N,AJC.L.A. « We see every day that we can't live on the miserable salary that they pay us», continued Jose Luis. « It barey buys us enough food, much ·less to send our little ones to school, or to buy them clothes and shoes ». The Mexican growers and their U.S. backers fear the spectre of independent unionization. Their ,profits come directly from the ·low wages and high rate of exploitation they can force upon the disorganized and largely migrant work force. Militant unions -not only raise wages and demand improved social conditions, which cost money; they also control the degree of exploitation by limiting the hours and intensity of farm work. Above all, they take the control over the workers lives and retuirn it to the workers themselves. The worried growe-rs meet in their luxurious haciendas and sip nescafe from sterling silver cups while they plot how the « outside agitators » -can be stopped. Phone calls are made to U.S. pairtners in Arizona and Ca-1,ifornia. « Unionization is very dangerous to us ", explained multimillion dollar tomato grower and exporter Hector Gonalez, who hires 2000 workers at peak season at his ranch in Culiacan. « We are not a factory that can stop its production and recuperate later. A strike during the harvest season can break us. These new labor leaders around here are very adept and present a danger to our whole operation. These organizers around here coud give lessons to Chavez! ». Gonzales and the other agribusiness growers of Mexico are very aware of the ·gains rna·de in the last decade by the Unite•d Farm workers Union in the U.S.. and are determined to prevent such a movement in Mexico. Workers who lead strikes and land occupations one day are often discovered floating face down in irrigation ditches on the next. The most ,powerful weapon and sinister ally of the g.rowers against independent unionization, however, is not outright violence, but sindicalismo blanco, or sell-out unionism. For a dozen years the growers have ,paid ·« dues » to the corrupt leaders of the government controlled Confede,ration of Mexi•can Workers (CTM) for the admitted purpose of preventing genuine unionization of farm workers. « Here it is the same (as in the U.S.) where they use the Teamsters to stop the Ohavez Union », Gonzales candidly explained during a recent interview on his ranch. « Here we have the CTM, which is our best defense against the other associations t'hat want to get ,in, ·like the UGOCM (Ge126
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