093_HJ0028

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 1                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The State of Illinois recognizes  certain  dates
 3    of the year for honoring specific patriotic, civic, cultural,
 4    and historical persons, activities, or events; and

 5        WHEREAS,  March  31  is  the birthday of Cesar E. Chavez,
 6    (1927-1993); and

 7        WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez steadfastly believed that  ordinary
 8    people  can  make  extraordinary  social change when they are
 9    individually guided by,  and  bound  together  by,  universal
10    values  and a common vision for a better world; the values he
11    strove  for  include:  service  to   others,   sacrifice,   a
12    preference   to   help   the   most   needy,   determination,
13    non-violence,   tolerance,   respect  for  life,  celebrating
14    community, knowledge and innovation; and

15        WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez began his labor career in the early
16    1950s as an organizer for the Community Service  Organization
17    (CSO);  his  work  for  the  CSO  included coordinating voter
18    registration   drives,   battling   racial    and    economic
19    discrimination  against Chicano residents, and organizing new
20    chapters of the CSO in California and Arizona; he went on  to
21    serve  as  national director of the CSO in the late 1950s and
22    early 1960s; and

23        WHEREAS, After  failing  to  convince  the  CSO  to  help
24    migrant  farm  workers  in their union organizing efforts, he
25    quit his job with the  CSO  and  founded  the  National  Farm
26    Workers  Association  (NFWA);  in  1965, the NFWA, with 1,200
27    member families,  joined  an  AFL-CIO-sponsored  union  in  a
28    strike against Delano growers; in 1966, the two unions merged
29    to  form the United Farm Workers (UFW); in 1968, he conducted
30    a  25-day  fast  to  reaffirm   the   UFW's   commitment   to
31    non-violence;   the   NFW's  boycott  against  grape  growers
32    persuaded the growers to sign contracts with the UFW in 1970;
 
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 1    however, after contract renegotiations in 1973,  the  growers
 2    signed   contracts  with  the  Teamsters;  the  farm  workers
 3    objected to the Teamster contract, and more  that  10,000  of
 4    them walked off their jobs; and

 5        WHEREAS,  Cesar  Chavez  then  called  for  a  world-wide
 6    boycott  of  grapes;  by  1975, a poll showed that 17 million
 7    Americans  supported  the  boycott;  the  boycott   persuaded
 8    growers  to  support  the  1975 California Agricultural Labor
 9    Relations Act; and

10        WHEREAS,  In  1982,  Republican  George  Deukmajian   was
11    elected  Governor  of California; under Governor Deukmajian's
12    leadership, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board
13    ceased to enforce the Agricultural Labor  Relations  Act;  in
14    1988,  Cesar  Chavez  conducted  a  36-day "Fast for Life" to
15    protest the pesticide poisoning of farm workers; and

16        WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez died in 1993;  in  1994,  President
17    Clinton  posthumously  awarded  him the Presidential Medal of
18    Freedom; he became the  second  Mexican-American  to  receive
19    this award; and

20        WHEREAS,  In  1994,  the  family  of Cesar Chavez and the
21    officers of the United Farm  Workers  created  the  Cesar  E.
22    Chavez  Foundation to "inspire current and future generations
23    by promoting the ideals of Cesar Chavez's life"; and

24        WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez spent 31 years forging a legacy  of
25    service,  conviction and principled leadership that served as
26    a beacon for Americans; therefore, be it

27        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
28    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
29    SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we recognize March 31 as Cesar
30    Chavez Day in  Illinois  and  encourage  public  and  private
31    entities  throughout  the  State to celebrate the birthday of
 
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 1    this great man.