1. Cesar Chavez & Mexican Labor in the Southwest

2. 1. A Traditional Labor Force
Mexican Labor = manpower to build American Southwest what it is today!

3. 19th Century = Mexicans build the Railroads that connected the Southwest to rest of the US *“Charros”: herded the livestock for large ranches during era of “cattle barons”
20th Century= Agricultural fields => * California & Texas ** Construction workers, factory workers, hotel employees, housekeepers,etc…

4. 2. Labor & Unions: The Basics
Labor Union: group of workers who have organized together for the purpose of protecting their labor rights * In the 19th Century Labor Unions were illegal.
Strike =
“piket signs” =
“scabs” =

5. 3. Mexican Labor: Early Organizing
1893: Mexican cowboys in Texas tried to form a Union to seek better pay.
1903: Mexicans & Japanese sugar beet workers began a strike in California
1910: Mexican streetcar workers had a strike in downtown LA
1922: Mexican grape pickers in CA form a union
1927: “ Confederation de Uniones Obreras Mexicanas” = Southern CA ***Almost all met with violence = public & private law enforcement: Tear Gas
1930’s: Mexican & Mexican American organizations become stronger = WWII => brought it to a halt

6. 4. California Agribusiness Empire
United Farm Workers Union (UFW) & Cesar Chavez would be the one’s to succeed in altering working conditions.
Cesar Chavez vs. California Agribusiness Industry = David vs Goliath
Agribusiness = #1 business in CA = Fruits, veggies, nuts, rice, grapes * Profits from Agribusiness exceeded $15 billion =>huge profits due to cheap labor
“Bracero Program”: WWII thousands of Mexicans were imported to fill in the manpower for the shortage due to the draft *Bracero: Mexican worker legally brought to the US. Would work for much less $ than American Citizens, and had the reputation to being hard workers.
End of WWII - the Agribusiness able to exert influence on US Congress to extend the Bracero Law until 1964, nearly 20 years after the war.

7. 5. Chavez: the Early Years
Cesar Chavez : born 1927 to Mexican parents in Yuma AZ (1 of 5 children) * family had a small farm => farm went broke during Great Depression => forced to become migrant farm workers * he attended so many schools Chavez lost count * 8th Grade = he dropped out of school to work full time * Chavez as a teen set out on his own and met & married Helen Favela ( would have a family of 8 children) * as a young farm worker, he joined many short lived unions, walked many picket lines, involved in many strikes

8. 6. Delano
End of Bracero Program (mid 60’s): Mexican American workers not protected by basic labor laws that covered all other US workers.
Farm Labor Contractors: they would supply squads of workers to the growers and then take a share of the pay for themselves =>middleman
Workers received less then minimum wage due to them being excluded from basic labor laws. Not entitled to overtime , unemployment or disability compensation.
Growers convinced Congress that agribusiness should be exempt from labor laws due to possible crop failures => drought, floods or insects made their business to risky to guarantee their workers a set wage.
Wages - as low as $1 an hour - so most workers had to follow the crops, could not afford to put down any roots - the children greatly affected

9. Delano CA: farm worker families earned on average $1,300 per year
Delano CA: farm worker families earned on average $1,300 per year * Chavez himself arrested for sitting in the “Anglo Only” section and the Delano movie theater.
Fresno CA: 80% welfare cases were those of farm worker families
Living conditions: cars, apartments, houses they made for themselves from cardboard/plastic

10. 7. The Birth of the UFW
United Farm Workers Union (UFW): started by Chaves in Delano CA in 1962 = Textbook pg * Chavez wife Helen worked the fields as Chavez traveled
Spring 1965 = Filipino Grape Pickers walked off their jobs demanding higher wages * Larry Itliong , Filipino leader asked Chavez for help due to grower calling lots of Mexican “scab” labor to break the strike * Chavez knew at that time his own organization not fully ready but he also felt it wrong not to help the Filipinos.
Chavez and Union took a vote = decided to strike in support of the Filipinos, and overall there were more Mexican farm workers in Delano => HISTORIC DELANO GRAPE STRIKE OF 1965

11. 8. THE STRIKE ITSELF
Chavez = Catholic Church for help, but the Delano priests did not care to get involved = not the duty of the church * Soon Churches all over US heard of the strikers and the poverty they were enduring = food, clothing, donations came pouring into Delano from all over the nation * Other labor unions came to aid the farm workers
All the aid is what allowed the strike to keep going.
Walter Reuther (president of United Auto Workers (UAW) = visited Chavez in Delano and gave him a check for $5K and the promise of an equal amount each month for the remainder of the strike. * this allowed Chaves to establish a support service to his union members.
Growers threatened workers = “ Black-balled”

12. Chavez & his associates: kept the farm workers united “United we stand, divided we fall”

13. 1966: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy came to Delano to investigate the situation
Strike wore on & Growers refused to sit down with the strikes => Chavez & Assoc. decide to march 280 miles (Delano -> Sacramento) so to present their case in person to the Gov. of CA. Edmund G. Brown. => when they arrived were told Gov. was not there, the strike dragged on
Chavez = idea that would prove to be the most powerful weapon of the UFW : GRAPE BOYCOTT

14. Picket lines began to appear at supermarkets across the nation = shoppers asked to boycott grapes * Sales dramatically decreased
Dock Workers Union = helped by refusing to load or unload any crates of grapes * Strike Cont’d on: Both sides held firm

15. Chavez = nonviolent philosophy
Chavez = nonviolent philosophy * Chavez began to Fast: would not eat until all the violence on both sides stopped.
March 10,1968 ( 25 days with only water) Chavez ended his fast and gave a stirring speech => end to violence and victory to the farm workers
One of the largest growers agreed to hold a union election at his farm: Workers voted if they wanted to be represented by the UFW ( police, media, entire nation watched) = UFW won *soon other growers came around
July 29th , 1970 = Chavez signed a contract with a representative the remaining growers, nearly 5 years after the first small strike by the Filipinos **********************************************************

16. 9. The Impact of the Delano Helga
Contracts: farmers able to negotiate for themselves (no middlemen skimming off money) * wages went up * working conditions improved * fresh drinking water in the fields * sanitary restroom * rest periods * medical plans * National Labor Relations Act amended to include farmworkers
1970’s/1980’s : better times for CA farmworkers * State of CA passed farm labor review law = regular inspections of working conditions

17. Struggle not over: Chavez & UFW alerting CA about danger of chemical pesticides * Harmful to the health of the workers
Farmworker Movement =======sparked broader crusade by Mexicans & Mexican Americans => CHICANO MOVEMENT