United Farm Workers Union
The United Farm Workers Union (UFW) is a significant labor organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and welfare of farmworkers, primarily in California. Established in the 1960s through the merger of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers Association, the UFW emerged from a long history of struggles for better working conditions and fair wages in the agricultural sector. Key figures in its founding include prominent labor leaders such as Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, who mobilized support from various community organizations and civil rights groups to confront the injustices faced by farm laborers.
Historically, farmworkers endured harsh conditions, including low pay, long hours, and unsafe working environments, often exacerbated by laws like the Bracero Program, which undermined their bargaining power. The UFW played a pivotal role in organizing strikes and boycotts, which garnered public support and led to significant gains for labor rights in agriculture. Although the UFW's membership has fluctuated over the decades, it remains an influential voice for farmworkers, advocating for issues such as health protections, immigration reform, and fair labor practices, particularly in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions. Today, the UFW operates not only in California but also in other states, continuing its mission to empower and support farm laborers.
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United Farm Workers Union
The United Farm Workers Union (UFW) is a major labor organization that protects the rights of farmworkers. The UFW formed during a long process of protests and unionization attempts through the 1960s. Mainly operating in California, the UFW represented a merger of two major farmworker unions, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers Association. Some of the UFW’s prominent co-founders and major supporters included Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong.
Background
Agriculture has been one of the main industries of California and nearby states since the 1800s. Traditionally, farm laborers struggled to make a living. Their work was physically grueling and involved long hours. Moreover, their pay tended to be much lower than that of workers in most other fields. Often, farm owners and agribusinesses would purposely underpay workers to generate more profits.
Prior to the 1950s, farmworkers in California had few options. Many relied upon their jobs to make enough money just to survive and feed their families. They could not afford to leave their work in search of better opportunities. Farm work was often seasonal, meaning workers were left unemployed, or forced to relocate or find new jobs, during off-seasons. Most farm workers were also considered unskilled laborers, meaning they had little clout to bargain for better conditions or wages, as employers could easily fire and replace them.
Although labor unions developed in many industries in the late 1800s and early 1900s, farm workers were typically excluded. Most unions did not accept unskilled laborers. Many farmworkers did not have enough money to pay union dues, even if a union accepted them. Moreover, many California farmworkers were not born in the United States, and many could not speak English so they could not learn about and defend their rights.
In the 1940s, labor organizers including Ernesto Galarza attempted to begin a farm labor union to help struggling farmworkers in California. However, this early union’s efforts fell short, largely due to the Bracero Program and related laws that allowed American agribusinesses to replace domestic workers with those from Mexico. Essentially, the Bracero Program ensured a huge supply of inexpensive labor, while further undercutting attempts by laborers already in the United States to demand better working conditions.
Another influential labor organizer, Cesar Chavez, made a name for himself and helped spread his cause by opposing the Bracero Program. In the early 1960s, he asked sympathetic unions, community organizations, civil rights reformers, and churches to speak out and vote against the Bracero Program, which collapsed in 1964.
Overview
The end of the Bracero Program allowed some workers to hope for better pay and working conditions, but their overall situation remained grave. For example, in California grape fields, workers routinely endured squalid conditions and low pay that left them dependent upon their employers. Injuries and deaths were common, and in many cases child labor was the norm. Worker protection laws were either not in effect or simply ignored.
Attempts to start a representative organization continued even in the face of these seemingly insurmountable odds. In 1959, the well-established workers’ union the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) created a branch called the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC). AWOC, based on earlier organizations such as the Agricultural Workers Association (AWA), gained some traction.
Three years after the AWOC formed in 1962, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta began the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). Chavez used his background in grassroots community reform organizations to help design the organization, which he and Huerta promoted tirelessly among farmworkers in central California. They soon became figureheads for the labor rights movement and many of their efforts spread.
For several years, the AWOC and NFWA operated separately, but both helped workers in their struggle for better pay. In 1965, the organizations assisted in two labor strikes that gained workers wage increases, though in both cases employers staunchly refused to acknowledge any union contracts with the laborers. These early protests taught the reformers important lessons and gave them confidence.
AWOC and NFWA cooperated in a major grape-picker strike involving numerous simultaneous protests. Despite attempts to quell these demonstrations, they grew in size and intensity until farm owners offered the workers increased wages. This time, the workers continued to push for unionization as well as the modest pay boost. Chavez also raised the stakes by calling for a nationwide boycott on grape companies that blocked the creation of labor unions. This message spread widely and hundreds of thousands of Americans complied with the boycott, leading to enormous losses for the grape company owners. Slowly, major growers cracked, allowing their laborers to form unions.
Dedication by workers, protestors, and their supporters continued to gain momentum and win important gains for labor rights. Following some political scrambles within the labor unions, the NFWA and AWOC joined to form a single organization, the United Farm Workers (UFW) Organizing Committee. By 1970, the UFW had fifty thousand members throughout California, along with a meeting hall, community center, health clinic, credit union, and other support structures for members and prospective members. In the coming decades, the group decreased significantly in size but remained a solid and lasting force for workers’ rights in the United States.
In the twenty-first century, the UFW continued to focus mainly on Californian agriculture, though also operated in Oregon, Washington state, and elsewhere. UFW officials and supporters have helped many types of farm laborers to form unions and promoted the rights of workers at farms and ranches that do not operate with unions. In the 2020s, the UFW has focused on efforts such as ensuring COVID-19 protections for workers, protecting workers from the effects of increasing heat, and overseeing immigration reforms.
Bibliography
Lee, Kurtis and Liliana Michelena. “Can the United Farm Workers Rise Again?” The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/business/economy/farmworkers-ufw-california.html. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“1962: United Farm Workers Union.” Library of Congress, guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/united-farm-workers-union. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“Our Vision.” United Farm Workers, 2023, ufw.org/about-us/our-vision/. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“UFW Chronology.” United Farm Workers, 2023, ufw.org/research/history/ufw-chronology/. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“UFW History.” United Farm Workers, 2023, ufw.org/research/history/ufw-history/. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“United Farm Workers History and Geography.” University of Washington, depts.washington.edu/moves/UFW‗intro.shtml. Accessed 13 June 2023.
“United Farm Workers of America.” National Farm Worker Ministry, 2020, nfwm.org/farm-workers/farmworker-partners/united-farm-workers-of-america/. Accessed 13 June 2023.