Velez v. Amenta

370 F. Supp. 1250, 85 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2758
CourtDistrict Court, D. Connecticut
DecidedFebruary 15, 1974
DocketCiv. H-117
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 370 F. Supp. 1250 (Velez v. Amenta) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Velez v. Amenta, 370 F. Supp. 1250, 85 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2758 (D. Conn. 1974).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

Z AMP ANO, District Judge.

At its inception this case involved many more significant and troublesome legal and factual issues than were presented at the time of trial. In the interim the Court issued a series of temporary orders to forestall a renewal of physical confrontations among the parties and to establish guidelines for a “truce” until the matter was fully heard on the merits. For several months the parties conscientiously abided by the standards promulgated by the Court. This has had the effect of not only maintaining the peace but also of limiting the questions posed for ultimate resolution by the Court, as more fully set forth hereinafter.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The plaintiff, Rev. Wilfredo Velez, is the Director of the Ministerio Ecu-ménico de Trabajadores Agrícolas, Inc., a/k/a Ecumenical Farm Workers Ministry, Inc. (hereinafter “META”), a Connecticut corporation organized to provide supportive services to migrant and seasonal farm workers in New England; the plaintiff, Sister Betsy Flynn, is a volunteer teacher for META; and the plaintiff, Juan Irizarry Valentin, is a labor organizer for META and the interim president of the Association of Agricultural Workers of Puerto Rico (hereinafter “ATA”), a farm workers’ unincorporated labor union. They instituted this action on behalf of themselves and “all other organizations that provide supportive services to migrant farm workers at Camp Windsor.”

2. The plaintiffs, Adaberto Gomez, Hector Marcana, Braulio Medero, Alfonso Rios, Cruz Soler Crespo, and Luis Felipe Soler, are citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and migrant farm workers at Camp Windsor. They commenced this case on behalf of themselves and “all farm workers residing at Camp Windsor.”

3. The defendant, The Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association, Inc. (hereinafter “Association”), is a nonprofit Connecticut corporation composed of several independent growers of shade-grown tobacco; the defendant, Anthony Amenta, is the Executive Director of the Association; and the defendant, Edward Talbot, is the Manager of Camp Windsor.

4. Each year the Association provides thousands of farm workers for employment in the tobacco fields of its members. These workers include many who are recruited in Puerto Rico pursuant to the provisions of the Wagner-Peyser Act of 1933, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 49 et seq. The procedure for the recruitment is fully described in 27 Puerto Rican Migrant Farm Workers v. Shade Tobacco Growers Agricultural Association, Inc., 352 F.Supp. 986 (D.Conn.1973). *1252 5. However, for our purposes here, it is sufficient to note that the contract covering the employment of Puerto Rican workers is negotiated annually (usually for the term of employment between the months of April through October) between the Association, acting on behalf of its grower members, and the Secretary of Labor of Puerto Rico, representing the interests of the migrant workers. The workers themselves have, to date, no official voice in the negotiations. The statutes of Puerto Rico require that the agreement be in writing, signed by the Association and each worker, and approved by the Secretary of Labor. The worker is given a copy of the contract before he boards the plane to the United States. In addition, the Migration Division of the Department of Labor of Puerto Rico maintains a central office in Hartford, manned by a full-time official who acts as a representative of the Secretary of Labor of Puerto Rico with respect to all matters pertaining to migrant workers at Camp Windsor. Each worker has the telephone number of the Hartford office.

6. All workers are processed at Camp Windsor for assignment to the particular grower for whom they will be employed. The workers are considered the employees of the growers who pay all their wages in addition to a fee to the Association for services rendered. One-third of the workers, approximately 650, reside at Camp Windsor; the remaining workers are housed and fed at camps owned by members of the Association.

7. Camp Windsor, which was personally inspected by the Court, is located on River Street in the Town of Windsor, Connecticut, approximately eight miles from the City of Hartford. Its seven acres are well landscaped and consist of eight buildings designated as dormitories or barracks, paved streets with ample lighting, a dining hall, a chapel, a recreation hall and canteen, a general store, a well-equipped hospital staffed by nurses and doctors, administrative offices, an outdoor wooden pavilion, playing fields, parking areas, and various service buildings. Public telephones and laundry facilities are available; water and electricity are provided by the Metropolitan District; and sewage disposal is by septic tanks.

8. The Camp is enclosed by a chain link fence except for the entranceway which has no physical barrier. Posted signs indicating “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” are evident. A small building, near the entrance, is used during certain hours by a watchman, a security officer, or at times a uniformed police officer of the Town of Windsor retained by the Association. In addition, the Association contributes toward the cost of a police cruiser patrol in the nearby public street areas during the summer months.

9. On typical working days, from Mondays through Fridays, the worker rises at 5:00 A.M., has breakfast at 5:45 A. M., leaves Camp Windsor by bus for the tobacco fields at 6:30 A.M., commences work at 7:00 A.M., has’ lunch at 11:30 A.M., completes work at 3:30 P.M., and arrives back at the Camp at 4:00 P.M. Following dinner, the worker usually writes letters, does his laundry, spends time in the recreation hall, and is asleep by 10:00 P.M.

10. Weekends are spent • at leisure: watching television, writing, playing cards, receiving visitors, traveling to Hartford or Springfield, Massachusetts, attending religious services, and so forth.

11. The workers are paid $1.90 an hour for their labor and, in turn, pay the Association $17.50 per week for their room and board.

12. The workers are free to visit among themselves and to enter and leave the Camp whenever they wish.

13. Visitors from outside the Camp are required to identify themselves at the entranceway; no visitors are permitted after 9:00 P.M.; female visitors are not permitted in the dormitories. All decisions as to visiting privileges are made solely by the Association. As a general rule, most visitors prior to July 18, 1973 *1253 were permitted access to the Camp except known gamblers, prostitutes and “troublemakers.”

14. On or about April 12, 1973, about 30 of the workers in concert with repre-. sentatives of META staged a demonstration at the Camp protesting the quality of the food. The plaintiff Velez and other members of META were permitted access to the workers but with certain restrictions which, in the opinion of the officials of the Association, were necessary to prevent “unrest and violence.” For example, plaintiff Sister Betsy was allowed to conduct English classes in the chapel, but was prohibited from discussing “labor matters” or distributing “META material.”

15.

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Bluebook (online)
370 F. Supp. 1250, 85 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/velez-v-amenta-ctd-1974.