Description
This collection contains photographs, flyers, articles, pamphlets, vinyl records, a flag, a poncho, buttons, stickers, stamps,
and a mailer regarding United Farm Workers (UFW) and Cesar Chavez and is mostly related to boycotts that occured in the late
1960s through the early 1970s in support of farmworkers. Also included are documents both in favor of and in opposition to
Proposition 14, the farm labor initiative, a 1976 ballot initiative sponsored by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers
of America; photographs taken at Cesar Chavez's memorial service; and material related to farm workers such as a "California
Farm Workers" brochure and Student Committee on Agricultural Labor broadside. Some of the material in this collection were
featured as part of the Gerth Archives and Special Collections 2018 exhibit entitled "¡Adelante! Latinx Activism in California".
Background
The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) is a labor union for farmworkers that was formed in Delano, California in August
1966 following the merger of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta; and the
Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) led by Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Benjamin Gines, and Pete Valasco.
This merger was the result of strike that began on September 8, 1965, when the predominantly Filipino AWOC walked off of vineyards
and began their strike against Delano area grape growers in protest of low wages. The predominately Mexican American NFWA
joined the strike a week later in support and the strike would continue for the next five years. In 1972, the UFW was chartered
as an independent affiliate by the AFL-CIO; and was renamed the United Farm Workers of America. Chavez became president of
the union in 1966, a position he held until his death in 1993. Currently, "the UFW continues organizing in major agricultural
sectors, chiefly in California. Recent years have witnessed dozens of UFW union contract victories protecting thousands of
farm workers, among them agreements with the some of the largest berry, winery, tomato, dairy and mushroom companies in California
and the nation. More than 75 percent of California's fresh mushroom industry is now under union contract. Many recent UFW-sponsored
laws and regulations protect all farm workers in California, especially those at non-union ranches. They include the first
state standards in the U.S. to prevent further deaths and illnesses from extreme heat and in 2016 the first law in the country
providing farm workers in California with overtime pay after eight hours a day. The UFW continues to actively champion legislative
and regulatory reforms for farm workers covering issues such as worker protections, pesticides and immigration reform." ("Our
Vision", https://ufw.org/about-us/our-vision/)
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
There are no access restrictions on this collection.