The Justice of Our Cause

“Our struggle is not easy. Those who oppose our cause are rich and powerful and they have many allies in high places. Our allies are few. But we have something the rich don’t own, we have our bodies and spirits and the justice of our cause as our weapons.” --Cesar Chavez

The struggle of the farm worker has a long and painful history. It begins with the 1935 passage of the Wagner Act, which was instituted to give workers a stronger bargaining position by guaranteeing them the right to vote for, and be represented by, the union of their choice. A strong lobby by the companies who grow the nation’s produce and employ farm workers to cultivate and harvest their crops excluded farm workers from the Wagner Act. Growers have taken full advantage of the power this has given them over their disenfranchised employees, the migrant farm laborer. What this has meant for the farm workers can be readily seen from a few facts and statistics of farm worker life:

—The average life expectancy of a farm worker is 49 years (compared to a national average of 72 years)

— 75,000 farm workers suffer from acute pesticide poisoning each year (either as a result of handling treated crops or as the crop dusters spray both field and laborers with the nerve gas pesticides)

—Farm workers’ incidence of on-the-job accidents is 300 per cent higher than the national average

—Farm workers have an infant mortality rate that is 125 per cent higher than the national average

—800,000 farm worker children under sixteen must work to help support their family

—87 per cent of farm workers over eighteen have not completed eighth grade

—A farm worker family of four, all working year round, earns $2,700

—90 per cent of farm worker housing (provided by the growers) has no plumbing

—Farm workers are twice as likely as the average American to contract TB

Ten years ago, the farm worker’s struggle to achieve self-determination began in earnest. Declaring that “the time has come for the liberation of the poor farm worker,” Cesar Chavez organized the farm workers of Delano, California and formed the National Farm-worker Association. This association later became the United Farm Worker Organizing Committee, an autonomous member of the AFL-CIO. The newly-formed union first tried to negotiate a contract with the grape growers. When the table grape growers refused to sign a contract with UFWOC, the nation-wide boycott of grapes got underway. By 1970 the boycott culminated in victory for the UFWOC. The table grape growers signed farm workers’ contracts containing such significant provisions as protection from the use of dangerous pesticides.

With the grape victory behind them, the UFWOC turned their attention to the $273 million-a-year lettuce agribusiness. The lettuce growers refused to recognize the farm workers’ right to hold elections and vote for the union of their choice. Instead, the growers signed a contract with the Teamsters Union. The California Supreme Court called this contract “the ultimate form of favoritism.” George Meany, head of the AFL-CIO labeled it a “super sweetheart” contract. The farm workers’ opinion of the contract was equally clear—7,000 farm workers walked off the fields in a massive strike. As one of the representatives of the lettuce growers said, “… the Teamsters have our contract, the UFWOC has our workers.”

To put more pressure on the lettuce growers, the farm workers have called for a nation-wide boycott of lettuce that is not marked with the black Union Eagle. The farm workers have collected close to one million pledges not to eat non-union lettuce. This kind of wide support has provided the workers with a base for intensifying their efforts to win union recognition from the two hundred lettuce companies in California and Arizona who have not signed United Farm Workers contracts. UFWOC is mobilizing a secondary boycott of the major food chains which buy non-union lettuce. The farm workers believe that since the average supermarket realizes 10 per cent of its profits from the sale of fruits and vegetables, they share the responsibility of bringing justice to the fields where the produce is grown. The farm workers have targeted two of the largest chains, A&P and Safeway, for their boycott. The picket lines they have thrown up around these stores are effectively turning away shoppers by explaining the farm workers’ position to them and urging them to support the farm workers by boycotting these stores.

The farm workers have continued their struggle in the face of a powerful and well- organized opposition that includes such illustrious names as Gov. Ronald Reagan of California; Gov. J. Williams of Arizona, and Richard Nixon. The Farm Bureau, otherwise known as “the right wing in overalls,” has consistently taken the side of the growers and was a key force in excluding the farm workers from the Wagner Act. The farm workers are up against more subtle and pervasive forces than just a few names and organizations—they are straining to overthrow the decades-old pattern of racial exploitation and agribusiness-domination that characterizes farming in the Southwest.

On the local level, those opposed to the farm workers have not been very subtle. Striking farm workers have been harassed by the police, the same police who have looked the other way when the growers brought in illegal strike-breakers from across the border. The farm workers’ non-violent picket lines have been disrupted several times by shooting incidents. The farm workers’ stand on non-violence in the face of a ruthless and violent opposition is clearly stated in the words of Cesar Chavez:

“Anyone could be non-violent in a monastery, after all, but that is easy and that was not the way of Christ. What’s difficult is to be non-violent in the cause, in the battle for social justice: knowing that violence can be done to ourselves, knowing—and this is even more difficult—what violence can be done to our family and brothers and our cause.”

The most recent development in the farm workers’ “causa” has been the cross-country journey of Cesar Chavez and 61 striking farm workers. They have been traveling by car from rally to rally, publicizing the boycott and leaving behind farm workers to man picket lines with volunteers from local offices. These workers are all striking the same lettuce company, D’Arrigo. As part of their efforts with the local offices they are concentrating on D’Arrigo’s distributers, initiating specific boycotts of these distributers. This kind of intensive boycotting in a strange city is difficult—compounded with the language barrier the Spanish-speaking farm workers have to deal with, their efforts can be seen as acts of courage and dedication. What the farm workers ask of their supporters is this same dedication, to risk “the pressure of imprisonment and the loss of friends and former supporters … in a manner after Jesus ... to cast their lives in with the poor and oppressed” (Cesar Chavez). The farm workers have also called on the church, the body of believers, to stand behind them and the justice of their cause. Their call to the church is simple and direct. “What do we want the church to do? We don’t ask for a cathedral, we don’t ask for bigger churches or fine gifts. We ask for its presence with us, beside us, Christ among us. We ask for the church to sacrifice with the people for social change, for justice, and for love of brother. We don’t ask for words, we ask for deeds; we don’t ask for paternalism, we ask for servanthood.” (Cesar Chavez).

Annette Doornbos was an associate editor of the Post American when this article appeared.