United Farm Workers Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The United Farm Workers (UFW) is an agricultural labor union that was founded in 1962 by Cesar Chavez and others, including Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, and Delores Huerta. Before 1962 Cesar Chavez had worked with Saul Alinsky and Fred Ross in California in community organization; together they formed the Community Service Organization (CSO). With the help of Roman Catholic leaders in southern California they organized a number of CSO units that benefited the Mexican-American population. In 1962 Chavez sought to create something more than a humanitarian organization to help unemployed workers to get unemployment insurance benefits.

The United Farm Workers Union arose from the merger of the National Farm Workers Association (FNWA) and the Agricultural Workers Organizing (AWO) committee. The farm workers who belonged to FNWA were mostly Filipinos. The members of the AWO were mostly Mexican. Both groups shared a Hispanic background. On September 8, 1965, the AWO led by Larry Itliong in Delano, California, began a strike with the grape growers. Both groups recognized their common goals and methods. Joining together they became the United Farm Workers. The strike over picking table grapes lasted five years. In the end the union won a contract with most of the grape growers in California. The UFW used the doctrine and methods of nonviolence promoted by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Chavez would engage in dramatic hunger strikes in order to draw attention to the union’s issues. Chavez’s fasting not only attracted public attention, it also gave him moral power with many of the members of the union who were often far from peaceful. Many sought to use violent methods employed in the California labor strife of the 1930s and illustrated in some of the novels of John Steinbeck.

In 1973 the Teamsters Union was able to sign a contract with many growers. The contract almost destroyed the UFW. For the next several years the UFW fought the Teamsters and the growers with strikes, lawsuits, and boycotts. Violence often occurred in the fields and a number of workers were killed. The State of California created the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board in 1975 in order to resolve labor union disputes. The new administrative agency was eventually able to move the UFW and its competitors in a more peaceful direction. In 2006 the UFW left the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL-CIO) and joined the Change to Win Federation, which is a coalition of unions.

The UFW has been active with a number of environmental issues. These include pesticide use and animal rights. A number of animal rights issues have been addressed by the UFW by petitioning responsible state officials about instances of abuse. In addition, boycotts of foods such as milk or meat from producers that are considered to be indifferent or irresponsible caretakers for farm animals have been instituted. Farm workers are exposed to pesticides at much higher levels than are most nonfarmers. Recent studies have suggested that Parkinson’s disease may be linked to pesticide exposure. This is just one of a number of diseases that pose health hazards to farm workers and their families. The UFW battles for healthier farming conditions and for compensation for those whose health is injured by exposure to pesticides. It has in recent years found allies for its positions among scientists who work for the Environmental Protection Agency. The UFW also supports farm workers who speak out against alleged environmental hazards.

Bibliography:

Richard W. Etulain, Caesar Chavez: A Brief Biography with Documents (St. Martins, 2002);
Debra A. Miller, Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers Co-Founder (Thompson Gale, 2006);
Gary Soto, Jessie de la Cruz: A Profile of a United Farm Worker (Persea Books, 2002).