The Central Coast Farm Labor Organizing Collection contains materials relating to migrant farm workers on the Central Coast of California, including oral histories, reports, correspondence, strike ephemera, and secondary sources. Photographs taken by Manuel Echavarria documenting the United Farm Worker movement and used in the exhibit " iViva la Causa! A Decade of Farm Labor Organizing on the Central Coast" are included in the collection.

The California farm labor movement started in the early 1960s with the unionization of the migrant farm workers. In 1962 César Chávez and Dolores Huerta founded a union for the farm workers of the Central Valley of California, the National Farm Workers Association. This organization joined the Filipino American Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) in 1966 to create the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). The farm labor movement in the San Joaquin Valley, known as "La Causa" ("The Cause"), grew due to dissatisfaction with unfair pay, unsafe living conditions, and lack of pensions of Valley farm workers. With the growing support of the public César Chávez called for a grape boycott in 1966 and started the 5-year Delano grape strike. In 1975 the California legislature passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act giving farm workers the "right of collective bargaining."

7 boxes, (8.58 linear feet)

In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection.

Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page.