You may be familiar with the work of civil rights activist and labor leader, Cesar Chavez.
“It’s a vicious attack on the on the local worker, and it’s just one of those agribusiness things, they can get away with it,” Chavez said. “Our job is to inform the whole country what’s happening together with a boycott and solve it that way.”
The last day of March marks Cesar Chavez Day, which seeks to honor the legacy of the Mexican American activist. Chavez fought for the rights of farm workers and unions through nonviolent strikes, boycotts and marches.
The federal holiday serves as a reminder of the plight of farm workers, laborers and immigrants in the U.S, whose rights are still being fought for today.
In honor of Chavez, hundreds of workers rallied in the Westlake District in central LA this morning before heading to the “Con Estas Manos” or “With These Hands” march in Delano, just north of Bakersfield.
Participants of the march include all kinds of service workers like those from hospitals, libraries and child care. During a protest in Bakersfield captured by CNN, protestors celebrated the importance of these underrepresented workers.
“So many who have spent their lives in the kitchens, in the fields, in the hospitals,” a protestor said.
During an interview with CNN, a Tehachapi resident spoke about the value of the marches.
“Because you protest against something doesn’t mean you’re not patriotic. As a matter of fact, it should make you more patriotic,” the resident said. “This is how we get our messages across. We protest, we let everybody know that things aren’t right and we need a change.”
These marches for Cesar Chavez are occurring as labor concerns grow at USC. Last Friday, nearly 100 janitorial staffers protested against USC’s partnering company, Aramark, for better working conditions and wages. It was the union’s third protest since the start of the semester.
Rally organizers say the union will be going back to the negotiating table with the administration this week.
Labor unions are also playing a larger roll for educators. At USC, we have the United Faculty, a group of non-tenured professors who are trying to form a union.
The group is organizing with an intention to join the United Auto-Workers, known as the UAW, which represents many university faculty across the country. Sean Kennedy is one of the United Faculty’s organizing members.
He says Cesar Chavez Day is especially important for educators during ongoing budget cuts at the university.
“In these periods of crisis, having a union makes it a lot easier for the faculty and the administration to collaborate productively, and it makes it so we have a democratic workplace,” Kennedy said. “And many of those things are things that Cesar Chavez was fighting for as well.”
Kennedy emphasized how Cesar Chavez’s work has continue to be influential for laborers across fields.
“Our economy has changed in some ways, but in a lot of ways, we’re still fighting a lot of the same fights. It’s always been the case, including through the time that Cesar Chavez was was active and alive that winning as a union,” Kennedy said. “It is really hard work, and that there are folks who are going to push back against it, but also that it’s really worth it.”
For Annenberg Media, I’m Justin Ha.