It’s time for Californians to rally behind the farmworkers that keep our nation fed | Opinion
Rally behind CA farmworkers
“California radio ads aim to dissuade farmworker organizing,” (sacbee.com, April 15)
Farmworkers make the world go round and still the fight to combat unfair labor practices continues. There has been a spread of misinformation among farmworkers that have made the fight seem impossible to attain fair working conditions. The spread of misinformation is causing a lot of discouragement among our farmworking community in the attempt to unionize and attain better working conditions.
There is also a sense of farmworkers feeling discouraged from participating in the union elections we worked so hard to establish last year, with a 335-mile journey to have the farmworker union election bill passed.
Helping combat the spread of misinformation allows us to give a voice to those who are so often minimized. It’s time we advocate for our farmworkers and rally behind them. Our farmworker communities that keep our nation running should finally be appreciated for all their hard work and treated fairly in their workplace.
Ariana Sandoval
Hollister
Protecting local youth
“Modesto police raid smoke shops, seizing flavored tobacco, cannabis and gambling machines,” (modbee.com, March 28)
I am deeply concerned about the recent crackdown on illegal tobacco and cannabis product sales in our community. As a member of the TOPS Tobacco Prevention Coalition, this has been a growing concern in many of the communities in Stanislaus County.
Participants in a Young Adult Tobacco Purchase Survey facilitated by Compromiso Adelante revealed that Ceres and Riverbank had an illegal underage sales rate of one out of four and one out of five stores, respectively. Another agency from the TOPS Coalition conducted a Local Adult Flavored Tobacco Purchase Survey in Modesto focusing on the illegal sale of banned flavored products. It found that nearly two out of five stores still had flavored tobacco products available for purchase.
This is not just a matter of law enforcement, it’s about safeguarding the health and well-being of our youth. Flavored products specifically target youth and entice them to become lifelong users. It’s imperative that stricter measures are put in place to prevent these sales and protect future generations from the harmful effects of tobacco.
David Cisneros
Compromiso Adelante
California Health Collaborative
Opinion
Keep landline service
“AT&T requests to withdraw landline services in California,” (sacbee.com, Feb. 8)
AT&T has filed a request with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to not be held responsible for the current requirement to provide mandatory landline phone service in most of California. Landlines are the only safe, affordable and reliable phone service. If AT&T was granted this request, the company would no longer be required to offer this low-cost service.
These copper wire landlines are the only emergency lifelines when the power goes out, with cell phone service being mostly spotty in rural areas. There is still time to offer comments to the CPUC — I have submitted my own via the commission’s website.
Daniel Marsh
Modesto
Furious with PG&E
“PG&E customers were billed for a TV promo campaign,” (sacbee.com, April 14)
Every time I saw these ads, my blood boiled. The utility could have opted for above-ground insulation and an update of its antiquated infrastructure to achieve excellent utility wildfire mitigation in a fraction of the time needed to complete its planned undergrounding and at a fraction of the cost.
The notion that the public should foot the bill for propaganda intended to convince viewers that PG&E’s undergrounding plans are purely altruistic is ludicrous. One need only consider the utility’s sordid history of putting profit over people and its record $2.2 billion earnings last year to recognize these ads were rubbish, meant to con and not inform. I would be laughing at the absurdity of it all except my blood is busy boiling so much that my brain might explode.
Jennifer Normoyle
Hillsborough
California deserves better
“PG&E customers were billed for a TV promo campaign,” (sacbee.com, April 14)
PG&E has record profits, yet it raised its electricity rates in January. PG&E customers are now being billed for ads touting their underground work. This corporation is a convicted felon.
Their incompetence has killed California residents time and time again. They blew up San Bruno and burned Santa Rosa and Napa. The California Public Utilities Commission doesn’t regulate them, it enables them. California deserves better than this.
PG&E serves their shareholders, and California businesses and residents suffer.
Michael Scott Bloom
Auburn
