Cesar Chavez looking over proposed union contracts. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

United States 1965-1970

Synopsis

During the years before 1965, the agricultural unions—the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and National Farm Workers Association (NFWA)—sought recognition from grape growers and hoped to enter into contracts by fair negotiations as guaranteed by collective bargaining rights. Because farm laborers were excluded from coverage under the provisions of the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, or Wagner Act, they sought to be legally protected in the workplace by unions as were the majority of workers in other industries throughout the United States. The push by union leaders to have farm workers fairly represented and under contract reached its apex after 1965.

With growers' failure to recognize the unions, the California farmworkers initiated a strike against grape growers. These strikes, between 1965 and 1970, ultimately unified the two...