August 24 - Fighting for Dignity

On this day in Labor History the year was 1970. 

That was the day that the United Farmworkers went out on strike against California lettuce growers. 

The UFW had led a successful boycott against grape growers that had drawn national attention to the harsh working conditions and low pay of those who harvested our nation’s food. 

In an effort to keep the UFW from organizing lettuce workers, some of the growers had signed contracts with the Teamsters Union. 

The UFW argued that these contracts did not represent the workers’ best interests. 

As thousands of workers went on strike, Cesar Chavez called for a national boycott of non-union lettuce.

In the lead-up to the strike an estimated 4,000 workers attended a meeting in Salinas, California. 

One worker, Antonio Sagredo explained the importance of the action.

The El Malcriado “Voice of the Farmworker, newsletter reported his words,  “Let the people and the government of the United States know that we are ready to work—but that we must have what we ask.  It isn’t very much.  We don’t ask the impossible—only that they look upon us as human beings. We have the same ambitions that they do.  We have families.  We have rights.  Why must they continue to treat us like beasts of burden and look for a thousand ways to bring us down.” 

That December Cesar Chavez was jailed for leading the boycott. 

Putting pressure on the growers through encouraging the public to boycott non-union harvested food was a key tactic for the farm worker’s movement. 

It impacted the bottom line of the growers and moved them to sit down at the bargaining table.