Topic > Cesar Chavez and The Grape Strike

With the Mexican Revolution of 1910, many Mexicans fled to the northern United States to escape the bloodshed in search of a new life. American demand for agricultural workers increased so much that in 1920 a work visa program was established for Mexicans. The majority suffered serious abuses of their labor rights, such as low wages, inadequate working conditions, inadequate housing and racial discrimination. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Agricultural workers were often unpaid and denied the right to unionize, which the rest of American workers were unable to do. Agricultural workers were forced to pay two or more dollars a day to live in metal shacks with no electricity or plumbing, no sanitation in the fields, and worked in inhumane conditions. According to the article “Fighting for Farm Workers' Rights…” it states that grape pickers were paid an average of 90 cents an hour, putting their families below the poverty line. Their homes consisted of tents and some even lived in cars. Living arrangements were usually segregated by race, working conditions were very similar to living conditions. None of the ranches had portable toilets and some growers made workers drink from the same cup and others were charged for it. Child labor was prevalent and entire families worked in the fields. There were laws that prevented the mistreatment of farm workers, but even so, the laws were often ignored by owners. Many obstacles presented themselves such as the Bracero program which was one of the many problems that destroyed the organizational efforts made. This was an agreement between the United States and Mexico, which recruited temporary workers to help depress agricultural labor wages. Became public law in 1951, it began during World War II, when growers faced a severe labor shortage, and continued after the war ended. The law stated that no bracero could replace a domestic worker but it was rarely enforced because the main purpose was to replace the domestic worker. The bracero workers made the strike difficult because they could often be used as scabs. In 1964, Cesar Chavez was able to band together with other unions, community groups, and churches to help pressure politicians to end the Bracero program. Cesar Chavez was born to a Mexican-American family in Arizona in 1927. Chavez's ultimate goal was to "overthrow the farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings." His leadership was based on nonviolence, personal sacrifice and a rigorous work ethic. In 1962 he founded the National Agricultural Workers Association which formed the backbone of his union campaigns. September 1965 the Delano Farm Workers Organizing Committee starts from Philippine grape harvesters (UN agency), strike demanding a wage of 1.40 dollars an hour plus 25 cents. AWOC leader turned to Chavez and the NFWA who gave him support and expanded the strike objectives including union contracts signed by growers and laws allowing farm workers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. In the article “The Story of Cesar Chavez” it states that; in 1967, Chavez moved to boycott California grapes and pressured supermarket chains not to purchase grapes to draw attention to the.