HR0775LRB102 26977 MST 38195 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to commend the work of farm
4workers' leader César Estrada Chávez; and
 
5    WHEREAS, César Chávez was born to immigrant parents on
6March 31, 1927 on a farm near Yuma, Arizona; in the late 1930s,
7his family lost their farm and became migrant workers in
8California; he quit school after the 8th grade in order to help
9support his family by working in the fields full time; and
 
10    WHEREAS, From a young age, César Chávez encountered
11wretched migrant camps, corrupt labor contractors, meager
12wages for backbreaking work, and bitter racism; he later
13helped improve those conditions for millions of workers across
14the U.S.; and
 
15    WHEREAS, César Chávez was introduced to labor organizing
16in 1952 when community organizer Fred Ross recruited him to
17the Community Service Organization; he soon took the position
18of national director for the organization but resigned in 1962
19to devote his time to organizing a union for farm workers; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Driven to improve the working conditions he
21experienced as a child, César Chávez co-founded the National

 

 

HR0775- 2 -LRB102 26977 MST 38195 r

1Farm Workers Association in 1962, which would later become the
2United Farm Workers of America (UFW); and
 
3    WHEREAS, César Chávez's leadership and nonviolent tactics
4were utilized during the Delano, California grape strike,
5which began in September 1965; his fasts and the 340-mile
6march from Delano to Sacramento focused national attention on
7the problems of farm workers; the marchers wanted California
8to pass laws that would permit farm workers to organize into a
9union and allow collective bargaining agreements; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The first union contracts required rest periods,
11clean drinking water, hand washing stations, and protective
12clothing to prevent pesticide exposure; the contracts were
13signed in 1966 but were followed by more years of conflict; in
141968, César Chávez began a fast that lasted 25 days to protest
15the increasing advocacy of violence within the union; on July
1629, 1970, 26 Delano-area growers formally signed contracts
17recognizing the UFW, bringing peace to the vineyard; and
 
18    WHEREAS, After a hard-fought battle with the California
19state government and various growers, the United Farm Workers
20of America and César Chávez managed to pass the landmark
21Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which guaranteed
22California farm workers the right to organize and bargain with
23their employers; and
 

 

 

HR0775- 3 -LRB102 26977 MST 38195 r

1    WHEREAS, César Chávez passed away in his sleep on April
223, 1933 after devoting his life to making a change for the
3working class by fighting for equal pay and better working
4conditions; and
 
5    WHEREAS, On August 8 1994, César Chávez posthumously
6received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill
7Clinton in recognition of the formidable and often violent
8oppositions he faced with dignity and nonviolence; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Today, the United Farm Workers of America
10continues its vigilant protection of its many union members;
11the UFW remains strong, a fact that would certainly make César
12Chávez proud; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
14HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15we commend the work of farm workers' leader César Estrada
16Chávez; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18presented to the family of César Chávez as a symbol of our
19great esteem and respect.