134 · Representative Documents: Finding Aids and Guides
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Guide to the PCUN Records
http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv06887
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Guide to the PCUN Records
1962-2012
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Table of Contents
Overview of the
Collection
Historical Note
Content Description
+/-Use of the Collection
+/-Administrative
Information
+/-Detailed Description
of the Collection
Farmworker Issues
PCUN
Administrative files
Organizations,
Conferences, and
Events
Newspaper
Clippings
Photographs
Audio Recordings
Artifacts
Ephemera
Subjects
Overview of the Collection +/-
Creator: PCUN.
Title: PCUN records
Dates: 1962-2012 (inclusive )
Quantity: 18.5 linear feet (10 record storage boxes, 3 archives boxes)
Collection
Number:
Coll 335
Summary: Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United), also known as
PCUN, was established in 1985 in Woodburn, Oregon, as a way of uniting and organizing treeplanters and
farmworkers to improve their working conditions. The PCUN records consists of correspondence, newsletters,
publications, photographs, newspaper clippings, audio recordings, and other documents that provide a view of the
history of the largest labor union and Latino organization in the State of Oregon.
Repository: University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives.
Contact
Information:
UO Libraries--SPC, 1299
University of Oregon
Eugene OR
97403-1299
Telephone: 541-346-3068
Fax: 541-346-3485
spcarref@uoregon.edu
Languages: Collection materials are in English.
Sponsor: Funding to acquire, process and produce this finding aid has been provided through Special Collection and
University Archives, and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon.
Historical Note +/-
Formed in 1985, the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, commonly known and abbreviated as PCUN, is the first farmworkers
union in the state of Oregon and is located in the city of Woodburn, OR. PCUN grew out of the Willamette Valley Immigration Project
(WVIP), an organization that provided legal advice and representation to undocumented workers, particularly as a response to
Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) raids in the state.
The Willamette Valley Immigration Project was key to building trust in the farmworker and treeplanter communities in Oregon. The
community-building they fostered over the 8-years of their existence allowed farmworkers and treeplanters the opportunity for openly
discussing the formation of a union. Consequently, between 1984 and 1985, a series of strategic meetings were held among the WVIP’s
staff, reforestation workers, and farmworkers to discuss the development of a labor union.
As a result of these meetings, in April of 1985 the Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) was formed with 80 initial
farmworkers. That same year the WVIP was dissolved, however, its staff continued to provide its immigration services through a PCUN
created center called Centro de Servicios para Campesinos (Service Center for Farmworkers).
PCUN is headquartered in the city of Woodburn, Oregon. This area stretches throughout the mid-Willamette Valley, an area considered
to be the center of Oregon’s agricultural industry. Currently, Woodburn has over 20,000 inhabitants, and a majority of this population
are of Latino descent. In fact, Latinos account for just over 50% of the Woodburn populous, making it the largest municipality in Oregon
with a Latino majority or a majority of people of color.
PCUN’s initial goal was to unite and organize treeplanters and farmworkers in order to improve their working conditions. The
organization strives to empower farmworkers to understand and take action against systematic exploitation and all of its effects. To
achieve this end, PCUN has been involved in a number of community and workplace organizing efforts. Some examples include the
1987-1988 assistance to 1,300 immigrants as they filed applications for amnesty under the Immigration and Reform and Control Act
the 1988 creation of the Project to Stop Pesticide Poisoning with the goal of educating farmworkers about and identifying pesticides use
and exposures the promotion of legislation to help give farmworkers collective bargaining rights the 1991 the first ever farmworker
strike in Oregon and co-founding of the Farmworker Housing Development Corporation to build and manage affordable housing in
towns with farmworker presence, among many other initiatives.
PCUN actively continues its outreach and organizing efforts through the work of its Collective Bargaining Committee and its Service
Center for Farmworkers. It is also part of a number of collaborative efforts with a variety of local organizations, such as the
Farmworkers Housing Corporation, the Voz Hispana Causa Chavista, Mujeres Luchadoras Progresistas, Oregon’s Statewide immigrant
rights coalition CAUSA, Latinos Unidos Siempre (LUS), Mano a Mano Family Center, and the Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality,
among others, brought together under the umbrella of the CAPACES Leadership Institute. CAPACES is a movement-building
collaborative fostering relationships, cross-training, plus a deeper shared sense of vision and scale for Oregon’s Latino population. Since
its genesis, PCUN has registered more than 5,000 members. Today, it is Oregon’s largest union for farmworkers, nursery, and
reforestation workers, and Oregon’s largest Latino organization.
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El sindicato laboral Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, comúnmente conocido y abreviado como PCUN, fué formado en 1985
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