Chavez to Renew Grapes Boycott, Target Pesticides

SACRAMENTO — United Farm Workers President Cesar Chavez announced plans Tuesday to reinvigorate his 8-month-old table grape boycott with an aggressive “Wrath of Grapes” campaign spotlighting the danger of pesticides he says contaminate the grapes.

Twenty-five Democratic legislators joined Chavez at a press conference where he kicked off the campaign, promising millions of mailers nationwide as well as bumper stickers, buttons and posters pitching the new boycott theme.

Such tactics, Chavez said, are aimed mainly at forcing grape growers to sign UFW contracts that protect farm workers from pesticide contamination.

He said he does not advocate banning the use of all pesticides. He wants abolished what he considers the most dangerous--Captan, Phosdrin, parathion, methyl bromide and dinoseb.