Download CHAVEZ BIOGRAPHY/UFW BACKGROUND

CHAVEZ BIOGRAPHY/UFW BACKGROUND
Senator Robert F. Kennedy called Cesar Chavez “one of the heroic figures of our time.”
Born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona, Cesar Estrada Chavez founded and led the first
successful farm workers union in United States history. He is a symbol of hope, not only to farm
workers of all ethnicities, but to all Californians who find hope in justice and peace.
Meeting challenges and obstacles head-on through non-violent tactics, Cesar Chavez helped
thousands of migrant farm workers across the country. He changed the relationship between farm
workers and the agriculture industry. He strengthened efforts of farm workers to have the same
dignity and rights of other workers in America. His efforts impacted the entire union movement
in the United States.
Chavez’s father lost his business in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Like so many others,
his family migrated to California in search of work. At age 10, Cesar began a migrant farm
workers’ life, traveling from farm to farm to pick fruits and vegetables during the harvests. His
family lived in numerous migrant camps and they were often forced to sleep in their car. He
sporadically attended more than 30 elementary schools, often encountering cruel discrimination.
By the eighth grade, he had quit school to work full time in the vineyards. The Chavez family
rented a small cottage in San Jose and made it their home. In 1944, Cesar joined the Navy and
served in World War II. After completing his tour of duty two years later, he returned to
California.
In 1948, he married Helen Fabela and they moved to Delano, where he found work in the fields.
The work entailed long, hard hours and little pay. Chavez saw injustice first hand and decided to
fight for change by advocating stronger labor laws for farm workers so they could have a better
life.
In 1952, Chavez met Fred Ross, who was part of a group called the Community Services
Organization (CSO). Chavez became a part of the organization and began to urge Latinos and
others toiling in the fields to register and vote. Chavez traveled throughout California and made
speeches in support of workers’ rights, arguing that workers deserved decent lives and to be
treated with dignity. In 1958, Cesar Chavez became general director of the CSO.
Four years later, Chavez left the CSO to form his own organization, the National Farm Workers
Association. He then joined with supporters of workers’ rights in Florida to form the present day
United Farm Workers (UFW) Union.
Chavez led a strike of California grape pickers demanding higher wages in 1965. In addition,
they urged all Americans to boycott table grapes as a show of their support for the strike. The
strike lasted five years against harrowing and often forceful opposition. When a U.S. Senate
Subcommittee looked into the situation, Senator Robert Kennedy gave Chavez his total support.
Chavez preached non-violence to the strikers, even as those opposed to the grape boycott were
physically abusing them. In 1968, Chavez began a Ghandi-like fast to call attention to the
migrant workers’ cause. Although his dramatic act did little to solve the immediate problem, it
increased public awareness of the inhumane conditions under which farm workers were forced to
labor. After many battles, an agreement was finally reached in 1977 that gave the UFW the sole
right to organize farm workers.
In 1973, the UFW organized a strike for higher wages from lettuce growers and during the 1980s
Chavez helped call attention to the health problems of farm workers that were caused by the use
of certain pesticides on the crops they tended and picked. This is an issue that continues even
today in certain agricultural communities.
In 1991, Cesar Chavez received the Aquila Azteca (the Aztec Eagle), Mexico’s highest award,
which is presented to people of Mexican heritage who have made major contributions outside of
Mexico. Later, he became the second Mexican American to receive the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. President Clinton presented the award
posthumously to Helen Chavez and six of her eight children on August 8, 1994, in Washington
D.C.
When Chavez died on April 3, 1993, many believed that the UFW would also die, but that was
not the case. On Chavez’s birthday anniversary in 1994, his son-in-law Arturo Rodriquez
organized and led the UFW on a 343 mile march from Delano to Sacramento. This march echoed
the historic 1966 march by Cesar Chavez and demonstrated that the UFW still worked on behalf
of farm workers. Today, the UFW continues to win elections and negotiate contracts for farm
workers.
Cesar Chavez led by example and there are many, many Californians whose lives are
immeasurably better because of his work. Even as some may complain today about him and his
legacy, Cesar Chavez truly made a difference.
In the last eight years, a number of activities have taken place throughout the state that celebrated
his life, times and work and there is a noticeable increase in the schedule of activities
surrounding the holiday this year. The activities include not only learning about the history of
Cesar Chavez and the farm worker labor movement, but also participatory activities, such as
marches and demonstrations. All of this attempts to bring his legacy of hope not only to today’s
farm workers, but also to people of color, immigrants, the economically disadvantaged and
others who are disenfranchised from the economic well-being of life in America and California.