Our fruits and vegetables are highly perishable products. The delay of 1 day in the harvesting of some crops would be ruinous to the grower. Similar to the present table grape boycott, an inability to sell our product means it would go unharvested.

And an unharvested crop is in most cases a lifetime investment. Irresponsible strikes are injurious to all types of business, but they would be disastrous to a grower of perishable fruits and vegetables. The farm labor organizing activity being conducted by the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, is found not only in the California vineyards.

For several years, our employees have been subjected to similar efforts by the church/union groups. Following a near 2-year major campaign by a multitude of so-called volunteer groups, the farmworkers in Texas agriculture have firmly and positively rejected all their efforts.

We do recognize, however, that the only way to protect our employees from harassment is through responsible farm labor legislation that must be enacted by Congress.

I have had the opportunity to read Senator Murphy's testimony and Mr. Baillie's. Mr. Baillie's operation is very similar to ours, and we support his analysis of the application of S. 2203 to the vegetable and citrus and industry of Texas.

Mr. Chairman, the Consumer Agricultural Food Protection Act of 1970 represents the first piece of farm labor legislation to be devised that truly has the public interest in mind. Not only will this legislation protect the rights of the farmworker to select a collective bargaining agent, if so desired, and protect the farmer from disastrous crop losses, but will insure every housewife in this Nation the right to go into any marketplace and buy what she wants to buy when she wants to buy it.

S. 2202 will guarantee a free and uninterrupted flow of food from the farms in this country to everyone's dinner table.

Thank you.

Senator ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Schwarz.

The most significant sentence in your statement to me appears on page 2:

Probably one of the most critical problems facing a grower today is his inability to pass on consistent increased costs to the consumer.

That would indicate to my mind that you are in need of possibly more marketing associations between you and the wholesaler, rather than legislation as between you as the grower, and your employees. Would you comment on that thought?

Mr. SCHWARZ. Well, there have been lots of discussions and thought on this matter, and as of this date nothing has ever been able to be done. It is, of course, a free enterprise system, and many times weather is a factor that really enters into production, and whenever you have overproduction, what are you going to do with it?

The laws that we have today will not let us go out in our State and destroy the crops, maybe because of weather but not because of overplanting, which has caused a surplus of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Senator ALLEN. S. 2203 would in nowise enable you to pass these costs on to the consumer?

Mr. SCHWARZ. No, that is right. I am just saying this is one of the things that has been discussed in the past.

Senator ALLEN. Nor would S. 2203, I assume, necessarily reduce your costs of operation?

Mr. SCHWARZ. That is true.

Senator ALLEN. What, to your mind, is the most significant feature of S. 2203? Is it the no-strike provision?

Mr. SCHWARZ. During a critical time, that is right.

Senator ALLEN. If the no-strike provision were not in the bill. would you be for the bill, this bargaining machinery? Mr. SCHWARZ. If a no-strike provision was

Senator ALLEN. Was not in the bill.

Mr. SCHWARZ. Was not in the bill.

Senator ALLEN. Would you be for the bill?
Mr. SCHWARZ. No, sir, I could not be.

Senator ALLEN. That brings to mind Mr. Creuziger's testimony, to the effect that you may be opening up a Pandora's box, that once this legislation is on the books, subsequent Congresses might remove the no-strike provision, and you would be burdened down with this collective bargaining machinery that you don't like and don't want? Mr. SCHWARZ. It would be very disastrous if they did. Senator ALLEN. Yes.

Mr. SCHWARZ. Like I said, this is a lifetime investment in these crops. It takes a tremendous amount of money, and if you can't harvest these crops whenever they are ready, or if you can't produce them as they need attention, it is not like commodities that are not perishable. I was listening to his testimony. I doubt if he has any perishable growers in his organization.

Senator ALLEN. I believe he does, based on his testimony.

Mr. SCHWARZ. I am sorry, I was thinking about the NFU gentleman. Senator ALLEN. Aren't you running the risk in getting this legislation enacted of setting up this undesirable machinery for the purpose of getting the no-strike provision, and then if the no-strike provision is jerked out of the law, you would be saddled with an undesirable law.

Mr. SCHWARZ. If that happened, that would be something we certainly don't want. If that ever happened, it would be

Senator ALLEN. You would be in worse shape then than you are now. Mr. SCHWARZ. Absolutely.

I wanted to get your views on that.

Senator Curtis.

Senator CURTIS. In your statement, you said, "For several years our employees"-this is in Texas-"have been subject to similar efforts by church/union groups."

That has not been all churches, has it? All churches haven't been involved?

Mr. SCHWARZ. No, sir, not all churches.

Senator CURTIS. Not all clergy.

Mr. SCHWARZ. No, sir.

Senator CURTIS. Not all churches have contributed to it financially. Mr. SCHWARZ. No, sir.

Senator CURTIS. Which ones have?

Mr. SCHWARZ, The National Council of Churches was very active in that area.

Senator CURTIS. The National Council of Churches?

Mr. SCHWARZ. Yes, sir; and this was the main one.

Senator CURTIS. Where were they located?

Mr. SCHWARZ. They were located in the valley.

Senator CURTIS. I mean, their headquarters? Is it a local group? Mr. SCHWARZ. They were operating out of Farwell. They have an office there in Farwell.

Senator CURTIS. Farwell, Tex.?

Mr. SCHWARZ. Right.

Senator CURTIS. Did they help finance this, these union efforts? Mr. SCHWARZ. Evidently they did. I don't know, but they were very active in this problem that we had in the valley.

Senator CURTIS. How many employees do you have?

Mr. SCHWARZ. We will hire up to 400 at times, in the peak season. Senator CURTIS. That is all, Mr. Chairman.

Senator ALLEN. That is all.

Mr. SCHWARZ. Thank you, sir.

Senator ALLEN. We will recess. The Senate is in session. Senator Curtis and I both need to be there. We are going to recess until 3 o'clock, and we will call the other witnesses and try to get through this after

noon.

(Whereupon, at 12:05 p.m., the committee recessed, to reconvene at 3 p.m., this same day.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

Senator ALLEN. All right, Mr. Corbett, will you proceed.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM P. CORBETT, PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN BLUEBERRY COUNCIL, WILMINGTON, N.C.

Mr. CORBETT. Mr. Chairman and members of this committee, I am William Corbett of the North American Blueberry Council, and thank you for asking the blueberry industry to participate in this hearing.

Someone once said, "Congress would give the people what they want, if the people would only tell Congress what it is."

As president of the North American Blueberry Council, I am grateful to this committee for giving me the privilege of telling Congress what the blueberry people of this country want with respect to bill S. 2203.

The council represents more than 5,000 blueberry growers in the United States-both large and small-who employ more than 150,000 workers during the course of each year. These people produce an annual crop valued at $30 million so you can see that our interest in S. 2203 is more than casual.

The blueberry growers in this country, beset by ever-increasing labor costs, endorse the provisions of this bill as the only feasible legislation ever put together by Congress to perform these three essential

functions:

1. Protect the consumer's rights;

2. Give equitable bargaining machinery to the agricultural employee;

3. Protect the agricultural employer from labor disturbances which could cause him to lose his crop.

These three functions are particularly important to blueberry growers for blueberries, you see, are one of the most perishable farm products. A 2-day delay in picking when the berries are ripe causes a 50-percent loss of crop in any given variety. A 5-day delay results in a 100-percent loss. What is worse, blueberries cannot be stored in controlled atmosphere like most other fruits, which can be stored for considerable periods of time. Blueberries must be marketed and consumed within 10 days to 2 weeks of picking.

If our industry were faced with a situation similar to that endured this past year by the California Table Grape Growers in their impasse with the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, 50 percent of our growers would face immediate bankruptcy. Therefore, it is essential if collective bargaining is to function equitably between the growers and their employees, some form of protection must be guaranteed the man who has the investment; the man who depends on 5 short weeks of harvest for his entire year's income; in other words the man who puts his money and takes his chances. These are the blueberry growers for whom I speak.

My old daddy taught me that those who kill time mourn the corpse. So let me say I do not intend to duplicate the testimony of those gentlemen who have so ably testified before me. Rather, I simply say that the blueberry industry supports the provisions of S. 2203. We also support those changes and suggestions made by Arthur West of the New Jersey Farm Bureau-particularly with reference to:

1. The exemption of the small farmer. We support the Farm Bureau's position that exemption should be calculated on the basis of 1,500 man-days worked during the previous 12 calendar months, rather than on the basis of 500 man-days during the peak quarter.

2. Employe eligibility. We support the Farm Bureau's position that eligibility should be computed on the basis of 50 workdays during the previous calendar year rather than the restrictive wording found on page 7, lines 12 and 13.

There is only one area not covered by the provisions of S. 2203 which I feel merits the serious consideration of not only this committee, but also the entire Congress. I refer to the interference in labor relations between growers and their employees by the Office of Economic Opportunity.

This past year, employees of the OEO invaded the farm of Jason Morris, a blueberry grower, and tried to organize a strike by the pickers right at the peak of the harvest season. Their interference at this critical period, seriously disrupted production causing Mr. Morris substantial financial loss.

Even more tragic, is what is taking place in New Jersey right at this moment. Members of the Atlantic Human Resources Council, funded by the OEO have had the temerity to go to the homes of yearround employees of blueberry growers. These employees are key personnel. These representatives of the AHRC persuaded these employees they would be better off going on welfare instead of working for a living. One New Jersey grower has lost five families in the past 2 months due to this completely unwarranted interference.

Whether curtailment of this activity by the OEO is within the prov

ince of this committee is not for me to say, but I did want to bring it to your attention because I know it was not the intent of Congress when the OEO was created to sanction such use of the taxpayers' money. Thank you for letting me have my say.

I would like to also thank Senator Murphy and this committee for recognizing that existing labor legislation does not meet the peculiar needs of the agricultural community of this country. The farsighted work you are doing to create S. 2203 will protect the rights of all and establish workable, realistic machinery for meeting labor crises in agriculture.

It is the fervent hope of the North American Blueberry Council that Congress will act quickly on S. 2203 with the same care and concern for fairness to all that you gentlemen are exercising. I hope when this bill comes to the floor, there will be no Democratic Congressmen, no Republican Congressmen-only U.S. Congressmen.

Thank you for having me here.

Senator ALLEN. Thank you, Mr. Corbett.

Mr. Corbett, are the employees, the workers, the farmworkers in the blueberry field, are they organized?

Mr. CORBETT. No, sir.

Senator ALLEN. And you understand, of course, that S. 2203 would permit organization of your workers?

Mr. CORBETT. Yes, sir.

Senator ALLEN. Your employees?

Mr. CORBETT. Yes, sir.

Senator ALLEN. And would set up bargaining machinery whereby they could bargain collectively?

Mr. CORBETT. Yes.

Senator ALLEN. With the farmer, the grower or management?
Mr. CORBETT. Yes.

STATEMENT OF PHIL SHERIDAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICAN BLUEBERRY COUNCIL, MARMORA, N.J.

Mr. SHERIDAN. The way things are going right now it is our opinion that they are going to organize with or without S. 2203.

Senator ALLEN. Yes.

Mr. SHERIDAN. And we would like to make sure that there is some kind of machinery set up that takes into account the problems that management has.

Senator ALLEN. What sort of bargaining is done now with the workers?

Mr. CORBETT. Actually I can speak for North Carolina. We have problems that are perhaps peculiar to most other people. Sixty percent of our volume is harvested in a 10-day period. This puts a tremendous pressure on your picking force.

Today actually we bargain. Now this is done whether a person goes in the field or not. Over the past 5 years there has been an increase of 50 percent in the prices paid to the pickers. You could say this is bargaining. This is the only way it was arrived at, and the bargaining power is you are willing to pay and they go into the fields. We have had some form of bargaining and it is becoming more and more prevalent every day of the season and every year. Just from morning to