1966: CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS NFWA
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01 THE STORY OF CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS FARMWORKER MOVEMENT IS ROOTED IN THE SOIL OF CALIFORNIA'S SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY, ONE OF THE RICHEST AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS IN THE WORLD. TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ALL U.S. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION - AS MEASURED IN DOLLARS - IS PRODUCED IN THIS CENTRAL VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA.
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03WOMEN DID MUCH OF THE HARVESTING AND PACKING OF TABLE GRAPES IN CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL VALLEY. THE SCALES WILL SHOW A WEIGHT OF APPROXIMATELY 26 POUNDS FOR A FIELD-PACKED BOX OF GRAPES. PAID PIECE RATE - THE FASTER YOU WORKED, THE MORE YOU EARNED - WITH NO TOILETS OR DRINKING WATER PROVIDED.
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04CHILDREN WORKING WITH THEIR PARENTS TO HELP SUPPORT THE FAMILY, ALSO HARVESTED AND PACKED GRAPES IN THE FIELDS. CHILD LABOR DURING HARVEST TIME WAS THE NORM, NOT THE EXECEPTION.
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05SWAMPING THE GRAPE BOXES FROM THE FIELDS: A FARMWORKER ON THE GROUND TOSSES UP THE 26 POUND BOX, THE FARMWORKER STANDING ON THE TRUCK BED, CATCHES THE BOX AND STACKS IT. HOW MANY BOXES OF TABLE GRAPES ARE SHIPPED FROM THE CENTRAL VALLEY? ENOUGH TO BUILD A WALL TWELVE BOXES HIGH, FROM DELANO TO BOSTON, APPROXIMATELY THREE THOUSAND MILES.
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06A GRAPE WORKER DRESSED FOR THE HARVEST WORK IN THE HUNDRED DEGREE SUMMER HEAT. THE CLOTHING IS NEEDED TO PROTECT THE WORKER FROM WASPS AND BEES, FROM THE PENETRATING DUST OF THE FIELDS, AND FROM THE RESIDUES OF PESTICIDES AND FUMIGANTS THAT HAVE BEEN USED ON THE VINES DURING THE GROWING SEASON. THIS WORKER COULD BE A MAN OR WOMAN.
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07CESAR CHAVEZ FOUNDED HIS NFWA (National Farm Workers Association) IN 1962. HE WAS A MASTERFUL ORGANIZER - SOFT-SPOKEN, AN INTENTIONAL AND FOCUSED LISTENER - HE WAS AT HIS BEST WHEN ORGANIZING ONE-ON-ONE, AND HE MADE A LASTING IMPRESSION ON PEOPLE.
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08THE NFWA WAS BUILT ON SERVICE TO ITS MEMBERSHIP. COUNTLESS HOURS WERE SPENT ONE-ON-ONE WITH MEMBERS HELPING THEM NAVIGATE SOCIAL SERVICE AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, AND SERVED AS AN ADVOCATE. MEMBERS WERE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FARMWORKER CREDIT UNION, THE FUNERAL BURIAL PROGRAM, AND IN THE DREAM OF CESAR CHAVEZ TO CREATE A UNION FOR FARMWORKERS.
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09LARRY ITLIONG WAS AN ORGANIZER WITH THE AFL-CIO-SPONSORED AWOC (Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee). IT WAS LARRY WHO ORGANIZED THE FILIPINO WORKERS TO GO ON STRIKE IN THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER 1965 DURING THE HARVEST OF DELANO AREA TABLE GRAPES.
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10AWOC WAS COMPOSED MOSTLY OF FILIPINO WORKERS WHO WERE FIRST IMPORTED BY CALIFORNIA AGRIBUSINESS IN THE 1920'S AND 1930'S TO WORK IN THE AGRICULTURAL FIELDS. IMPORTED AS YOUNG, UNMARRIED MALE-ONLY WORKERS, IT WAS NOT UNTIL AFTER WORLD WAR II THAT THEY WERE PERMITTED TO MARRY OR OWN PROPERTY, AS A RESULT, MOST OF THE FILIPINO FARMWORKERS WERE BACHELORS - BUT NOT BY CHOICE. IN 1965, EVERYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE FARMWORKER MOVEMENT, AFFECTIONATELY REFERRED TO THESE AWOC MEMBERS AS THE FILIPINO BROTHERS.
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12TWO WEEKS AFTER THE AWOC MEMBERS WENT ON STRIKE, THE NFWA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CESAR CHAVEZ, JOINED THEM. THE TWO LABOR ORGANIZATIONS DID NOT MERGE, BUT WORKED SIDE-BY-SIDE IN SOLIDARITY TO ACHIEVE A COMMON PURPOSE: TO SECURE THE RIGHT OF FARMWORKERS TO ORGANIZE AND BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY WITH THEIR EMPLOYERS.
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13DOLORES HUERTA WAS, AND IS, ONE OF THE ICONS OF THE FARMWORKER MOVEMENT - A TIRELESS ADVOCATE FOR THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS. THERE IS NO PERSON ALIVE WHO COULD MAKE A MORE COMPELLING AND EMOTIONAL APPEAL THROUGH THE MOUTHPIECE OF A BULLHORN TO STRIKE BREAKERS WORKING A HUNDRED YARDS AWAY THAN DOLORES HUERTA.
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14WINTER AND SUMMER, THE MOST FRUSTRATING WORK IMAGINABLE WAS TO MAN THE DELANO PICKET LINES AND CONVINCE THOUSANDS OF STRIKEBREAKERS WHO HAD BEEN IMPORTED BY THE GROWERS AND THEIR LABOR CONTRACTORS, TO LEAVE THE FIELDS AND JOIN THE STRIKE. MORE DIFFICULT STILL BECAUSE CESAR CHAVEZ AND HIS MOVEMENT WERE PLEDGED TO NONVIOLENCE.
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