Grapes are now served in Harvard dining halls, but a meeting last night proved that farm workers' issues are still on the table.

About 15 students watched a film last night about the strike by Mexican-American farm workers during the 1960s. Afterwards, Daisy M. Rooks, an organizer for the United Farm Workers (UFW) spoke about current conditions and ongoing campaigns.

The film, titled "Chicano: A History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement," depicted the strike of California grape workers led by Caesar Chavez from 1965 to 1970.

Commenting on the film, Rooks said, "With the promise of jobs, people are basically being brought in and treated like slaves."

"These conditions exist to the same extent today," she added.

Rooks said workers are currently fighting for "basic rights," including safe drinking water, bathrooms near the job site, job seniority, medical care and freedom from sexual harassment.

These issues are at the heart of the UFW's current campaign in support of 20,000 Californian strawberry workers.

In 1995, VCNM Farms in Salinas destroyed its crops rather than negotiate with workers striking over low pay, abusive treatment and intolerable working conditions, Rooks said.

She said workers faced intense sexual harassment, with supervisors often coercing female employees to have sex. If workers complained, they and their families were fired, Rooks said.

"This started a massive nation-wide campaign to support farm workers," she said.

The current campaign does not include boycotts because strawberry workers fear losing their jobs.

Instead, the UFW is pressuring the companies to adopt "neutrality agreements" which say that they will not fire striking workers.

The UFW has signed such an agreement with Coastal Berry, the second largest of the industry's eight shipper-cooler companies.

The shipper-coolers exert great power over individual growers, Rooks said.

"Our focus now is to get a neutrality agreement with Driscoll Berry," she said. Driscoll is the largest of the shipper-cooler companies and employs 5,000 workers.