U.S. Farm Worker's Rights and/or the U.S. Labor Movement-
For many years, there was no justice in the fields for the farmworkers in California. They were not treated decently with fairness in the communities of California's agriculture. They had to endure devastating conditions, never coming close to the quality of life that mainstream, industrialized or white-colar Americans had come to expect. For example, on many ranches, there were no portable toilets and drinkable water provided on-site during work hours for the farmworkers. Work related injuries are also extraordinary high among farm laborers. Workers still earn substandard wages, often below the minimum wage. Also, farmworkers' children find school difficult for many reasons: some stay home and babysit so parents can work. Some lack transportation to school, and often parents' limited education hinders their ability to assist with homework. In addition, a very small percentage of the nation's farmworkers are covered by labor contracts. Then in 1962, there was a "Mexican Martin Luther King", named Cesar Chavez, initiated a movement to empower farmworkers with a labor union. He was a powerful persuasive speaker, who led the struggled migrant farmworkers to find justice and dignity. Together with the farmworkers, they became allies with other unions affiliated with the growing civil rights movement, and pressured the politicians to end the unfairness. Enclosed image, showed the joyful flourishing farmworkers movement. I chose this image because it represented victory. Throughout the country, there has been an outpouring of honors for the man who inspired it. Cesar Chavez's life and work transformed American Society.
UFW Website Reader's Response-
My class assignment was to read on UFW website. Basically, the website was created by an organization of farmworkers to share their experience and knowledge working in the fields of agriculture in California. The United Farm Workers of America Union was founded by Cesar Chavez, in 1962. Cesar Chavez's life and work transformed American society, and his name is synonymous with the struggle of American migrant farmworkers for dignity and justice. Today, the UFW continues to carry on Cesar Chavez's work and vision in major agricultural industries throughout the nation. I was enlightened from reading the articles on this website, which I never encountered before. I also admired the remarkable work that Mr. Chavez and the Union had done for the farmworkers not only in California, but across the nation as well. Thanks to him that now the farmworkers have a new way of looking at life.
