Anne Kretzman: What success has the Coalition of Immakolee workers had in uniting Hatian, Mexican, and other workers?

Pedro Lopez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers: We began with just 10 people, but we started uniting Mexicans, Haitians, and Guatemalans and we have succeeded in putting a stop to slavery operations, raising the wages, in getting back wages that are never paid to workers, and it has been through uniting the raises that we have been able to do this. And we have managed to succeed in getting the first rise in salaries in over 20 years.

Hector Vasquez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers: I want to add something else about the Coalition of the Immokalee workers--that it was the first organization that openly had this exchange of over years of bringing companeros from here to Guatemala, and companeros of Guatemala here. And this is the experience we've had with the workers from Immokolee. And also a comment on what companero Willie was saying--the future of organizing and how it function in all of our countries to involve women and youth in our organizing to create new leadership. Not leadership that is imposed upon people, but leadership that comes from the base. Because what youth want to is to be able to participate in leadership, and if we don't give it to them, then there will be this mass that is lost that could have served for the future of our countries. And it's in organizing youth that we're going to keep them away from drugs and the different social problems that exist within this system.

Lucas Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers: I want to add something about our organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. We are an organization that is honestly from the people from the people. We aren't attached to any union or government organization. We work for the people, and we work through popular education. And we've always worked from this base of the three aspects that Pedro spoke of and based on these, we have had these successes.

Laura Germino, Coalition of Immokalee Workers: Just another thing to illustrate a point, I have to quote an older organizer named Lupe Sanchez from the Arizona Workers Union. People used to ask him "What's your membership, is it Latino, is it American, or is it Black?" He would say, "A worker is a worker, is a worker." Meaning, basically it is about employers and workers or even those who can't find work because of the way they've set this economy up. It's just important to remember that, for example we just had a politician, a state rep, say when a reporter asked him, "Well what do you think the [farm] workers are going to feel about this bill you are proposing?" He said, "Well I can tell you right now, a tractor doesn't tell the farmer how to run his farm!" Which is the way a lot of employers see their workers--as machines. And that was something said in public, on the record, and that means we have a long way to go.