Farm workers were often unpaid and were denied the right to unionize, a right that all other American workers enjoyed. They labored in inhumane conditions, as growers ignored state laws on working conditions. The workers had no toilets to use in the fields, and were forced to pay two dollars or more per day to live in metal shacks with no plumbing or electricity. On top of that, grape pickers were paid an average of 90 cents per hour, plus ten cents per basket picked, placing their families well below the poverty line.[1]
Cesar Chavez was born to a Mexican-American family in Arizona in 1927. As the Great Depression devastated the American economy, his family lost their farm and business, and in 1937 they moved to California. There, the Chavez family worked in the fields, moving from farm to farm with the seasons. In the early 1940s, the family settled in Delano, a farm town in the San Joaquin valley that would become the epicenter of a groundbreaking movement for farm workers' rights in the 1960s.[2] Goals and ObjectivesChavez's ultimate goal was "to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings."[3] In 1962, he founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which would form the backbone of his labor campaigns. [4] Chavez wanted the dignity and rights of farm workers to be respected. "We demand to be treated like the men we are! We are not slaves and we are not animals," he said.[5] In September 1965, the Delano Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), mostly made up of Filipino grape pickers, went on strike, demanding pay of $1.40 an hour plus 25 cents per box of grapes picked.[6] AWOC's leader knew that a successful strike must include not only Filipino workers but also the many Mexican and Chicano workers in Delano. He reached out to Chavez and the NFWA, who gave him their support and expanded the strike's goals to include union contracts signed by the growers and laws allowing farm workers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining.[7] In the summer of 1967, Chavez shifted his focus from the strike to a nationwide boycott of California grapes in support of farm worker rights. A vast network of activists urged consumers to boycott grapes, and pressured supermarket chains to not buy grapes, in an effort to bring attention to the plight of the farm workers, thus pressuring the growers to sign contracts with their employees. |
|
United Farm Workers & Cesar Chavez
View the film clip from Latino Americans Episode 5 by clicking on the gray button under the Si Se Puede picture to the right.
Answer the following questions about the film clip either on the paper provided to you in class, or on your own paper. |
1. Even as agricultural business increased in profits in the mid-twentieth century, there was a very different picture for its laborers. Describe the conditions.
2. Who were some of the key players in the effort to organize farm workers? What were their backgrounds?
3. What was the strategy that Cesar Chavez and Dolres Huerta chose to overcome the history of violence associated with past efforts to organize farmworkers?
4. What were some of the symbols of the Farmworker Movement? What concepts (or ideas) did they represent?
5. Contrast the leadership styles of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
6. How did Cesar Chavez differ from many of the Latino community leaders that came before him? How did his leadership help dispel (get rid of) stereotypes or assumptions some Latinos held about themselves?
This will be the short answer question for your upcoming exam about the United Farm Workers Movement & The Student Walkouts of 1968. Please begin to think about how you will answer this question.
Non Violent Strategy
The United Farmworkers chose a nonviolent approach to accomplishing their goals. Who and what inspired this strategy? What are some of the benefits of this strategy, as opposed to using force? What are some other social movements from the 1950’s through today that have used nonviolent tactics.
2. Who were some of the key players in the effort to organize farm workers? What were their backgrounds?
3. What was the strategy that Cesar Chavez and Dolres Huerta chose to overcome the history of violence associated with past efforts to organize farmworkers?
4. What were some of the symbols of the Farmworker Movement? What concepts (or ideas) did they represent?
5. Contrast the leadership styles of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
6. How did Cesar Chavez differ from many of the Latino community leaders that came before him? How did his leadership help dispel (get rid of) stereotypes or assumptions some Latinos held about themselves?
This will be the short answer question for your upcoming exam about the United Farm Workers Movement & The Student Walkouts of 1968. Please begin to think about how you will answer this question.
Non Violent Strategy
The United Farmworkers chose a nonviolent approach to accomplishing their goals. Who and what inspired this strategy? What are some of the benefits of this strategy, as opposed to using force? What are some other social movements from the 1950’s through today that have used nonviolent tactics.