Beto
Hoyos
11/28/16
ENG
306
Research
paper
Delano
Grape Strike
On September 8th 1965 the
Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a largely Filipino and
Mexican farm workers group, walked out of the grape fields in protest of years
of low wages and poor working conditions. That walk out was the beginning of
the Delano Grape Strike. Eight days later, Cesar Chavez the leader of the
National Farm Workers (NFW) would join the strike. From that point on Chavez
would embark on a lifelong crusade against poor working conditions on behalf of
farm workers across the country. Everything Chavez did from that point still
resonates today.
The need for foreign farm laborers increased
as the U.S entered World War II and the labor shortage affected the nations
agricultural production. During the summer of 1942 the U.S and Mexico signed an
agreement that allowed temporary workers to cross the border into the U.S during
harvest seasons and then return to Mexico once the harvest was over. That
agreement became known as the Bracero program (Bruns). After politicians faced
years of pressure from a growing civil rights movement, the program was
dismantled in 1964. However, by 1965 no real improvement was made and farm
workers had not yet been able to unionize and were still making .90 cents an
hour plus ten cents for every lug they collected (ufw.org).
Chavez worked for ten years as an
organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO) before resigning in
1962. Chavez left the organization after CSO leaders resisted the push for
labor unions (Jenson pp.12). Chavez and his family moved to Delano, California
where he along with Dolores Huerta established the UFW. In September of 1962 the
first convention of the UFW is convened in Fresno, California and the iconic
eagle flag is revealed. Chavez worked tirelessly for three years and traveled
town to town across the central California valley building up his organization
that would eventually become an effective union.
Chavez famously said that once
social change is established, it cannot be reversed (Perez, Parlee). That
mindset carried Chavez and the UFW through a successful year of grape boycotts
across the state. In 1965 the AWOC led a walkout of hundreds of farm workers in
the Coachella valley and soon after that farm workers in Delano would join the
strike. In the spring of 1966 the UFW along with the AWOC called upon the
public to refrain from buying grapes without a union label (ufw.org). Soon
after the two groups would join forces to become the UFWA. Chavez believed that
the union could influence growers through economic pressure (Jensen pp.7). The
boycotts put a lot of pressure on the two biggest growers in the area, Schenley
and DiGiorgio. The boycott had the potential to affect sales and also damage
relations with other workers. The grape strike was originally set in motion in
order to make people outside the agriculture industry aware of the poor conditions
the workers have gone through.
In 1966, Chavez along with his
supporters began a 300-mile march to Sacramento from Delano. Chavez wanted to nationally
publicize their plight and he wanted to bring widespread attention to the cause,
or La Causa. The march had such a
lasting impact because it blended the Spanish traditions of religious pilgrimages
and contemporary demonstrations (Jenson pp.15). The march to Sacramento had
strong religious and cultural overtones. Chavez also saw the action as a
pilgrimage for minorities who had suffered in hostile environments in which they
were expected to work in (Jenson pp.16). Chavez was a deeply spiritual person
who believed that this march would put him and his supporters at peace with the
Lord (Jenson pp.17). Chavez paid attention to spiritual and political details
and he wanted to ensure his supporters were marching for the people and for the
cause and not out of revenge and anger. The march reached the end when Chavez
and his supporters arrived at the capitol building on Easter morning and he
announced to a crowd of 10,000 people that Schenley had given in and signed an
agreement with the UFWA (ufw.org).
After the the march, more growers
came to terms with the UFWA and DiGiorgio would soon sign an agreement as well.
The boycotts were working and Chavez witnessed first hand the power of people
coming together to make a change. In 1967, another major grape grower in the
state, Gallo vineyards, joined Chavez’s union. However, in 1970 Gallo went
against Chavez and signed a new four-year contract with the Teamsters union.
Chavez retaliated by calling for a boycott and strike on all Gallo wines. In
the 1970s, Gallo produced 45% of California’s wine and 37% of the country’s
wine (Bruns pp.102). In February 1975, several members of the UFWA began a
110-mile march from San Francisco to Modesto, California where Gallo’s
headquarters was located (Bruns pp.104). By the time the march reached Modesto,
15,000 protestors had joined on the walk and again a march led by Chavez had
gained national attention. By June 1975, then California Gov., Jerry Brown
signed into law the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, the first kind of
legislation protecting farm workers and providing for collective bargaining
(Bruns pp.105). By 1978 the boycotts of grapes, Gallo wineries and even lettuce
are officially ended after the UFWA and the Teamsters union reach an agreement
allowing the UFWA to represent farm workers.
In the following years, Chavez and
his supporters took part in nonviolent protests on behalf of different causes. Chavez
and other UFWA leaders felt that a non-violent approach was the most effective and
could have the longest lasting results. One non-violent act of protest that Chavez
found personally and publically effective was fasting. Chavez fasted on three
separate occasions through out his life and did so in personal and spiritual
penance. Chavez thought of the fasts as a purification of his mind, body and
soul (ufw.org). The first time Chavez fasted was in 1968 when he went on a 25
day, water only fast in protest and spiritual penance on behalf of farm working
men, women and even children affected by years of poor treatment (ufw.org). Chavez
would take on another fast in 1972 which lasted 24 days in protests of similar
issues affecting farm workers and their families (Alarcon). Even into his late 60s,
Chavez would continue to fast. In 1988, while protesting the use of pesticides
on table grapes, Chavez would fast one last time at the age of 67.
Everything Chavez put in place
through out his life still resonates loudly today. Establishment of the UFWA
led to better lives for farm workers. That includes better pay, better working
environments and even education. Even after Chavez’s death in 1993, the UFWA
continued to improve the way farm workers live and work. In 1989 the UFWA
established the first and only pension plan for retired farm workers, the Juan
de la Cruz pension plan. The UFWA also fought to stop the use of dangerous
pesticides and to have farm workers tested on a regular basis to check for
pesticide exposure. Today, the UFWA truly embodies the spirit of Cesar Chavez.
UFWA leaders continue to work and protest on behalf of farm workers everywhere,
the way Chavez did, without fear, because you cannot oppress those who are not
afraid anymore.
Annotated
Bibliography
Bruns, Roger. “The
Encyclopedia of Cesar Chavez: the farm workers’ fight for rights and justice”.
Santa Barbara, California. Greenwood publishing. 2013. Ebook
This
book shows an extensive look at the life of Chavez and also looks at the life
of the United Farm Workers of America organization and how it began. Bruns,
along with other contributors, take us through the life and times of Chavez and
at the beginning of the book you learn that Chavez had a difficult time getting
started with his organization and getting followers.
On
page 268 the book talks about his early years in the organization and how it
was hard for Chavez to understand why people join causes. In those early years
he learned how to uplift his people and help them instead of using his people
to better his personal life.
Jenson, Richard,
Hammerback, John, Chavez, Cesar. “The Words of Cesar Chavez”. Texas A&M
Press. 2002. Ebook. UA Library.
A
compilation of notes and stories from Chavez’s early life and rhetorical
career. The book examines Chavez’s desires to organize, unionize and fight for
fair treatment. The book also examines the manner in which Chavez would go
about protesting, such as fasting.
Chavez, Cesar. “Speech at
Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington in 1989”. United Farm Workers
of America. Ufw.org. 1989. Speech.
More
than 20 years after Chavez began his crusade for fair working conditions he
continued to educate people on the evolving issues in the farm workers world.
In 1989 a now elderly Chavez, warns the crowd at the Pacific Lutheran
University in Tacoma about pesticides being used on grapes around the west
coast but especially in California. He tells a story about a boy who died from
cancer after being exposed to the chemicals and pesticides which were being
used around him and his family in the McFarland area. In that area 13 boys were
diagnosed with cancer during the 1980s, during a time when the towns population
was only 6000 people. Chavez goes on to say that at the time there was no
evidence to conclude that pesticides were the actual cause of cancer in these
children however.
Araiza, Lauren. “To March
for Others: The black freedom struggle and the United Farm Workers”.
Philadelphia, Penn., University of Pennsylvania Press. 2014. Ebook
What
Araiza writes about in chapter 2 of the book is about how different groups of
the time came together to form stronger bonds and to gain more of a voice
within society. NFWA worked with other organizations like SNCC because they
shared similar conflicts and both groups understood the racial disparities they
both shared. However, as the 60s began to move along groups like the SNCC began
to see conflicts rise within their own group. SNCC were responsible for forming
white allies and bringing middle class white young people to Mississippi to
help register rural and inner city people to vote. Some within the group did
not like the idea of white allies, they felt they could not totally relate to
the struggle. Regardless, the SNCC California chapter remained focused on
economic inequalities rather than racial inequalities like they were doing in
the south. SNCC was crucial in helping NFWA in continuing their protests and
doing them in a nonviolent manner.
Alarcon, Evelina. “Cesar
Chavez: A legacy for peace, justice and non-violence”. New York, NY. Long View
publishing. C2003. Peoplesworld.org. online publication.
I
like this article because it gives you more of an insight as to how Cesar
Chavez was and how he wanted to take on his causes and do so in a non violent
manner. Chavez was famous for taking stands and being firm in his actions.
Chavez once did a 25 day fast to send a message to farm workers who had
mentioned the rise in violent assaults by farm owners. Chavez saw non violence
as a winning strategy and said “violence just hurts those who are already
hurt”. Here you see the impact other peaceful leaders of the world had on
Chavez. He’s said he was inspired by the work of Ghandi and also really admired
Dr. Martin Luther King. The two leaders never worked together but they both
admired what each other was doing. King once said that their efforts were one
and the same, and Dr. Kings wife, Coretta Scott King, visited Chavez while he
was once jailed for violated a boycott injunction.
Levy, Jacqueline. Ross,
Fred Jr. “Cesar Chavez: the autobiography of La Causa”. Minnesota. University
of Minnesota press. 2007.
In
1965 Chavez had already established his life and family and they were all
already experienced farm workers but Chavez knew things were not what they
should be. The conditions were poor and the work was long and dangerous at
times. Grape pickers were paid an average of 90 cents an hour but would work
ridiculously long hours and lived in poor conditions.
UFW.org. “United Farm
Workers of America”. “Story of Cesar Chavez”. National headquarters Keene,
California. Press inquires Bakersfield, California.
With
a rich history and an abundant, detailed history, the united farm workers of
America website is a perfect home for unknown or unanswered questions about the
leader himself or about the situations surrounding the grape strike or other
related events that followed.
Orosco, Jose-Antonio.
“Toppling the Melting pot: Immigration and multiculturalism in America”.
Bloomington. Indiana University Press. 2016.
What
the author describes when talking about Cesar Chavez is how he felt about
immigration and what he thought the Mexican immigrants can bring to the
country. He felt that immigrants could impact the country positively.
Richard Ray Perez &
Lorena Parlee. “Cesar’s Last Fast”. Monkey Mind Media. Film. Netflix. 2014.
The
film depicting Cesar Chavez’s final fast in protest of pesticide use and
personal penance for the families affected by pesticides. Chavez was known for
his non-violent approach to protesting and this one was more memorable because
he decided to do so it an elderly age. The film was released after the death of
both directors but dedicated to the two directors and all those Chavez helped.
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