LIMA — Issues surrounding immigration, labor unions and cultural integration took center stage Tuesday during a speech by Baldemar Velasquez, a former Putnam County resident and MacArthur fellow who has been recognized for his leadership and humanitarian contributions.
Velasquez spoke at Ohio State-Lima as part of the university’s inaugural celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. He was joined by OSU-Lima Dean Charlene Gilbert and Lima Mayor David Berger, as well as students, faculty and staff at the university.
Born in south Texas, Velasquez was raised in a family of migrant farm workers who eventually settled in Gilboa. In 1967, at the age of 20, Velasquez and his father formed the Farm Labor Organizing Committee that culminated in the first multiparty contracts in labor history between farmworkers, farmers and numerous industrial produce corporations.
Through his work with FLOC, Velasquez was able to successfully unionize between 3,000 and 4,000 migrant farm workers in northwest Ohio. He has also undertaken multiyear boycotts of major corporations such as Mount Olive Pickles, Campbell’s Soup and Heinz. While FLOC has had success in bridging supply-chain agreements between these companies and migrant farmers, he said the struggle continues.
FLOC continues to organize tens of thousands of tobacco farmworkers throughout North Carolina and the south. The organization is taking on RJ Reynolds, one of the largest tobacco corporations in the world. While RJ Reynolds agreed to a meeting with FLOC in 2012, Velasquez said the campaign will continue until there is a written agreement that guarantees farmworkers’ right to freedom of association.
Velasquez said there seems to be a misunderstanding between migrant families and the rest of the population. He hopes to bridge that gap by showing people that Hispanics and other immigrants can make meaningful contributions to American society.
“Every group that has come here, whether it’s Germans, Italians, Polish or whoever, they were all hated at one time,” Velasquez said. “But they were all able to integrate into the mainstream, and they made phenomenal contributions.
“Mexican people are the same way.”
Velasquez said we need to figure out a way to systematically integrate legal and illegal immigrants “so we can document who they are, where they are and where they are working,” for the sake of governance. He said most illegal immigrants have jobs, pay taxes and generally contribute to society. He said he believes they should be able to vote in presidential elections so they can “have a voice” in this country.
“If we can create a system that is equitable to all people, we will be an even greater nation,” he said.
Velasquez even turned to a religious argument, saying there are several dominant themes involving illegal immigrants in the Scriptures: Don’t mistreat them and govern them with the same laws as everyone else.
“That is God’s word,” he said.
He also said if the country’s leaders are going to talk about free trade and free markets, then they should include the labor market in the same principle.
While Velasquez said he appreciates the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, he feels we need to celebrate everyone, regardless of race.
“That’s what makes America great — we take the best of all nationalities,” he said. “There are so many good things that all our cultures can contribute.”
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