Cesar Chavez Dolores Huerta, the UFW, and Strategic Racism.

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

DOLORES Official Theatrical Trailer

Coming to theaters in Sept. 

Farm Workers Deserve Labor Protections- Overtime pay

TAKE ACTION: Farm worker overtime bill JUST passed CA Senate.  Bill before the California Assembly.  Call Assemblyman Ken Cooley. (D)  916- 319- 2008.  Tell him to support workers rights.

“As farm workers, we work during the hot summers and the cold winters. I believe that we deserve the 8 hour day like any other American worker has."

-

-Daniel Navarrette,
Strawberry Worker

Breaking news. The new farm worker overtime bill just was voted on in the CA senate and passed 21-14! It next moves on to the full Assembly floor for a final vote that has to happen before August 31. Can you help us pass this legislation by sending your email today to your CA Assembly person and ask them to support this vital bill?

The bill must be voted on before the legislative session ends on or before August 31 or CA farm workers will continue to be excluded from overtime laws enjoyed by most American workers.

Remembering Helen Chavez

Passing of Helen Chavez, who helped her husband, Cesar Chavez, give birth to first enduring U.S. farm workers union

Keene, Calif.—After they were married in 1948, Cesar Chavez would return home after experiencing a fresh injustice toiling in the fields and tell his bride, Helen, “somebody’s got to do something about it.” Helen Chavez nurtured her husband’s dream of organizing farm workers. She and their eight small children gave up a middle class lifestyle in 1962, embracing a life of voluntary poverty to support her husband’s labors. During the earliest years when he would sometimes return home to Delano, Calif. after days on the road feeling alone and demoralized, not having recruited anyone into his new union, she would encourage him, saying, “Cesar, you have to have faith in God that what you’re doing is right.” He would feel better, go out and try again.

Helen Fabela Chavez, 88, who played a vital role helping her husband give birth to what became the first enduring farm workers union in U.S. history—and sustained him during the 31 years he led the United Farm Workers of America—passed away of natural causes on Monday, June 6 at San Joaquin Community Hospital in Bakersfield surrounded by many of her seven surviving children, 31 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Helen, a humble woman from Delano, used her fierce determination to help change the lives of thousands of farm workers and millions of others who were inspired by La Causa. Born Helen Fabela on Jan. 21, 1928 in the Imperial Valley town of Brawley, to Eloisa and Vidal Fabela—one of Pancho Villa’s colonels during the Mexican Revolution—the family soon moved into a converted horse barn on the Myers Ranch outside McFarland near Delano. She worked the fields with her family.

The Reality Check: THE REVOLT OF THE CHAPULINES

The Reality Check: THE REVOLT OF THE CHAPULINES: THE REVOLT OF THE CHAPULINES By David Bacon McFarland, CA In These Times - 5/26/16 http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19154/san-joaqu...

Important story and great photos.  Indigenous farmworkers go on strike in California and promptly join the United Farmworkers Union. 

California Court Rules Against Farm Worker Law

CALIFORNIA APPEALS COURT RULES FARM WORKER LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL
By David Bacon
Working In These Times, 6/17/15

http://davidbaconrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2015/06/california-appeals-court-rules-farm.html





Severiano Salas and Amadalia Patino are two workers who were fired from their jobs as grape pickers for Gerawan Farms.


FRESNO, CA -- On May 18 in Fresno, California, the state's Court of Appeals for the 5th District ruled that a key provision of the state's unique labor law for field workers is unconstitutional. Should it be upheld by the state's supreme court, this decision will profoundly affect the ability of California farm workers to gain union contracts.

At issue is the mandatory mediation provision of the state's Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Using this section of the law, workers can vote for a union, and then call in a mediator if their employer refuses to negotiate a first-time contract. The mediator, chosen by the state, hears from both the union and the grower, and writes a report recommending a settlement. Once the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) adopts the report, it becomes a binding union contract.

Recognizing Cesar Chavez, the UFW, and Strategic Racism

By Duane E. Campbell

Cesar Chavez

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, 2015,  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.  See the prior post on the UCD conference. 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 and shows how Chavez was lied about and attacked by Ronald Reagan, the Nixon Administration, the Republican Party and numerous right wing forces.

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. http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-baja-farmworkers-20150325-story.html

The  current UFW leadership, as well as former UFW leaders  and current 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,”

Path to Citizenship- focus on Congressman McCathy.

Thousands  of immigrant rights leaders, labor unions, faith organizations, student groups, elected officials, friends and allies from all over California will travel in car and bus caravans to Bakersfield, CA, to urge House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) to support and press for a vote on immigration reform with a path to citizenship. 490 farm workers from Stockton, Fresno, Madera, Portersville, Santa Rosa, Napa, Oxnard, Salinas, Greenfield and Watsonville want to join in this Wednesday event for an issue that is so vital to their well-being. Go to UFW.org to assist.

Congressman McCarthy 



This event, “The Path to Citizenship Goes through Bakersfield,” is one of hundreds of actions and activities across the nation escalating the stakes for reform during the congressional August recess. The 1,100 car-caravan highlights the urgency for immigration reform in the immigrant, Latino, and Asian communities who have marched, mobilized, and voted in support of an overhaul for years.  The message to lawmakers is that reform with a path to citizenship is the answer our community seeks and it won't take no for an answer.

 Rep. McCarthy is the House Majority Whip and a top Republican leader in Congress. His leadership within the House gives him the ability to influence other Congressmembers. His Bakersfield district represents  one of the largest agricultural areas in the nation.


Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta recognized

Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta recognized for their life long contributions to organized labor and social justice.         

  Cesar Chavez Day is a state holiday in California – one of eight states to recognize the  date, and one of the few holidays  in the nation  dedicated  to a labor leader.   Sacramento and dozens of cities, counties and labor federations will celebrate the life of Cesar Chavez on March 31, 2013.

The  year  2012 was the 50^th. anniversary of the founding of the U.F.W.  by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Philip Vera Cruz and others.  The   celebrations focused  on  the struggle for union rights and justice in the fields of California. 

 The United Farm Workers  (UFW) was the  first successful union of farm workers in  U.S. history.  There had been more than ten prior attempts to build a farm workers union.   Each of the prior attempts  were destroyed by racism and corporate power. Chávez and Huerta  chose to build a union that incorporated the strategies of social movements and community organizing  and allied itself  with the churches, students,  and organized labor.  The successful creation of the UFW changed the nature of labor organizing  in the Southwest  and contributed significantly to the birth of Latino politics in the U.S.

            Today, under the leadership of UFW president Arturo Rodriguez, only about 25,000  farm workers enjoy benefits on the job. Wages and benefit in farm labor have again been reduced to the pre union levels.  The UFW has shown unions that immigrants can and must be organized.   

            Both Chavez and DSA Honorary Chair Dolores Huerta have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor and  in the California Hall of Fame for their work.

             The UFW is   known for  helping to create  California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975 under then Governor Jerry Brown  which gives farm  workers collective bargaining rights.  The law was made necessary by the assault on the UFW of the Teamsters Union.  While  farm workers are often able to win elections under the ALRB, they seldom can win a contract.  Growers stall and delay until the workers leave the area.

            Dolores Huerta remains active as  a  staunch advocate for women’s rights and reproductive freedom.  Huerta is a founding board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation and serves on the board of Ms. Magazine as well as her service as an Honorary  DSA Chair.  She is active in the Democratic Party Conventions and campaigns  and  she frequently speaks at universities and organizational forums and union halls  on issues of social justice and public policy. Dolores  continues working to develop community leaders and advocating for the working poor, immigrants, women and youth as President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation.

Every Worker an Organizer

Every Worker is an Organizer

Photographs by David Bacon

This exhibit in the California State Capitol is organized by Assembly Member Luis Alejo and his staff, and is part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the United Farm Workers of America.

California State Capitol

Hallway next to the Governor's Office
May 20-26, 2012
Sacramento, California

Open to the public


      Farm labor is a key element historically in the photographic documentation of social reality in the US, and in particular the documentation of social protest.  Dorothea Lange, Hansel Meith, Otto Hegel, and the generation of the 1930s and 1940s left a body of work showing the extreme exploitation of farm workers, and documenting the early farm labor organizing efforts, part of the great labor upsurge of those decades.
    The iconography of social documentary photography was shaped by images like Lange's mother and children in Nipomo, or those of the Pixley cotton strikers packed onto the back of a truck under their banner "Disarm the rich farmer or arm the workers for self-defense!" or the growers with their rifles waiting in ambush.
  The first two decades of the growth of the United Farm Workers was undoubtedly one of the most-photographed social protests of the civil rights era.  It too had its icons -- the line of marchers on their way from Delano to Sacramento, silhoutted against the sky, or Cesar Chavez weakened by his fast, at the side of Robert Kennedy.