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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to honor the life and legacy of
4farm workers' leader Cesar Estrada Chavez; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 on
6a farm near Yuma, Arizona that his grandfather homesteaded in
7the 1880s; after Cesar Chavez's father, Librado, was forced
8from his farm in 1937, the Chavez family became migrant workers
9in California, the beginning of his legendary destiny; he quit
10school after the 8th grade in 1942 in order to help support his
11family by working in the fields full time; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In 1944, Cesar Chavez joined the United States
13Navy, where he was slated to serve in the western Pacific
14theatre during World War II; just before he was to be shipped
15to the Pacific, however, he was arrested in a segregated movie
16theater in Delano, California for sitting in the "whites only"
17section; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In 1952, Cesar Chavez was recruited into the
19Community Service Organization (CSO) by community organizer
20Fred Ross, who discovered the young farm worker laboring in
21apricot orchards outside San Jose, California; together with
22Mr. Ross, Cesar Chavez organized 22 CSO chapters across

 

 

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1California during the 1950s, leading to CSO becoming the most
2militant and effective Latino civil rights group of its day;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, On March 31, 1962, his 35th birthday, Cesar Chavez
5resigned from CSO, choosing instead to move his wife and eight
6small children to Delano, California and dedicate himself
7full-time to organizing farm workers; the first convention of
8Cesar's National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) convened in
9Fresno, California on September 30, 1962; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The 1960s presented a prime opportunity for Cesar
11Chavez and his new organization to advocate for the rights of
12migrant workers; having worked on building the membership of
13his infant union during the early 1960s, the NFWA, with
141,200-member families, voted on September 16, 1965 to join an
15ongoing strike against Delano-area grape growers begun by the
16mostly Filipino American members of the Agricultural Workers
17Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (AWOC), beginning the famous
18five-year Delano Grape Strike; during March and April of 1966,
19Cesar and a band of strikers embarked upon a 340-mile
20Peregrinacion (Pilgrimage) from Delano to the steps of the
21California state capitol in Sacramento to draw national
22attention to the suffering of farm workers; as a result of the
23march and a four-month boycott, Schenley Vineyards negotiated
24an agreement with NFWA, the first genuine union contract

 

 

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1between a grower and farm workers' union in United States
2history; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez's success with the NFWA continued
4throughout the late 1960s, with a successful boycott at the
5DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation and a strike at the Giumarra
6Vineyards Corporation; in 1966, the NFWA and the Filipino
7American AWOC merged to form the United Farm Workers, which
8affiliated with the AFL-CIO; in 1968, Cesar fasted for 25 days
9to rededicate his movement to nonviolence; United States
10Senator Robert F. Kennedy joined over 8,000 farm workers and
11supporters at a mass where Cesar broke his fast, calling the
12weakened farm labor leader "one of the heroic figures of our
13time"; and
 
14    WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez's movement continued apace during
15the 1970s, with most California table grape growers signing UFW
16contracts by 1970; after Salinas Valley growers signed
17contracts with the Teamsters Union in the summer of 1970, Cesar
18led a national boycott of lettuce, a decision that led to a
19jail sentence in Salinas, California from December 10 to 24 of
201970; still going strong, the UFW became chartered as an
21independent affiliate by the AFL-CIO in 1972, becoming the
22United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW); and
 
23    WHEREAS, After a hard-fought battle with the California

 

 

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1state government and various growers, Cesar Chavez and the UFW
2managed to pass the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act,
3which guaranteed California farm workers the right to organize
4and bargain with their employers, in June of 1975; led by Cesar
5Chavez, the United Farm Workers of America won hundreds of
6labor elections across the nation during 1975 and 1976; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The number of farm workers protected by UFW
8contracts grew to about 45,000 by the early 1980s; Republican
9George Deukmejian was elected California governor in 1982 with
10$1 million in grower campaign contributions; under Governor
11Deukmajian's leadership, the California Agricultural Labor
12Relations Board ceased enforcement of the Agricultural Labor
13Relations Act, forcing Cesar Chavez to declare a third grape
14boycott in 1984; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In 1986, 61-year old Cesar Chavez kicked off the
16"Wrath of Grapes" campaign to draw public attention to the
17pesticide poisoning of grape workers and their children; the
18campaign included a 36 day public fast in Delano, California,
19his last and longest-running; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In 1992, Cesar Chavez, working with UFW First Vice
21President Arturo Rodriguez, led vineyard walkouts in the
22Coachella and San Joaquin valleys, resulting in the first
23industry-wide pay hike in eight years for grape workers; this

 

 

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1feat proved to be the last for this brave pioneer, who passed
2away in his sleep on April 23, 1993 in the midst of defending
3the UFW against a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought against
4the union; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On August 8, 1994, President Bill Clinton
6posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom, America's highest
7civilian honor, to Cesar Chavez in honor of his everlasting
8contributions to society; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Today, the UFW continues its vigilant protection
10of its many union members; the union remains strong, with
11undeniable strength in numerous states such as California,
12Florida, and Washington, a fact that would certainly make Cesar
13proud; therefore, be it
 
14    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
15NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
16we honor the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and his
17contributions to the downtrodden of our society; and be it
18further
 
19    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20presented to the family of Cesar Chavez as a symbol of our
21great esteem and respect.