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Farm Labor Movement

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Farm Labor Movement
Farm labors are one of the most unrecognizable jobs that we have in the United States. Most people do not ever realize, when they purchase fruits and vegetables at the local super markets, how much work is required in the planting, caring, and harvesting before these items arrive at the store. When I was a child, I was ignorant to the hardships that my parents had to go through to make a living. As my father said, “that was a time when no one cared about the farm worker to where we did not have clean water, bathrooms, a fair wage, unemployment insurance, and lunch break that was not long enough to be able to eat all of our lunch” (Mexicano, 2012). “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about the people” (Chavez, n.d.). Although many farm workers were afraid of speaking out, because they did not want to lose their jobs, there were a few that wanted to make better working conditions for all and this is when the Farm Labor Movement began.
There were other movements like the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, Community Service Organization (CSO), the American GI Forum (AGIF), or the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), but the one movement that had the biggest impact in the United Stated was the United Farm Workers (UFW). The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement began in the 1940’s, and their goal was in achieving the Mexican American empowerment. The Community Service Organization was founded in 1947 and was a California Latino civil rights organization, but it is most famous for training Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The American GI Forum began in 1958 by a Mexican American World War II veteran that wanted to address the problems of discrimination of Hispanic veterans. The National Farm Workers Association began in1962 when Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta left the CSO and started this association. Soon after the National Farm Workers Association was created, Cesar Chavez and Dolores founded the United Farm Workers (UFW). The United Farm Workers organized the biggest televised Hispanic movement in the United States. All of these groups fought for the rights of the Hispanic community. Not only for better working conditions, but to be treated as equal and for United Farm Workers conducted this cause with a principle of nonviolence (Wikipedia, 2012).
For many years, the farm labors endured horrible living and working conditions. Many of them became ill from the pesticides that the growers used in the fields. Not only did they have to deal with the pesticides, but also they had to deal with the various weather conditions, which many of them lost their lives from this. For generations the farm workers were too afraid of speaking out and ask for better working and living conditions, because they feared retaliation or more discrimination from the growers. The owners or growers would take advantage of the farm labors because they knew that they could get away with it. The growers knew that farm workers would not stay for long and would not have adequate living conditions for them. The United Farm Workers, lead by Cesar Chavez, was the first labor union to insist governmental protection for the farm labors from pesticides (UFW, 2011).
The agricultural business is one of the largest industries in the United States and 40 percent of all fruits and vegetables produced come from the four major valleys in California; Salinas, Coachella, Imperial, and the San Joaquin valleys. For hundreds of years there has been many different ethnic groups that harvested these crops. A majority of this workforce was Hispanic and worked in the San Joaquin valley. September 8, 1965 farm workers initiated the Delano grape strike to protest for higher wages. Six months later Cesar Chavez lead a historic farm workers march from Delano to the California state capitol in Sacramento. The march to the capitol was 300 miles and lasted 25 days. The United Farm Workers encouraged all Americans to boycott grapes to show support. This strike lasted for almost five years and attracted national attention because it was televised. The growers were brought to their knees by the American people not purchasing grapes and finally agreed to create better working conditions for the farm workers. This lead to a United States Senate Committee hearing on Labor and Public Welfare which Robert F. Kennedy show his support and was a subcommittee member. Robert F. Kennedy show up in Delano to show his support and that is when the nation backed the United Farm Workers. This activity spread to other states where the United Farm Workers show their support (Lichtenstein, 2012) (Koo-Byoung, 2011, page 24).
To this day, the struggle continues for the farm workers, but things are getting better. It is up to us to educate, not only the younger generation but the workers themselves. “In order to change our future we must first know our past” (Fifield, 2012).

Reference
Bardacke, F. (2011). Trampling out the Vintage. N/A, California:
Koo-Byoung, P. (2011). “Cesar Chavez Transformed: From Organizer of the Farm Workers’ Movement to the Spiritual Symbol of the Chicano Movement”. (English). Asian Journal Of Latin American Studies, 24(3), 73-96.
Lichtenstein N. Tragedy in the Fields The Self-destruction of the United Farm Workers. Dissent (00123846) [serial online]. Winter2012 2012;59(1):51. Available from: MasterFILE Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 29, 2012.
United Farm Workers (UFW) and Antipesticides Activities. (2011).

Wikipedia. (March 31, 2012). Cesar Chavez. Retrieved from http://wikipedia.com

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