Alissa & amy take on the growers
"History is written by the victors" -- Winston Churchill
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It was not that a long ago that our Spanish class watched the four part documentary Chicano!, a PBS documentary that illustrated the history of the Chicano Rights Movement in the US. The third part of that documentary featured Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers movement. The brief history PBS told of Cesar's vision is what inspired us to expand, dive deeper, and to better understand La Causa--this is underlying purpose of this project.
Before setting out to research the movement, we sat down to establish a method of our work to keep our goals focused. We carefully chose three key sources to grasp the La Causa which would best represent the history of the movement. We quickly learned that there were many sources to choose from so we chose three diverse historical accounts of the event: Part 3 of the PBS documentary Chicano!, Cesar Chavez's oral autobiography of his life and La Causa, and a feature film, Cesar Chavez (2014), that follows La Causa, starring Michael Peña and America Ferrera.
Before setting out to research the movement, we sat down to establish a method of our work to keep our goals focused. We carefully chose three key sources to grasp the La Causa which would best represent the history of the movement. We quickly learned that there were many sources to choose from so we chose three diverse historical accounts of the event: Part 3 of the PBS documentary Chicano!, Cesar Chavez's oral autobiography of his life and La Causa, and a feature film, Cesar Chavez (2014), that follows La Causa, starring Michael Peña and America Ferrera.
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These three resources will suffice for the purpose of our project but are in no way representative of the Chinano Rights Movement. We recommend that you carry on the research after being inspired by our project!
Gracias!
Alissa O'Hare & Amy Simon
the vision
At a young age, Cesar's family lost their farm in a shady set of transactions. His dad never ceased to stand up for what was right, so he sought legal advice from a local attorney to see what his options were. The attorney advised him to buy back the farm by taking out a loan. However, his father relentlessly gave all we had to starving family members (a small downside to having a big family). They stuck together but were unable to pay back the loan on the property, so they began our lives as migrant workers.
Chavez internalized the United Farm Workers movement with Dolores Huerta with working at the Community Service Organization. After serving as director for CSO for so many years, he had not been able to convince the board to move forward and organize farm workers. People thought farm workers simply could not be unionized, because they had not been able to for over 100 years of trying. But this was silly logic. Cesar had been wrestling with the idea of leaving the CSO for months, but doing so would have to be a family decision. Some thought it was ridiculous, to leave a steady paycheck, a beautiful house, and food on the table every night to live an uncertain life as a migrant farmer. He worries about his children, his wife, Helen, especially worried about them. The idea of leaving CSO had to grown on her, Chavez described, she needed to understand that there was more to their lives than comfort. Cesar had was sure that his new family with Helen would be as close as he was with his parents and siblings growing up through all the hardships the went through. He knew that to live a fulfilling life and a comfortable one would never be a the same life for him or his family.
There is a powerful scene in Cesar Chavez (2014), where Helen Chavez (America Ferrera) suggests that she be the one to start a strike among the farm workers in Delano, getting arrested for yelling Huelga!! Cesar does not want her to do it because it would be asking too much of his wife, and the children need to be taken care of. Cesar and Dolores exchange a powerful glance, Dolores assuring that it would be okay and that it is the best option. It is too early in the strike for Cesar to go to jail--it would leave the movement without it's microphone. It is agreed and Helen confronts the farm workers with the strike, getting arrested but inspiring more farm workers to join the cause.
This is a great example of the support Cesar had throughout La Causa. With Dolores and Helen on both sides of him, he direct an unforgettable vision to organize farm workers in California, bringing justice and better lives for millions.
Chavez internalized the United Farm Workers movement with Dolores Huerta with working at the Community Service Organization. After serving as director for CSO for so many years, he had not been able to convince the board to move forward and organize farm workers. People thought farm workers simply could not be unionized, because they had not been able to for over 100 years of trying. But this was silly logic. Cesar had been wrestling with the idea of leaving the CSO for months, but doing so would have to be a family decision. Some thought it was ridiculous, to leave a steady paycheck, a beautiful house, and food on the table every night to live an uncertain life as a migrant farmer. He worries about his children, his wife, Helen, especially worried about them. The idea of leaving CSO had to grown on her, Chavez described, she needed to understand that there was more to their lives than comfort. Cesar had was sure that his new family with Helen would be as close as he was with his parents and siblings growing up through all the hardships the went through. He knew that to live a fulfilling life and a comfortable one would never be a the same life for him or his family.
There is a powerful scene in Cesar Chavez (2014), where Helen Chavez (America Ferrera) suggests that she be the one to start a strike among the farm workers in Delano, getting arrested for yelling Huelga!! Cesar does not want her to do it because it would be asking too much of his wife, and the children need to be taken care of. Cesar and Dolores exchange a powerful glance, Dolores assuring that it would be okay and that it is the best option. It is too early in the strike for Cesar to go to jail--it would leave the movement without it's microphone. It is agreed and Helen confronts the farm workers with the strike, getting arrested but inspiring more farm workers to join the cause.
This is a great example of the support Cesar had throughout La Causa. With Dolores and Helen on both sides of him, he direct an unforgettable vision to organize farm workers in California, bringing justice and better lives for millions.
The Power of Agribusiness
Cesar recalls in Autobiography of La Causa, the history that started the movement--and it is not a short one. Farm workers struggled to organize themselves without much success for over 125 years. It seemed like labor unions for farm workers were impossible and dangerous. Law was on the side of business and most often both worked against the requests of laborers. The early twentieth century, for example, were the result of brutal consequences of organized labor. Suppression from law enforcement left few laborers dead, more injured, and many more discouraged.
Law began to work in favor of labor unions in the 1930's. In 1932, the Norris-LaGuardia Act was passed to deal with courts that were tirelessly issuing injunctions against labor unions. Then, in 1935 in the wake of the Great Depression, the Wagner Act was enacted, giving a start to industrial unions. However forward it put labor unions in their ability to flourish, the Wagner Act specifically excluded farm workers from the liberty it bore.
Law began to work in favor of labor unions in the 1930's. In 1932, the Norris-LaGuardia Act was passed to deal with courts that were tirelessly issuing injunctions against labor unions. Then, in 1935 in the wake of the Great Depression, the Wagner Act was enacted, giving a start to industrial unions. However forward it put labor unions in their ability to flourish, the Wagner Act specifically excluded farm workers from the liberty it bore.
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More than a decade later, anti-labor laws rose to counteract Wagner. The Taft-Hartley Law restricted union activity by outlawing the second boycott and the closed shop, making the prospects of forming a union weak and discouraged. The Landrum-Griffin Act followed suit, banning recognition and organizational picketing.
These were the grounds that the National Farm Workers Association was built in 1962.
Peaceful protest
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In 1968, Cesar Chavez fasted for the first time for 25 days to protest the poor conditions of the farm workers. This protest, along with all of his other protests was non-violent. To this day Chavez is admired for his non-violent ways of protesting. Before the 300 mile march to Sacramento, he had strikers vow to always be non-violent during the protest. His peaceful ways were influenced by a few human rights activists including Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi.
Kennedy stands up for Farmworkerseffect of the nixon administration |
Assassination of Robert KennedyAnyone who lived through the assassination of Bobby Kennedy does not have to be told how it affected the lives of everyone in the US. Just two months after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, Kennedy's death symbolized the struggle of a civil rights sentiment in the US.
The death of Bobby Kennedy brought political unrest to the striking farm workers. They were becoming restless and violent at times. Cesar refused any violent behavior and insisted that the protest remain peaceful. As for the political turmoil within the movement, newly elected President Richard Nixon voiced on the side of business. In Cesar Chavez (2014), Nixon sympathized with the efforts of the growers and saw that they were having trouble selling grapes in the US. To benefit the growers, Nixon enacted policy that would act in their favor, by exporting grapes and grape products to England. Chavez had to act fast to stop people in England from buying grapes. He made the boycott international. I have not found evidence that this actually happened, but it does serve as a testament to the relationship between the Nixon administration and the farm workers. |
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RESULT OF THE GRAPE BOYCOTT
After boycotting California grapes, and marching 300 miles to Sacramento, the grape boycott became a complete success. Across the country millions of people stopped buying the grapes to support Cesar Chavez's strike. In 1970, the grape growers finally signed their first union contracts, meaning that farm workers would receive a better pay, more benefits, and a lot more protection than before.
1975 California Agricultural labor relations act
Even though the union had signed a contract for the farm workers to have more benefits and better wages, they still did not have collective bargaining rights. The California Agricultural Labor Relations Act "ensures peace in the agricultural fields by guaranteeing justice for all agricultural workers and stability in labor relations." This act established rules and regulations similar to the National Labor Relations Act, but this act only protected the collective bargaining rights of American workers and excluded the farm workers. At last, the farm workers have collective bargaining rights.