On this day in Labor History the year was 1970.
That was the day that the United Farmworkers went out on strike against California lettuce growers.
The UFW had led a successful boycott against grape growers that had drawn national attention to the harsh working conditions and low pay of those who harvested our nation’s food.
In an effort to keep the UFW from organizing lettuce workers, some of the growers had signed contracts with the Teamsters Union.
The UFW argued that these contracts did not represent the workers’ best interests.
As thousands of workers went on strike, Cesar Chavez called for a national boycott of non-union lettuce.
In the lead-up to the strike an estimated 4,000 workers attended a meeting in Salinas, California.
One worker, Antonio Sagredo explained the importance of the action.
The El Malcriado “Voice of the Farmworker, newsletter reported his words, “Let the people and the government of the United States know that we are ready to work—but that we must have what we ask. It isn’t very much. We don’t ask the impossible—only that they look upon us as human beings. We have the same ambitions that they do. We have families. We have rights. Why must they continue to treat us like beasts of burden and look for a thousand ways to bring us down.”
That December Cesar Chavez was jailed for leading the boycott.
Putting pressure on the growers through encouraging the public to boycott non-union harvested food was a key tactic for the farm worker’s movement.
It impacted the bottom line of the growers and moved them to sit down at the bargaining table.
February 28 - Fighting for Equal Pay
February 27 - The 1937 Woolworth Sit-Down
February 26 - The Battle at Bethlehem
February 25 - The Paterson Silk Strike Begins
February 24 - Muller v Oregon Decided
February 23 - Black Workers Lead Historic Strike at UNC
February 22 - Labelling Teachers as Terrorists
February 21 - The First Female Telephone Operator
February 20 - Angelina Grimke is Born
February 19 - Philly Street Car Workers Spark General Strike
February 18 - Anti-Slavery Begins in America
February 17 - Standing Up By Sitting Down
February 16 - The Wisconsin Uprising Begins
February 15 - The Uprising of the 20,000 Comes to a Close
February 14 - Kansas City Laundresses Walk Off the Job
February 13 - Martial Law Declared to Crush the UAW
February 12 - The NAACP is Founded
February 11 - Cutting Corners on Safety at Sequoyah I
February 10 - Forty-Three Workers Buried Alive
February 9 - Organizing Bloody Harlan
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