Dominican Sisters of Adrian: ‘Founder of Farm Labor Union to Speak at Weber Center’

September 8, 2017, Adrian, Michigan – Baldemar Velasquez, founder and President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) will speak on his work organizing migrant farm workers as FLOC celebrates 50 years of social justice work.

Mr. Velasquez’s presentation, “Celebrating 50 Years of Struggle: The Story of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee,” will be on Thursday, September 28, 2017, at Weber Center. The evening will begin at 6:00 p.m. with light refreshments, followed by the presentation from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

During the evening, Mr. Velasquez will share the amazing story of how migrant farm workers gained a voice and participation in collective bargaining. Growing up in a migrant farmworker family based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he experienced first-hand the life of migrant workers. He was the first college graduate in his family, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1969 from Bluffton College (now University) in Bluffton, Ohio.

Mr. Velasquez founded FLOC in 1967 in response to the injustices that migrant farm workers faced. FLOC was the first union to be involved in collective bargaining agreements with several parties and is still heavily involved in organizing labor negotiations to bring just living conditions to farm workers.

The events of the evening are free and open to the public. No registration is required. Weber Center is located on the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse campus in Adrian, east of Siena Heights University. For information, call Weber Center at 517-266-4000.