Cesar Chavez and his work on the Farmworkers Movement

The story of Cesar Chavez begins 84 years ago when he was born to a Mexican-American family in Arizona. When the great depression of 1929 hit the US economy, Chavez’s family lost their land and business and was forced to relocate to California, where they moved from farm to farm in search of work. In the 1940, his family settled in Delano, a small town that would become the heartbeat of a groundbreaking protest of farm workers in the 60s. The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in September 1962 held its first convention in California bringing together a multiracial movement that would give rise to the United Farm Workers (UFW). Led by the Chavez, the union welcomed contributions from numerous racial and ethnic members, men and women, young and old. The formation of UFW in 1965 under the Chavez’s stewardship injected fresh blood and ideas into the movement, as it redefined labor activism, and paved the way for a new age of social justice movements in America. 

Chavez’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” (Pawel, 2014, p. 414) His greatest desire was to restore the dignity and rights of farm workers in America. “We demand to be treated like the men we are! We are not slaves, and we are not animals,” he lamented (Pawel, 2014, p. 10). When Delano Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee approached him in 1965 to aid their quest to have grape pickers paid $1.40 an hour plus 25 cents per box of grapes picked, he obliged by extending his movement’s goals to include growers in signing the contracts and to allow pickers to join unions and engage in collective bargaining. Two years later, Chavez took his social justice efforts national by supporting all farm workers’ rights. To bring the attention of the growers to the plight of the farm workers, his movement formed a vast network of activists who urged consumers to avoid grapes (Wells, & Villarejo, 2004). 

The UFW started their campaigns with unorthodox strategies including marches and strikes, but they registered no wins in the fields. In the early days of Chavez’s movement, he urged Mexican farm workers to join the force by merging picket signs with Christian iconography. This move resonated with the Mexican workers, he had reasoned. Although this strategy was not received well by the conventional union leaders, the public, who saw it as a double-edged sword against the Civil Rights Movement, embraced it (Wells, & Villarejo, 2004). During marches, farm workers would carry religious symbols chanting Mexican songs of protests while Chavez walked barefoot on highways and through farm worker communities. His pilgrimage strategy would soon gather converts, and as it grew bigger, it drew media attention to the plight of the farm workers. The failure of UFW’s marches to realize substantial gains has been attributed to the nature of farming in rural California (Wells, & Villarejo, 2004). Given agricultural work shifted with seasons, it made it unfeasible to anchor Chavez’s marches in any one place. The failure has also been attributed to scarce populations in rural areas compared to movements in urban centers, which enjoyed a unlimited number of followers. Chavez’s UFW found a way around this setback by taking the fight to the urban centers in the form of boycotts. The 1966 move to boycott grape products—particularly wine and spirits— following Jim Drakes recommendation marked a significant point in UFW movement. The boycott soon included table grapes, a move that would set the union up for success. 

Chavez’s leadership was modeled around an unwavering commitment to non-violence, strict work ethic, and personal sacrifice. Having devoted his entire life to social justice, he urged his supporters to dedicate their efforts to the cause. “You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return,” he said (Pawel, 2014, p.30). On the onset of UFW efforts, he had slowly but steadily won over the skeptical laborers who had witnessed one movement fail after another. To become the convincing leader that he was, he first learned what the workers needed. To start with, he drew out a map of Delano and had volunteers move from household to household distributing registration cards meant to collect details about farm workers, including their names, addresses, and their opinions on wages, lack of unemployment benefits, and Social Security. He would soon move from door-to-door to recruit supporters. In his quest for a non-violent movement, he urged his supporters to engage in non-violent actions even in the face of violent retaliation from the farm owners. “ Non-violence supports you if you have a just and moral cause,” he urged his followers (Pawel, 2014, p. 500). He understood the machinery of social justice movements and knew that the farm owners and the police would not hesitate to meet their violent protests with even greater violence. 

The Delano growers had over the years amassed a lot of wealth, and were not ready to give any of it up. Their connection to the police force, politicians, and court officials gave them an edge over the farm workers. Using the police and private security guards, they intimidated farm workers, threated them with dogs, and physically assaulted them. Picketers were in some instances sprayed with pesticides. Chavez response was sending the clergy to walk the picket lines. The move was to remind the growers and their cronies in the police department and their private security guards that the world was watching their actions. Although Chavez’s efforts were to see not only better wages for the workers but also better working conditions, his ultimate goal being to spread a message of justice, respect, and dignity for the workers. He used a black Aztec eagle to symbolize “pride… When people see it, they know it means dignity” (Pawel, 2014, p. 435) 

Chavez’s efforts and those of the UFW, the union he helped found_ enjoyed huge success where dozens of other efforts spanning a century back had failed. It led to better pay and dignified working conditions for workers in the 16s and the 70s and paved the way for the historic 1975 legislative landmark that codified and gave agricultural workers the right to join unions and participate in collective agreements. Following the historic hard-won victories, Chavez’s UFW became a union, and its influence on matters affecting laborers at the grassroots declined significantly. Chavez, on the other hand forged a new path of rising against the political climate in California that was attempting to reverse gains made by the farm workers movements, but his efforts without doubt failed to martial the kind of support that his earlier actions had. He died in Arizona at the age of 66 while still engaged in union businesses (Wells, & Villarejo, 2004). 

Chavez’s efforts came to light more light more than fifty years old when he rose to speak to hundreds of Mexican American farmers at a church in Delano. Although many knew very little of the man who rose to speak, they thought he looked like them, and when he asked members of National Farm Workers Association to take a strike vote the wheel of labor reforms was set in motion. His study of the farm workers gave him a much-needed edge where others before him had failed. The move to form a multiracial labor movement was in itself revolutionary, and it set him on a path to success. 

References 

Pawel, M. (2014). The crusades of Cesar Chavez: A biography . New York, NY: 

Bloomsbury Publishing USA. 414. 

Wells, M. J., & Villarejo, D. (2004). State structures and social movement strategies: the 

shaping of farm labor protections in California. Politics & Society , 32(3), 291-326.