Cesar Chavez and why he matters

Sasha Petrovicheva '23

Opinion Editor

We hear a lot about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Gandhi and Malala, but one civil rights activist and labor movement leader who doesn’t get enough recognition is Cesar Chavez.

Although some of us have heard about him briefly, his hard work and courage is not publicized much. In honor of Cesar Chavez Day on March 31, his story must be shared.

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona. When Chavez was still just a small child, his family lost their home and moved to California, following a mass migration of people during the Great Depression.

Cesar quit attending school in eighth grade in order to help his family, working with them full time on a farm. When he was nineteen, he joined the Navy and served there for two years. Afterward, he returned and married Helen Fabela; they had eight children throughout their marriage.

Cesar was just twenty-five years old when he joined and became a community organizer for the Community Service Organization, CSO, which is a Latino civil rights establishment.

Over the next ten years, he worked to fight against Latino discrimination both economically and racially, as well as became CSO’s national director. He resigned from the organization in 1962 after realizing his passion for seeking justice for farmworkers, and in the same year established the National Farm Workers Association, NFWA, using all his savings.

One of Chavez’s main inspirations came from Gandhi, who was a peaceful human rights activist, as well as St. Francis of Assisi, who helped the poor. Cesar Chavez’s urge to help laborer workers came from his and his family’s experience of working on farms and the inhumane treatment they had to endure.

Once he established his organization, he began to travel to recruit union members from surrounding areas. As a result, he was able to enlist a considerable number of workers who would later make a difference in the labor movement.

As the NFWA grew, Chavez organized a labor strike against table grape growers, called the Delano grape strike. The strike was inspired by the worker’s unreasonable working conditions and their exploitation. Farmworkers worked long hours in the fields, with barely enough water and food. They were also underpaid, had horrible tools, and unreasonable hours and working conditions.

The NFWA was able to combine efforts with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, AWOC, in September of 1965. As a result, over two thousand participating workers refused to pick grapes which affected ten major companies.

The strike lasted for five years and fundamentally changed the perspective of labor workers. As a result, more boycotts started occurring in various industries and workers started demanding inherent rights nationally.

In 1966, as a part of the boycott crusade, Chavez led a 340-mile march in which 75 labor workers walked alongside Cesar from Delano to Sacramento to protest the cruel conditions and treatment they experienced.

Two years later, Chavez went on a hunger strike, like Ghandi, for 25 days as a way of non-violently protesting against the grape growing companies. As a result of the five year grape boycott and Chavez’s demonstrative protesting, the companies and worker representatives finally met in 1970 and were able to negotiate better working conditions, higher wages, and the right to unionize. When interviewed after, Cesar said,

“The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people” (Metro Washington Council)

In 1971, the NFWA and AWOC merged and became what it is today: the United Farm Workers of America, UFW. It will go on to create even more lasting fundamental changes and allow labor unions and migrant workers to have the rights and opportunities they are entitled to.

In the following decade, Chavez continued to boycott and strike against various companies to win fair contracts and rights for labor workers in the farming industry. He would also go on a second strike to protest a law passed in Arizona which prohibited union workers from getting together and protesting in any form. There are still arguments today within Arizona’s legislature about the right of farmers and laborers to protest.

Throughout the nation, legislation was passed to protect workers. For example, in 1975, the Agricultural Labor Relations Act was passed in California because of UFW’s work. This Act enforced the rights of unions, protesting, a better working environment, and high wages, which are necessary for survival.

Chavez also worked to protect the health of farmworkers. He wanted to showcase the health hazard of working near or with pesticides, and how it was affecting the workers and their families. When Chavez was in his 60s, he went on his final publicized hunger strike for 36 days. The goal of the strike was to protest against pesticides. This sparked major conversation nationally about the usage of pesticides on farms and near groceries, and how it also affects those who eat the produce.

Chavez was a highly devout Catholic and his work was inspired by his faith and love of God. He followed the gospel and would incorporate prayer and mass into his everyday work to fight for the betterment of labor workers.

Unfortunately, as time progressed, Chavez’s health declined. He was no longer able to go on hunger strikes. He passed away on April 23, 1993, in San Luis, Arizona, when he was 63. After his death, President Bill Clinton honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama was also highly inspired by his work and he initiated Cesar Chavez Day as a federal holiday to commemorate him.

Cesar Chavez has created a legacy for himself that will never be forgotten. His life was dedicated to his work of bettering the lives of farmworkers, and he has fundamentally changed the labor system by doing so. He became the face of the 1960s labor movement and although there is still more work to be done to have equality for all workers, he made radical developments for his time.

We can do our part today and treat everyone equally and kindly advocate for those in easily exploitable positions. Let us never forget the efforts Chavez made and use that as an example to never give up and fight for what’s right. Cesar Chavez is a prime example that anything is achievable with determination and hard work. As Chavez would say,

“Si, se puede — Yes, we can” (UFW).

Works Referenced

Maureen Pao, “Cesar Chavez: The Life Behind A Legacy Of Farm Labor Rights.” NPR, August 12, 2016.