Farm Workers Join Dissident Union Coalition

Jul 25 - Friday, the United Farm Workers union announced that it was joining a recently-formed coalition of unions disappointed in the leadership of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations.

In a statement released Friday, UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said the union was joining the Change to Win Coalition because the group "mirrors our commitment of finding new ways to refocus on organizing and vigorously pursue anti-worker employers."

The Farm Workers join with five other unions that formed the CTW in mid June, the Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Unite Here and Laborers International Union of North America. The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joineers, which left the AFL-CIO in 2000, became part of CTW at the end of June

A small but active union with a membership around 30,000, according to media reports, the UFW was founded as the Community Service Organization in 1952 by Fred Ross and Cesar Chavez.