Coalition urges fasting for farmworkers' rights

Imagine working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with no overtime pay, no day of rest, no access to toilets, and no right to bargain collectively over working conditions and just wages.

The approximately 47,000 farmworkers who work in this state each year don't have to imagine that life; they live it, according to the New York State Labor Religion Coalition.

To help improve the working conditions of farmworkers, the coalition, co-chaired by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, is sponsoring a 40-hour fast on March 24-26.

Purpose of fast

The fast is designed to honor the dignity of farmworkers whose labor makes possible the food consumed in the state, and to change public policies that exclude farmworkers from just wages and from living and working in safe environments.

"Fasting has a real power," said Barbara DiTommaso, executive director of the Commission on Peace and Justice of the Albany Diocese. "It helps people not only to intellectually understand farmworkers but also to spiritually hunger for justice."

Bishop Hubbard agreed, saying: "Fasting from food has been one method of moral witness used by those who `hunger' for justice. Members of both the labor and religious communities have initiated fasts to insist that all must have their dignity respected, and receive a fair and just share of society's abundance."

Hunger pains

Not only will the fast help participants hunger for justice, but it will also put them in touch with the hunger that ironically many farmworkers face each day.

"Some farmworkers have a problem with malnutrition," Ms. DiTommaso said, noting that low wages, lack of transportation and long hours can prevent farmworkers from getting to stores to purchase food.

Participants in the fast are being asked not to eat solid foods for 40 hours, a period that offers the opportunity to be reflective and prayerful. Throughout the state, there will be special programs and liturgies for beginning and breaking the fast. Locally, the fast will begin with a press conference with Bishop Hubbard on March 24, 11 a.m., at the State Capitol. The fast will close on March 26 with a soup and bread lunch at noon at the Episcopal Cathedral of All Saints.

Other options

Ms. DiTommaso said that those who are unable to fast from solid foods have other options. For example, she has advised the elderly or ill to consider fasting from a particular type of food like dessert, not eat between meals, or fast from television, negativity, or criticism, rather than risk their health during a solid food fast.

Actions which both fasting and non-fasting participants can take include asking state legislators to sponsor and support legislation to improve the working conditions of the farmworkers.

Ms. DiTommaso noted that not all growers treat their workers poorly. "We know there are good employers out there," she said. "We want to hold them up as an example."

(In addition to the fast, those interested in advocating for changes for the state's farmworkers can participate in Farmworker Advocacy Day on April 28 at the Capitol. For information on the fast or advocacy day, call Barbara DiTommaso at 453-6695.)

(03-19-98) [[In-content Ad]]