 |
| Cesar Chavez & Duane Campbell. 1972 |
Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You
cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot
humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not
afraid anymore. Cesar Chávez. November 9, 1984.
On March 31, 2018, Eleven
states and numerous cities will
hold holidays celebrating labor and
Latino Leader Cesar Chavez. Conferences, marches and celebrations will occur in
numerous cities this weekend and particularly in rural farm areas of the nation. A recent film Cesar Chavez: An American
Hero, starring Michael Peña as Cesar
Chavez and Rosario Dawson as Dolores
Huerta presents important parts of this story.
Meanwhile, in March
of 2015 hundreds of farmworkers have
walked off their jobs in Baja California, Mexico, from the agricultural fields just
a few miles from the U.S. border , fields developed to provide a harvest to the
U.S. markets. Farm labor strikes and
violence against strikers remains a volatile issue. Farm workers deserve dignity, respect, and
fair wages. Achieving these goals will
require a union.
The current UFW
leadership, as well as former UFW leaders
and former DSA Honorary Chairs
Eliseo Medina and Dolores Huerta
are recognized leaders in the ongoing efforts to achieve comprehensive
immigration reform in the nation.
On immigration, UFW President Arturo Rodriquez
says, “We urge Republicans to abandon their political games that hurt millions
of hard-working, taxpaying immigrants and their families, and help us finish
the job by passing legislation such as the comprehensive reform bill that was
approved by the Senate on a bipartisan vote in June 2013,” Rodriguez
said. Similar compromise proposals, negotiated by the UFW and the
nation's major agricultural employer associations, have passed the U.S. Senate
multiple times over the last decade. The same proposal has won majority support
in the House of Representatives, even though House GOP leaders have refused to
permit a vote on the measure. “The UFW will not rest until the President's
deferred relief is enacted and a permanent immigration reform, including a path
to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, is signed into law.” www.UFW.org
