editorial John's harvest of shame: Senate boss Sampson must not block justice for farmworkers
If he has not already done so, state Senate Democratic conference leader
John Sampson will soon
discover in his mail a note from
Bono, leader of the renowned
rock group
U2.
Sampson will also find a card from
Wyclef Jean,
Grammy-winning hip-hop
artist, as well as from hundreds more who attended last week's benefit
dinner for the
Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice &
Human Rights.
The cards implore Sampson to do the right thing for one of
New York's most exploited
workforces. They read:
"For far too long, farmworkers have been wrongfully excluded from
The write-in campaign is being advanced by
Kerry Kennedy, who has taken
up the farmworkers' cause, much as her late father battled in the 1960s
for
California field hands with
the legendary
Cesar Chavez.
Kennedy has become an energizing figure in the long drive to erase the
injustice in
Reform is tantalizingly close. The Assembly has passed an equal labor
rights bill that
Gov. Paterson has said he
will sign. But, to the shame of Sampson and fellow Democrats, who
purport to champion the little guy, the measure is frozen in the Senate.
Never mind that the bill has 28 bipartisan co-sponsors from the city,
Long Island and upstate,
including Sampson. And never mind that a dozen additional senators would
likely vote in favor, creating an overwhelming majority for passage.
Sampson is tending to the wishes of a lone upstater from a farm district
who could face a backlash if the bill goes through.
Darrel Aubertine is a
Democrat who won a Senate seat in a traditionally Republican area last
year. Previously, Aubertine had served in the Assembly - and twice voted
for the identical bill. But those votes were meaningless because, at the
time, there was no chance of Senate passage.
Now, the makeup of the Senate has changed, and Aubertine's position may
be on the line - along with Sampson's hold on a slim Democratic
majority. And the shameful calculation appears to be: We keep our jobs;
the farmworkers eat dirt.
The Dems are under intense pressure to return to principle. Farmworker
advocates are receiving real support from organized labor. Says
Stuart Appelbaum, president
of the
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store
Union: "We must fight for the rights of all workers if we
want to advance the rights of any workers."
Also pushing is
Arturo Rodriguez, Chavez's
son-in-law and successor as president of the
United Farm Workers. At the
RFK dinner, the
Among those at the gala were three farmworkers who drove 350 miles from
the blueberry fields of upstate
Brockport. They were cheered
by 1,000 attendees, all of whom had postcards for Sampson at their
plates.
He must respond by bringing an uncompromising bill to the floor - rather
than force the workers to taste the bitter fruit of betrayal.
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