Francisco Banuelos shouts 'Sí se puede' ('Yes we can') while holding a protest sign on the lawn of the Colorado State Capital during a pro-immigration rally in Denver, Colorado, on Monday. Around 75,000 protesters peacefully marched into Denver's Civic Center Park to protest House Resolutions which would tighten restrictions on illegal immigration. - REUTERS
SALINAS, California (Reuters):
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT Ray Martinez pays taxes, shops at local stores and works 12-hour days in this rich farming region known as America's 'Salad Bowl', where about 75 per cent of the nation's lettuce grows.
Like thousands of his fellow farm workers in California's Salinas Valley - some here legally, but most not - Martinez stayed home on Monday as part of a nationwide boycott to demand a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and to protest legislation that could brand them as felons.
"This will hopefully give us the opportunity to get legal status," said Martinez, a 26-year-old Mexican who does back-breaking labour on an organic farm for under US$7 an hour.
"We pay taxes and do important jobs that others don't want to do," he said.
The U.S. Labour Department estimates that about 53 per cent of the nation's agricultural workers lack legal documents - though labourers and union organisers say that number is closer to 80 per cent in the Salinas Valley.
IMPORTANT SOURCE OF NATION'S FOOD
The United Farm Workers union has long tried to organise workers in the region made famous in John Steinbeck novels. Only 60 miles (96km) long by five miles (eight kilometres) wide, the region grows lettuce and broccoli year round, making its US$3.4 billion farm economy an important source of food for the nation.
"You see the vegetables in the shops. Who is going to pick them?" asked Jose Hernandez, who has legal status and works on a mushroom farm. "If the companies say they need papers, who is going to work the jobs? Nobody."
On weekdays, motorists driving down Highway 101 can see groups of workers hunched over in fields, wearing colourful bandannas to shield them from the hot California sun.
But early on Monday, fields were empty and rows of produce unattended as workers heeded calls to stay home.
Union Vice-President Efren Barajas called the day a success so far. He said cooperation from employers was key.
"This will show we are together and that this issue needs to be resolved," Barajas said in a grocery parking lot. "About a week ago I didn't know if this would happen."
The issue also marks a rare occasion where growers and the union agree. Jim Bogart, a spokesman for the Grower-Shipper Association, agreed the overwhelmingly Latino workforce fills critical jobs nobody else wants.
"If those people were suddenly unavailable it would have a devastating impact," he said.
