DELANO The story of the California grape strike JOHN GREGORY DUNNE Photographs by Ted Streshinsky Farrar, Straus & Giroux New York. Jenkins, J. Craig. The group was successful in its course of action, and this resulted in the spoilage of a thousand ten-ton cases of grapes which were left to rot on the docks. 1 Their members lacked even basic legal protections and could be fired and evicted from company housing with little recourse. The NFWA leadership, including Cesar Chavez, didnt feel ready for the strike. Prepare the Gallery Walk (activity 2) in advance by printing the images from the handout Gallery Walk Images: Farmworkers Movement and displaying them around the classroom on walls or tables. D2.His.8.9-12. Indeed, the founders had consciously shied away from that title and offered many services beyond a typical labor organization. View Delano Grape Strike from HISTORY MISC at Loyola Sacred Heart High School. Two and a half years into the strike, during the winter of 1967-68, some strikers, especially some young men, were impatient. Instead, they hired replacement workers, or "scabs," from elsewhere in California and as far away as Oregon, Texas, and Mexico to complete the fall 1965 harvest. Read aloud or project this excerpt from her speech: Explain to students that Huerta was part of a movement protesting the inhumane conditions that farmworkers endured. Thick Tule fog shrouded the valley, making things seem even drearier. [5][6] In August 1966, the AWOC and the NFWA merged to create the United Farm Workers (UFW) Organizing Committee. In 25 days, Cesar lost 35 pounds. 5. Politics and Culture in Modern America. the Spanish word for strike in favor of supporting the Delano grape farmer workers. If you really want to do something, be willing to die for it.. But 1965 was not the past. However, while the Filipino workers under Itliong readily joined the strike, Mexican workers were willing to accept $1.20 . As a result, a majority Republican Congress was elected and pushed for the passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which enacted the plan that became known as Radical Reconstruction. Reminds Us of their Bravery. 30 terms. The tactic proved remarkably effective in nationalizing the farmworker struggle and - to some extent - neutralizing the effects of the financial and political power imbalance that existed between growers and workers in the Central Valley. The Delano Grape Strike grew from a long history of labor organizing and protest. The Renegade Rip (CA): United Farm Workers celebrate the Delano Grape Strike '65 movement. What role did leadership play. It might have been more than a half-century ago, but the impact of the Delano grape strike will always be felt -- not only in Hispanic history, but labor history in general. Ring of Fire: It's the 50th Anniv. "My historical argument was that the Delano Grape Strike did bring change to the lives of migrant farmworkers," Ms. Escobar said. What might be the consequences if an entire group is made to feel invisible or ignored? After melon workers went on strike in Texas, growers held the first union representation elections in the region, and the UFW became the first union to ever sign a contract with a grower in Texas. The strike was led by Larry Itliong, a member of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). ", The Delano grape strikers also led a boycott against Delano grapes. The bad publicity from the boycott also hurt the companys image. During the strike, organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), along with student activists from the Bay Area, arrived in Delano to offer support, drawing parallels between the Jim Crow South and rural California in the fight for racial justice. What made you feel invisible? [25], On July 29, 1970, the grape strike and boycott ended, when grape growers signed labor contracts with the union. With the support of unions like the hotel and restaurant workers unions, Schenley suffered a significant drop in sales by April of 1966. He changed the face of agricultural labor in California. 1082, A break-in at the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington was carried out under the direction of White House employees, disclosure of the White House involvement in the break-in and subsequent cover-up forced President Nixon to resign in 1974 to avoid impeachment Previous: Much after the strike, Itliong decided to leave the UFW due to disagreements and different views. Cesar Chavez also went on a speaking tour along the East Coast to ask for support from labor groups, religious groups, and universities.[28]. [21] This pushed Itliong, who was the leader of the AWOC, to organize Filipino farm workers and pressure growers into granting them higher wages and better working conditions. To be a man is to suffer for others. In 1965, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, young Mexican American union organizers, brought Mexican and Filipino workers together to form the United Farm Workers (UFW). America In the summer of 1966, unions and religious groups from Seattle and Portland endorsed the boycott. [37], In June 1975, California passed a law allowing for secret ballot union representation elections for farm workers. It took nearly five years of being on the picket lines and personal sacrifices before an agreement was finalized in July 1970 after a sizable boycott of grapes. What were the circumstances? The Tidings: US civil rights milestone marked at Delano's historic Forty Acres. Just three years old, the young organization was still finding its footing - both financially and in the community. [6][7][9][10], The Delano grape strike is most notable for the effective implementation and adaptation of boycotts, the unprecedented partnership between Filipino and Mexican farm workers to unionize farm labor, and the resulting creation of the UFW labor union, all of which revolutionized the farm labor movement in America. Workers could legally strike or picket their employer, for example, though companies did try to limit even these actions. The strike drew unprecedented support from outside the Central Valley, from other unions, church activists, students, Latinos and other minorities, and civil rights groups. [15][18][19] The Filipino farm workers who came up from Coachella were led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Benjamin Gines, and Elasco under the AWOC. Here, measures of those laws are laid out. The Schenley boycott was only the beginning. The first of the boycotts occurred in November 1965, when longshoremen in Oakland "let a thousand ten-ton crates of grapes rot rather than handle the delivery from Delano," according to the Global Nonviolent Action Database. Esther Uranday looks at old photographs of . He believed nonviolence forces you to be creativethat it lets you maintain the offensive, which is crucial to winning any contest. The Tidings: US civil rights milestone marked at Delano's historic Forty Acres. Many consumers were sympathetic to the strike and refused to buy grapes, and grocery stores followed suit by refusing to stock non-union grapes. [27], After a record harvest in the fall of 1965, thousands of California farm workers went on strike and demanded union representation elections. Students will analyze the strategies used in the farmworkers movement. From Smithsonian Magazine: Larry Itliong immigrated to the United States in 1929 when he was 15 years old and immediately began working as a farm laborer and in the salmon canneries of Alaska. Johnson made the decision to engage the US in a major war in Vietnam, at first hoped to stay on course, faced presidential election in 1964, knew major military setback would cripple his election campaign, determined to avoid Truman's fate, worse conditions in South Vietnam, Johnson laid groundwork for a sustained campaign against North Vietnam, in August found pretext to set plan in motion, US destroyers in Gulf of Tonkin reported attacks by North Vietnam, Johnson ordered air strikes against bases in North Vietnam, appealed to Congress to pass resolution giving him authority to take all necessary measures and steps to defend US forces and protect SE Asia, Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed the Senate on Aug 7 with only two dissenting votes and moved unanimously through House, call for restraint in Vietnam, assured voters, this helped him win a landslide victory over conservatives Republican Barry Goldwater of Arizona, faced hard decision, limited bomb raids against North Vietnam did not slow the Communist Vietcong across the border into the South, president chose to increase US involvement in Vietnam massively, Request to Congress from President Lyndon Johnson in response to North Vietnamese torpedo boat attacks in which he sought authorization for "all necessary measures" to protest American forces and stop further aggression, Tonkin Gulf Resolution passed the Senate on Aug 7 with only two dissenting votes and moved unanimously through House, Johnson ordered immediate reprisal bombing and one week later, authorized Operation Rolling Thunder , campaign of gradually intensifying air attacks against North Vietnam, once begun Johnson found it hard to speak frankly with the American public about his policies, Network coverage of the war damaged Johnson's popularity, scenes of death and devastation undermined moral justification for the war, coverage in the print media came more skeptical of Johnson over time, Scenes of human suffering and devastation recorded by TV undermined the admin's moral justification of the war, 1960s, network news had ignored Vietnam or supportive of US policy, news of reporting changed, CBS showed pictures of marines setting fire to homes of civilians, President Johnson complained bitterly about news director, 1967, every subject tended to become Vietnam, TV news reports told of new methods of American cluster bombs and showed the effects of the forces, coverage in print media, vocal critics, Various alternatives to mainstream values and behaviors that became popular in the 1960s, including experimentation with psychedelic drugs, communal living a return to the land, Asian religions, and experimental art, Young adults takes out a new form of community, a counterculture, Drugs played large part in this counterculture, Music played large part in defining the counterculture, rock n' roll in 1950s, popular music expressed in the generational identity, Beatles in 1964, NY, more than 400 K people gathered in Aug in 1969 for a 3-day rock concert and to give witness to the ideals of the counterculture, many drugs, Most ambitious reform program since the New Deal, office of Economic Opportunity launched a War on Poverty, program had mixed results, 1964 State of the Union message, Johnson announced his plans to make a Great Society, used political momentum of the civil rights movement and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to push the most ambitious reform program since the New Deal, 1964 the Economic Opportunity Act launched the War on Poverty, North Vietnamese and their Vietcong allies launched the Tet Offensive, Vietcong pushed into the major cities and capitals of the South, US troops halted the offensive, North Vietnamese and Vietcong suffered more than 40K deaths, civilian causalities ran to hundreds of thousands, about 1 million South Vietnamese became refugees, Tet Offensive shattered the credibility of American officials who repeatedly claimed the enemy to be virtually beaten, TV and press coverage dismayed the public, US had chalked up a major military victory during the Tet Offensive but los the war at home, polls showed strong opposition to war, 49% saying it was a mistake, majority believed that the stalemate was hopeless,Tet Offensive opened a year of political drama at home, Black Power-philosophy emerging after 1965 that real economic and political gains for African Americans could come only through self-help, self-determination, and organizing for direct political influence, NY Police raided the Stonewall Inn, next day Gay Power was seen in the neighborhood, Young Mexican Americans adopted the slang term Chicano, to express a militant ethnic nationalism, demanded equality with whites and recognition of their distinctive culture and history, Students played a large role in this movement, blowouts or strikes to demand educational reform and a curricular emphasis on the history, literature, art and language of Mexican Americans, 15K students from LA schools went on strike against poor educational facilities, police did mass arrest, 1969, Mexican Independence Day, high schools skipped classes in the First National Chicano Boycott, students organized to demand Mexican American studies in classes, 1969, sit in at UCB, Chicano nationalism inspired a variety of regional political movement in the 1960s, Mexican American activists found that economic power remained out of community hands, poverty and many fell back into apathy, collective identity forged among Mexican Americans, Labor activists, spearheaded the organization of Chicano agricultural workers into the United Farm Workers, UFW, the first successful union of migrant workers, 1965, strike of grape pickers in the fields around the Delano, CA and a nationwide boycott of table grapes brought Chavez and the UFW into the media spotlight, advocated nonviolent methods for achieving justice and equality According to History of Yesterday, the United States government specifically sought out young single Filipino cisgender men for labor. More than a labor dispute, the strike became a movement for social justice that helped redefine Latino and American politics. But the recent passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had created a new framework for farmworker organizing. He asked strikers take a solemn vow to remain nonviolent. How can people work together to raise their voices and demand the rights they have been denied? [39] The 2014 film Cesar Chavez[40] highlights his role in the labor movement. Trampling out the Vintage : Cesar Chavez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers. In September 8, 1965, the AWOC decided to strike against Delano grape growers, demanding pay equal to the federal minimum wage. But Cesar knew the strikers greatest weapon was simply their decision not to quit, to persevere no matter what the odds or how long it would take. Although Chavez was initially reluctant to join the strike, after taking Itliong's proposition back to Dolores Huerta and the rest of the NFWA members, they decided "in a unanimous vote" to join the Filipinos in their strike. Some didnt understand why Cesar was doing it. The strikers were joined by thousands of supporters who helped tirelessly organize the boycott. The Filipino workers were upset that they received only $1.25 per hour compared with the $1.40 hourly wage of farmworkers who were part of the bracero . The strike grew larger until it became immortalized as "La Huelga" (the struggle). 1960s This, and nothing more, is what farmworkers want. For Chavez and the NFWA, this meant granting farm workers the explicit right to form unions and collectively bargain with growers--the same rights enjoyed by workers in most other professions in the United States. Senator Robert F. 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