MR ZINE: A Union Is Not a “Movement” (19 November 1977)
[The Los Angeles Times recently ran a series of investigative articles by Miriam Pawel on the problems of the United Farm Workers: “Farmworkers Reap Little as Union Strays From Its Roots” (8 January 2006); “Linked Charities Bank on the Chavez Name” (9 January 2006); “Decisions of Long Ago Shape the Union Today” (10 January 2006); “Former Chavez Ally Took His Own Path” (11 January 2006); and “Real Estate Deals Pay Off for Insiders” (9 January 2006). Though her articles make no reference to previous work, they echo findings of several earlier articles on the UFW, which include Frank Bardacke, “Cesar’s Ghost,” The Nation 257.4 (26 July 1993); “Inside the UFW,” The Bakersfield Californian 8-11 May 2004; and Marc Cooper, “Sour Grapes,” LA Weekly 12-18 August 2005. Among the earliest articles discussing the lack of democracy in the UFW are “A Union Is Not a ‘Movement'” by Michael D. Yates, published in The Nation on 19 November 1977. Yates wrote of the UFW’s reaction to his article in his letter to The Nation commenting on Bardacke’s: “True to form, the union threatened to sue The Nation for publishing the article. Nothing came of this threat, but it showed how Cesar dealt with criticism” (The Nation 252.17, 22 November 1993). — Ed.]
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