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But some have to make a choice. As an indication of why they're marching, some can't afford to miss work.
By RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001
DADE CITY -- Atenojenes Ramos wants to earn more than $7.50 for picking 400 to 500 pounds of oranges.
He may march in this weekend's landmark Tallahassee protest by the United Community of Florida Farmworkers, demanding better wages and improved working conditions .
But if he gets the chance to work today -- especially during this year's weather-stunted harvest -- he probably won't pass up the money. Even if he'll be lucky to earn $30.
"We have pay the bills," said Ramos, 48, who helps support his family living in Mexico.
The causes -- low pay and no benefits -- that fuel this weekend's 22-mile march from the agricultural town of Quincy to the governor's mansion in Tallahassee are the same problems that diminish its support.
"It's very hard to march," said Carolyn Johnson of the Farmworker's Self-Help. "You've got to have a home to come back to, and a job."
About 50 protesters departed Friday night from east Pasco, which is home to at least 10,000 farm workers and their families during the winter, organizers said. Many are here illegally.
The march is the first major effort by the newly formed United Community of Florida Farmworkers, a coalition of the state's five largest farm worker advocacy groups: Dade City's Self-Help, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the United Farm Workers in Quincy, the Farm Worker Association of Florida in Apopka and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee in Winter Garden.
The Immokalee group was also scheduled Friday night to pick up five farm workers in Hillsborough County.
"It started with the realization that we were making minor moves, but were weren't moving forward with any concerted effort to make changes in policy," said Maria Rosales of the Self-Help.
They want Gov. Jeb Bush, who drew praise from the farm workers during his campaign and scrutiny since, to organize talks between the growers and the farm workers.
Farm workers make $9,000 -- with no benefits or overtime pay -- in a good year, according the Immokalee coalition, the state's most powerful local farm worker group.
Good estimates are hard to come by, but they expect 400 protesters from across the state. If that happens, it will be one of the biggest protests by the state's largely Hispanic farm-working population, and certainly the most broad-based.
Laws prevent Florida's farm workers from organizing to form powerful bargaining unions. This is the closest they can get.
They are scheduled to start marching from Quincy southeast on U.S. 90 to Tallahassee at 8 a.m. They will march until 5 p.m. and spend the night in area churches.
Sunday morning, they will resume where they finish today. They will hold Mass on the side of the road, march to Tallahassee and conclude with a 3:30 p.m. rally at the governor's mansion.
They will spread fruit and vegetables on a table in front of the mansion to remind Bush why Florida needs them.
In letters Bush has said he does not want to get involved in a private labor dispute.
"We need to go in person to tell him that we are here, we are alive and we are strong," said Margarita Romo, the director of the Self-Help.
Each group received $3,000 from the Atlanta-based Southern Partners Fund, Romo said.
For months, Dade City organizers have pushed the march through phone calls and word of mouth. Thursday they took to handing out leaflets in the fields. Each time they met much the same response.
"One of the ladies said, "I want to go but Bush isn't going to give me $20 for Saturday," Rosales said.
The Dade City group made a last-minute pitch for the march Thursday night to more than 200 farm workers gathered at the Self-Help to learn about a new law, which will help some relatives of permanent residents to gain that status.
The easiest groups to gather were the kids, who also work in the fields, but have more latitude to miss work.
Carolina Tarango, 18, has worked in the fields since she was 8.
Joel Lopez, 17, works on the weekends. During the week, he's a ninth-grade student at Wesley Chapel.
Organizers hope they will each put a young but tired face on the protest.
"Nothing is ever going to change," Romo said, "unless we do something."
-- Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at (800) 333-7505, ext. 3452, or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com.