UE Convention Resolutions
Support the Family Farmer
America’s family farmers are struggling to survive a crisis they did not cause. Induced by banks and other agricultural lenders to expand production, driving them into debt, thousands of farmers are now being driven off their land by foreclosures on overdue loans. The Bush administration, like previous administrations, continues to pursue farm policies that benefit corporate agriculture at the expense of the small farmer. The American farmer is facing increasing costs, and when they buy their own products back in the supermarket they pay the highest price
American farmers are now facing a new threat. So-called "free trade agreements" have had an adverse affect on the farmer as well as the worker. The products produced by the farmer are starting to flood the market. This only benefits the corporations’ bottom line by introducing products that do not meet food safety standards. The farmers in these importing countries are getting less for their efforts.
Corporate farming is a growing threat with its main objective to strip the land of resources in order to maximize profit. This has become apparent with the recent epidemic of feedlots, concerns of the effects on the environment. and the impact it has on the family farmer.
Farmers and workers have a strong mutual interest in an America where economic growth and social justice have higher priority than rewarding corporations, their officers, and their investors. A healthy agricultural system based on strong family farms is essential to America’s economic and social well-being. The U.S. cannot and must not depend on an agricultural system dominated by giant agribusiness and food conglomerates. Agribusiness invariably leads to higher prices for consumers and a decline in the quality of agricultural products. It also poses a serious environmental threat to America’s land and water.
The jobs of tens of thousands of workers in the agricultural implement industry, some of whom are UE members, depend on a healthy farm economy. In addition. the survival of America’s small rural towns where many UE members work and live are threatened by the crisis in American agriculture. Moreover, in farm belt states like Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, corporations are using the depressed family farm economy as leverage to extract concessions from organized workers and to continue the exploitation of the unorganized.
Solidarity among trade unionists, family farmers, and farm workers is crucial to forging an agricultural policy based on justice and prosperity.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 70th UE CONVENTION:
- Supports an agricultural policy that will allow farm workers and farm families a fair return for their efforts and a decent standard of living. Agricultural policy should emphasize support for the family farm, decent wages for farm workers, restrictions on the growth of corporate farming and an end to "free trade" policies that do not protect the farmer and the consumer;
- Calls upon UE locals and regions to work with farm organizations and farm workers in activities that promote justice for America’s farmers and workers.