Magarito Martinez is the man in the cow costume.
Through an interpreter, he says he believes he was fired from Ruby Ridge Dairy in Pasco for complaining about working conditions. But he never received an official explanation — just a paycheck and a final trip through the front door.
Martinez was at The Davenport Hotel, hoping to attract the attention of the stockholders for the Northwest Farm Credit Services (NFCS), which was meeting there today. Along with other former dairy employees, members of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane (PJALS) and the United Farm Workers, they are asking NFCS to demand fair treatment from the owners of the dairy, Dick and Ruby Bengen.
According to PJALS, the lending and insurance company holds the dairy's $13 million mortgage, and the contract specifically prohibits violations of the law including labor law.
Liz Moore, director of PJALS, says the "really horrible working conditions" include:
- No lunch or rest breaks
- An owner who uses racial epithets and carries a rifle to intimidate workers who support the union
- Being told to get their water from where the cows drink instead of being provided clean drinking water
Job Pozos-Avila, regional director of United Farm Workers, says it was also common for workers to put in 10- or 12-hour days but only be paid for eight hours.
This isn't the first time the two groups have met. Last month, PJALS, the farmers union and 60 workers delivered 32,000 signatures to NFCS demanding workers' rights.
"We are urging (NCFS) to enforce their own mortgage language and stop the illegal behavior," Moore says. "What they've said so far is it's not their problem, that Ruby Ridge Dairy is a good customer and they don't negotiate worker rights.
"But they don't have to negotiate worker rights. They just have to enforce the law and require the dairy to abide by the law. That's why we're here."
After gathering and picketing outside the Davenport, the group of us entered the Davenport hotel and attempted to go upstairs to meet with the Northwest Farm Credit Services stockholders regarding their corporate responsibility as the financial institution holding the mortgage on the Ruby Ridge dairy. As we went up the stairs to the meeting room, staff of the Davenport asked us to wait while they went up to ask if the stockholders would meet with us. After waiting quietly for some time, NFCS executive vice president and general counsel Tom Tracy (a graduate of Gonzaga Law School) came down to meet us. Last month when the fired Ruby Ridge Dairy workers, the UFW, PJALS and other community members delivered 32,000 signatures NFCS Spokane offices, it was Tracy who met them. Those 32,000 signatures were on a petition asking NFCS to exert its financial and legal influence on Ruby Ridge owners Dick and Ruby Bengen to follow labor laws and adhere to accepted human rights in the treatment of its dairy workers. At that time and again today, Tracy said that the matter was between the workers and their employer Ruby Ridge. Tracy also said again that any issues related to the mortgage on the Ruby Ridge Dairy were between NFCS and the Bengens. When asked about NFCS´s legal and ethical responsibilities, Tracy both times responded that legal issues are for the courts.
Northwest Farm Credit Services is an affilitate of CoBank, one of 5 banks within the national Farm Credit System, a federally chartered network of cooperatives that lend to agricultural producers, rural homeowners, farm-related businesses, and agricultural, aquatic, and public utility cooperatives in the US. The federal Farm Credit Act of 1971 establishes that the banks and other institutions within the Farm Credit system must operate within limits established by the Act. In fact, NFCS is a government-sponsored enterprise.
The Ruby Ridge workers were fired after they approached the owners of the dairy about working conditions that any of us would have found unacceptable -- long hours without break, uncompensated work hours, lack of basic necessities including water, and intimidation and threats. Reasonable members of this community and supporters around the country believe that Mr. Tracy and Northwest Farm Credit Services have an obligation to ensure that their lending meets all legal and ethical standards.
Some of us are not sure that deferring to court action as Tom Tracy of NFCS insists (a process which can sometimes take years) is a reasonable approach. By firing workers who complain and seek outside help to address concerns about unjust and possibly illegal working conditions, Ruby Ridge is breaking a public trust -- that employers are going to respect their workers and their rights, at a minimum by adhering to the law. Vulnerable workers among them immigrants and those who do not speak English well are at a decided disadvantage already. Those intimidated by the firing of workers who are only seeking just working conditions and terms of employment are left further isolated and vulnerable, especially in the face of the collapse of the overall job market in this country and state. Nevertheless, NFCS general counsel Tom Tracy has been quoted as saying of the Bengens and Ruby Ridge, "They are very good customers of ours".
Besides members of the local community, PJALS, and the UFW, churches in the state and other community members have rallied behind these workers. For additional information on the situation, check out the following:
http://www.capitalpress.com/washington/mw-farm-credit-011411-art
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2009/09/17/719873/ministry-gives-checks-to-fired.html
http://www.wslc.org/reports/2009/October/05.htm
http://action.ufw.org/page/speakout/nwfcs
David Brookbank Feb 02, 2011 | Reply to this comment