California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante has teamed up with the United Farm Workers in an attempt to increase awareness among UFW members of pension benefits they may be eligible for. Started over thirty years ago by UFW founder Cesar Chavez, the Juan de la Cruz Farm Workers Pension Plan covers all UFW members who meet the minimum employment requirements---regardless of immigration/citizenship status. Despite large Spanish language education campaigns in both the U.S. and Mexico, the difficulty in tracking migrant farm workers has resulted in up to 2,000 eligible workers not taking advantage of the pensions they are entitled to---a problem that union officials hope will be remedied by television advertisements featuring Mr. Bustamante.
See BETH SHUSTER, Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2002