Cesar Chavez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (later the United Farm Workers union, UFW) in 1962.
Background
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born into a Latin-American family in Yuma, Arizona, United States on March 31, 1927. His family was into the ranch business and they also owned a grocery store, however, all their businesses were lost during the Great Depression. The family moved to California, where they faced a number of problems while settling as migrant farm workers.
Education
He quit school in 1942, when he was in 7th grade, because he wanted to help his mother in the fields.
Career
In 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served the same for two years. However, later in life, when he looked back at this time, he deemed it as the ‘worst two years of his life’. He worked in the fields until 1952, when he became an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO), fighting police brutality. In 1962 Chavez resigned from the CSO, moved to Delano, California, and founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), precursor of the UFW. At first, Chavez concentrated on building a grassroots power base among the field workers. However, in 1965 the NFWA was forced into militant action by a strike of Filipino grape pickers. Although the NFWA was weak, Chavez led his 2, 000 members out on strike in support of the smaller group. From the beginning of the Delano grape strike, he had to improvise tactics to counter the greater power of the growers. In the spring of 1966 Chavez called for a consumer boycott of grapes and led a 300-mile (485-km) march from Delano to Sacramento, thereby bringing the grape pickers' struggle to the attention of the nation. In that same year, the NFWA was merged into the AFL-CIO and Chavez became the leader of a national effort to organize field workers. In 1968 Chavez fasted for 25 days to emphasize the nonviolent nature of his philosophy. By 1970 the boycott forced grape growers to sign UFW contracts. Chavez then turned the boycott against lettuce growers in defiance of court orders. He was jailed for contempt of court. In 1973 he urged his followers to disobey court injunctions restricting UFW picketing, and 3, 500 strikers went to jail. In 1975 his supporters won enactment of a California law giving farm workers the right to bargain collectively through a union of their choice. But in the mid-1980's the unionized work force in the California fields was virtually destroyed owing to the overwhelming political, financial, and social power of California agribusiness and to serious mistakes by Chavez. Under Chavez, support work, primarily the boycott, was the essential activity of the UFW, rather than organizing farm workers in the fields. The UFW was one of the least democratic unions in the country, with local officials appointed by the UFW executive board and under the direct control of Chavez. Most union staff served at his pleasure, and any local leaders who sought any real power independent of Chavez were fired by him. The lack of organizational strength among farm workers and the absence of union democracy, together with weakening of boycott support, made it possible for many of the largest growers to replace union contracts with labor contractors or to refuse to renegotiate UFW contracts when they expired. By the late 1980's, only one in 100 California farm workers was a union member. Chavez died in his sleep during the night of April 22-23, 1993, at San Luis, Arizona.
Achievements
Views
The sacrifices he made in order to fight for the rights of farm workers and others using non-violent means, forms a story so intriguing and inspiring. It is believed that his frequent hunger strikes in order to fight for the rights of workers eventually led to his poor health and sudden demise. He recognized all too well the adversities farm workers repeatedly faced, which he himself experienced as a little boy. His attitude to unionism and forceful yet non-violent tactics, made the farm workers’ struggle an honest cause with coast-to-coast support. Throughout his career, he led protests, called for embargoes and went on several hunger strikes.
Quotations:
His famous words, ‘Si, se puede’ (Yes, it can be done) is pregnant with meaning and represents the cause that he fought for.
Membership
In 1958 he was elected executive director of the CSO. He was a member of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), later called the United Farm Workers (UFW).
Connections
Cesar married to Helen Fabela and the couple bore eight children.