"Unionizing is the key to success," was the message from one of the country's most noted political activists and labor organizers when she spoke at UNM Wednesday.
Dolores Huerta, a native New Mexican who worked with such revolutionaries as Julio Cesar Chavez, spoke to a crowd of more than 100 at the SUB about the importance of protecting workers' rights and securing a level of treatment in all organizations, including the University.
"There has been such a strong anti-union climate in New Mexico for years, and we need to change that," said Huerta, whose visit at UNM was part of a weeklong effort to train union organizers throughout the state. "The roots of unionization began in New Mexico. We need to bring those ideals back."
A union, as Huerta described it, is "just an organization of workers coming together to fight for their basic rights and to feed and clothe their children."
Huerta said she started a career as a teacher more than 40 years ago but couldn't stand the economic disparity she witnessed in the school system. Since then, she said she decided to spend her life dedicated to human equality.
She said the basic organization of the country's corporations has gotten "screwed up," in recent years, with company CEOs having job security by placing the organizations in larger conglomerations of businesses.
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"These people don't need job security or someone looking out for their rights as employees," Huerta said. "The worker who is living paycheck to paycheck needs that protection. The average worker is getting shafted by their own government in this country."
Charlotte Walters, a United Staff-UNM member, said Huerta's speech was part of a larger statewide celebration of Gov. Bill Richardson recently enacting the New Mexico Public Employee Bargaining Act.
The act allows workers at public institutions and businesses to organize unions.
"Public employees...may form, join or assist a labor organization for the purposes of collective bargaining...without interference, restraint, or coercion," according to section five of the act.
"Unionizing is the only way for workers to have any real rights on the job," Walters said, adding that one of the biggest issues US-UNM has faced since its inception is pay equity. "I hope Dolores (Huerta) serves as a catalyst to encourage all employees at UNM to unionize."
Lucille Farrington, president of US-UNM, said she respects Huerta just as much as she respects other labor activists such as Martin Luther King.
"Until her last day I know she will be organizing and supporting unions in the best interests of workers everywhere," Farrington said.
Huerta said she has spent a lot of time meeting with the heads of major U.S. corporations, trying to convince them that allowing their workers to form unions will benefit their business.
She said they are afraid of giving workers too much power.
"Workers who are unionized tend to work harder because they are content that their best interests are being looked out for," Huerta said. "Their profits will increase as a result."
