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Cesar Chavez
| (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) |
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| César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker,
labor leader, and activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers
Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. His birthday on
March 31 has subsequently become a holiday in a handful of U.S. states,
and a number of parks, libraries, schools, and streets have been named
in his honor in several cities across the United States. |
Career as a labor leader
Chávez was taught and trained by Pete Fielding, and started working as an
organizer in 1952 for the Community Services Organization (CSO), a Latino civil
rights group. Chávez urged Mexican-Americans to register and vote, and he
traveled throughout California and made speeches in support of workers' rights.
He became CSO's national director in the late 1950s.[1]
Four years later, however, Chávez left the CSO. He co-founded the National Farm
Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta. In 1965, Filipino farm workers -
(search) Phillip Veracruz / Mariano Laya Armington, under their organization the
Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), initiated the Delano grape
strike on September 8 to protest in favor of higher wages.[1]
Six months later, Chávez and the NFWA led a strike of California grape-pickers
on the historic farmworkers march from Delano to the California state capitol in
Sacramento for similar goals. Through the recognition of common goals and
methods, and the realization of the strengths of people formation, Mexicans,
Mexican-Americans, Filipinos, and Filipino Americans jointly formed the United
Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), which would eventually evolve into
the United Farm Workers of today. In addition to the strike, the UFW encouraged
all Americans to boycott table grapes as a show of support. The strike lasted
five years and got national attention. When the US Senate Subcommittee looked
into the situation, Robert Kennedy gave Chávez his total support. This effort
resulted in the first major labor victory for US farm workers.[1]
These activities led to similar movements in South Texas in 1966 where the UFW
supported fruit workers in Starr County, Texas, and led a march to the Texas
state capital, Austin, in support of UFW farm worker's rights. In the Midwest,
César Chávez' movement inspired the founding of two Midwestern independent
unions: Obreros Unidos in Wisconsin in 1966.The Farm Labor Organizing Committee
(FLOC) in Ohio in 1967. Former UFW organizers would also found the Texas Farm
Workers Union in 1975.[1]
In 1969, Chávez and members of the UFW marched through the Imperial and
Coachella Valley to the border of Mexico to protest growers' use of illegal
aliens as temporary replacement workers during a strike. Joining him on the
march were both a Reverend Ralph Abernathy and a U.S. Senator Walter Mondale.
Chávez and the UFW would often report suspected illegal aliens who served as
temporary replacement workers as well as those who refused to unionize to the
INS.[1][2]
In the early 1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts to protest for, and
later win, higher wages for those farm workers who were working for grape and
lettuce growers. During the 1980s, Chávez led a boycott to protest the use of
toxic pesticides on grapes. He again fasted to draw public attention. These
strikes and boycotts generally ended with the signing of bargaining
agreements.[1]
[edit]
Legacy
Chávez at Colegio César Chávez, an institute of alternative higher education in
Mount Angel, OregonCésar Chávez died on April 23, 1993, of unspecified natural
causes. He is celebrated in a bill to create a paid state holiday in his honor.
The holiday is celebrated on March 31, Chávez's birthday. Texas also recognizes
the day. Also, in both Arizona and Colorado, it is an optional holiday. It is
the first and only holiday honoring a Mexican-American in the United States.
His eldest son Fernando tours the country, speaking about his father's legacy of
union organizing and fighting for workers' rights. Many cities have also paid
respect by renaming or naming streets, schools, and buildings for Chávez (see
List of places named after Cesar Chavez).
The California cities of Sacramento, San Diego, Berkeley, and San José have
renamed parks after him, and in Amarillo Texas, a bowling alley has been renamed
in his memory. Also, in 2004, the United States Postal Service honored him with
a postage stamp. Also, in 2005, there was a Cesar Chavez commemorative meeting
in San Antonio for his courageous attitude towards freeing immigrant farmworkers
and other immigrants.
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