April 7, 2005

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Viva Cesar Chavez!

Students at Pioneer create mural in honor of union organizer

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

The colorful Cesar Chavez mural at Pioneer High School was the idea of Latino Club President Ana Castro and created by Pioneer High students.

“The end of all education should surely be service to others,” said Chavez. The Cesar Chavez mural at Pioneer High School commemorates the man. It was the idea of Latino Club president Ana Castro and created by Pioneer High students. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

It commemorates the man who was known as much for nonviolent protest as he was for his work as a labor union organizer and a spokesman for the poor—especially for his fellow Mexican American farm workers.

“The end of all education should surely be service to others,” said Chavez.

Chavez [1927-1993] was born on a farm near Yuma, Ariz. When he was 10 years old during the Great Depression, his family lost their land and moved to California becoming migrant workers. He preferred working in the vineyards because grape pickers stayed in the same place for a longer time, but the conditions were crowded without bathrooms, electricity or running water and the pay was low. His family moved to follow the crops and it is estimated he attended 30 different schools. He never graduated from high school.

Chavez served in the Navy during World War II. At the end of his tour in the Pacific, he returned to work in the California fields and became interested in bettering the lot of the migrant workers.

In 1962, Chavez devoted all his time to organizing farm workers into a union. He traveled from camp to camp, recruiting a few followers at each. In six months, he recruited 300 members of the National Farm Workers. They demanded fair pay and better working conditions. In 1965, the grape growers refused to listen to their demands and the farmhands went on strike. The growers hired illegal workers. Union members were jailed. In 1968, Chavez began a 25-day fast to gather support for nonviolence in union-organizing efforts. In 1970, some of the grape growers signed agreements due to public support of the union. The same year, Chavez appealed for a nationwide boycott of lettuce.

“Nonviolence is hard work,” said Chavez during a speech. “It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.”

By 1973, the union changed its name to the United Farm Workers [UFW] of America. Relations with the grape growers had deteriorated and a grape boycott was added. The first UFW convention had 346 delegates representing 60,000 farm workers was held in Fresno. In 1978, some of the workers’ demands were met and the UFW lifted the boycotts on lettuce and grapes.

“The fight is never about lettuce and grapes,” said Chavez. “It’s about people.”

In 1988 Chavez fasted for 36 days to protest pesticide use. Chavez continued his work for the farm workers for better wages and improved working conditions until his death in 1993. The activist died of natural causes in San Luis, Ariz. near where he was born.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton awarded Chavez the U.S. Medal of Freedom posthumously. The same year Governor Pete Wilson designated March 21 to be Cesar Chavez day, the first Mexican American to hold the honor.