La Voz del Campo - March 2020 - English

FA R M L A B O R I N F O R M AT I O N B U L L E T I N

Voice of the Fields California

March 2020

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Volume 30, Number 3

Leaders in Farmworking

Cesar Chavez

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esar Chavez is known as the voice of the farmworkers nationwide and is responsible for farmworker unions and agricultural labor rights in the modern era.

Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona on March 31, 1927 to migrant farmworkers. From a young age, he experienced injustices against himself and his family, notably in the agricultural labor industry. As a young child, Chavez witnessed the loss of his childhood home after his father was betrayed in a bad labor deal. His schooling years were also quite difficult as Chavez dealt with racism, segregation, and relentless discipline for speaking Spanish. Him and his brother attended 37 schools in their youth and grew increasingly disheartened by the discrimination they experienced. At the young age of 15, Chavez became a farmworker himself when his father was

unable to work in the fields after suffering injuries from an accident. He also served in the U.S. Navy for two years at the age of 19 which was segregated at the time. All of these experiences gave Cesar Chavez personal insight into the lack of rights and respect for the American farmworker, non-white persons, and immigrant families.

Despite painful experiences with education in his childhood, Chavez later became extremely passionate about education in his adult life. After marrying Helen Fabela in 1948 and starting a family, he returned to San Jose, California where he met Father Donald McDonnell. McDonnell helped

Cesar Chavez

to ignite Chavez’s passion for education and introduced him to texts about St. Francis, Gandhi, and nonviolence.

In effect, Chavez began to learn about the power of activism through peaceful means. Following his interactions with McDonnell, he was introduced to Fred Ross and became an organizer for Ross’s organization, the Community Service Organization (CSO).

Chavez used his education in peaceful resistance and experience in civic engagement to create the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 that would later become the United Farm Workers (UFW). Co-Founder and Chief Organizer of the UFW, Dolores Continued on page 4

Leaders in Farmworking

Maria Moreno

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aria Moreno was born in October of 1920 to migrant farmworkers in Texas. As a farmworker herself, Moreno traveled to California during the Dustbowl Migration of 1940 alongside her husband. At the time, mid-western states suffered an agricultural nightmare when massive droughts and devastating dust storms destroyed the farming industry. Many farmworkers were forced to move westward to California where agriculture was unaffected by the Dustbowl.

However, in 1958, Central Californian farmlands suffered a massive flood that destroyed crops and brought farm work to a standstill. Moreno’s family almost starved to death after being denied food assistance by the state, along with hundreds of other farmworkers. She began speaking out about the injustice and caught the attention of a local Fresno Bee reporter who ran her story in the papers.

Moreno’s words were so powerful that the state decided to reverse its policy and offer food assistance to farmworkers during the pause in agriculture work.

Soon after, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest

federation of unions in the United States, sent a representative to create the Agriculture Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) in 1959. Maria Moreno was one of the very first organizers to be hired by the organization, making her the first female union organizer in United States history. With the help of Moreno and her fellow organizers, the AWOC arguably laid the groundwork for the Cesar Chavez movement and the development of the United Farmworkers Union which helped secure worker’s rights for farmworkers across the nation.

Despite Moreno’s popularity and success in the AWOC, her position was later terminated by a new management team

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Maria Moreno: The First Female Farmworker Hired as a Union Organizer

and she and her family moved to Arizona.

There, Moreno began working as a Pentecostal preacher before moving to the Arizona-Mexico border and building a mission that ministered to the poor. She sadly passed away in 1989 from breast cancer, but not before making her mark on history. Moreno’s activism and leadership was essential to the achievement of farmworker rights and the development of female-led advocacy in the farmworker community.

Leaders in Farmworking

Lali Moheno

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ike Maria Moreno, Lali Moheno grew up in rural Texas with her parents who were both migrant farmworkers traveling between Texas and the California Central Valley for jobs.

When she wasn’t in school, Moheno worked in the fields alongside her parents. She watched them struggle for years with health problems associated with the hard labor they endured as farmworkers. Eventually, both of Moheno’s parents died from untreated physical ailments worsened by their jobs. It was this event, and the death of her mother in particular, that sparked Moheno’s activism and passion for wellness rights for female farmworkers.

Through her young adult life, Moheno worked tirelessly in the fields to put herself through college, while also sending money to her parents. Her parents were strong advocates of education, inspiring her to receive a bachelors and masters degree in education while studying the work of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers in California.

Excited by Chavez’s support of farmworker’s rights, Moheno began protest-

ing in Texas with her friends, calling for farmworker protections in the state.

In the early 1970s, Moheno traveled with her newlywed husband to California, where she worked for the Los Angeles County Office of Education as an administrator and became involved with a UFW chapter. By 1999, Moheno hosted a women farmworker’s conference at the Visalia Holiday Inn, in honor of her mother. She provided folders full of information about health resources available to workers, all with her own money. However, attendees let Moheno know that they needed much more than information about health care.

Farmworkers explained that they also dealt with issues related to equal pay, education, sexual harassment, domestic violence, and childcare.

Lali Moheno listened to the women she spoke with and began offering regular conferences on a variety of

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Lali Moheno: Defender of Women’s Wellness Rights in Agriculture

issues. She works with local and state officials to gather necessary information for the women that attend her conferences, and she’s never collected a dime for her work with the community. Her conferences take place annually in Visalia, often in the month of November.

Moheno has dedicated her life to the spreading of necessary information to female farmworkers and continues to be an avid supporter of women’s wellness in agriculture.

Chavez

Continued from page 1

Huerta, also worked alongside Chavez and spearheaded some of her own union efforts.

Huerta fought for equal wages and better working and living conditions for farmworkers and was integral in the success of the UFW. She actually secured the UFW’s first bargaining agreement made between the union and employers about wages, hours worked, and terms and conditions of employment. Before this, farmworkers did not have a written contract about what their employer could and couldn’t ask of them. Now, farmworkers had a formal agreement about their rights in the workplace, thanks to the UFW and Huerta’s leadership. During her work with the UFW, Huerta also raised 11 children and embodied many female farmworkers who often raised children in addition to their hard labor in the fields. Chavez was also aided by his wife, Helen, who became the UFW’s credit union manager after she served as his bookkeeper during the early years of his activism. Like Dolores Huerta, Helen also led a dual life as a mother raising seven children while also managing the financial affairs of the UFW. Throughout his career in activism, Chavez was surrounded by women that shared his passion for farmworker rights and made the success of the UFW possible through their leadership.

In addition to the UFW’s boycotts, strikes, and recruiting tactics, Chavez also participated in fasts as another way to protest in a nonviolent manner. His fasts were so effective that he inspired many public figures and celebrities to

join in the cause. Chavez fasted for 36 days in 1988 over the harmful effects of pesticides on farmworkers. When he was finished, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Kerry Kennedy, Danny Glover, Julie Carmen, Whoopi Goldberg, and many others also fasted to voice their agreement with Chavez’s activism in securing farmworker rights.

His nonviolent approach touched so many lives, not just in California, but throughout the nation. At the time, the

Landmark Wins for the Farmworker n

In 1970, the UFW finally convinced grape-growers to accept union contracts and in the same year, two-thirds of all grapes grown in California’s Central Valley came from unionized farmworkers.

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The Agricultural Labor Relations Act was passed in 1975, protecting farmworkers rights to form unions and bargain for better wages and working conditions. This act also made it illegal for employers to fire striking workers.

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By the 1980s, many farmworkers had health coverage and pension benefits in addition to their union contracts. In the same decade, child labor and sexual harassment against women workers became part of the UFW’s activism.

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United States was in the middle of a civil rights movement and Chavez’s activism fit perfectly with the aims of so many civil rights leaders, like Martin Luther King, Jr. who desired equal rights and fair treatment under the law. Chavez also carried his peaceful manner into his personal life and was known for waking up well before dawn to read, write, and meditate. One morning, on April 23, 1993, fellow union staff members noticed that Chavez slept in until 9am, which was very unlike him, and discovered that he had died peacefully in his sleep the night before. Fiftythousand mourners came from across the country to attend Chavez’s funeral in the largest funeral of any labor leader in the history of the United States. By 1994, President Clinton awarded the late Chavez with the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor awarded in North America. While the fight for farmworker rights is far from over, Chavez’s legacy lives on as a template for securing worker protections and rights in agriculture.

Wednesday April 24 4pm

OTHER INFORMATION

Census 2020: Your Duty and Your Right to Participate What is the Census?

The Census is a short questionnaire that every person living in the United States is required to fill out, by law. It should only take you about 10 minutes to complete and will determine national outcomes for the next 10 years.

What is Census information used for?

The Census gathers statistics about each household and determines federal funding and representation for the next 10 years. For instance, the number of seats that California gets in the House of Representatives is determined by the Census.

Local governments use Census information to understand how to best serve the community in public safety and emergency preparedness, like where to put a new hospital, or how many fire stations to build in each area.

Are my responses private? Can the information I submit be used against me?

Yes, your responses are private and no, the information cannot be used against you. An important thing to know about taking the Census is that your privacy is protected by law. The Census Bureau is legally obligated to keep your identity and the information you submit confidential. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are not allowed to use your responses against you for any reason. Your information is not used for any other purpose except creating statistics that the federal government can use to determine population counts, funding, and political representation in your state.

Will the Census ask about my immigration status?

No. The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it would be unconstitutional for the Census to ask about immigration status.

How do I take the Census?

The Census can be taken by phone, by mail, or online. In mid-March, all households will be mailed an info guide about how to complete the Census by phone, by mail, or online.

What happens if I don’t take the Census?

Publicly funded institutions like schools and health clinics depend on the Census in order to receive the amount of money they need to operate for the next decade. California representation in Congress is also determined by the Census, meaning that if people in California are undercounted, state seats in the House of Representatives go unfilled and our voices are not heard. The negative impacts associated with not completing the Census are serious and long-lasting because the survey only takes place once every 10 years. For example, the most undercounted group in the 2010 Census were children under 5 years of age which left public schools severely underfunded. If the federal government does not have an accurate picture of the amount of people residing in each area, vital public services go short of the money they need to service their community.

Where do I go to find out more information about the Census?

You can visit the United States Census Bureau website for more information. The website is available in 59 languages.

English: 2020Census.gov Spanish: 2020Census.gov/es.html

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OTHER INFORMATION

H-2A: Temporary Employment for Foreign Agricultural Workers

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he United States is often at a shortage for farm labor, particularly in states that grow the most crops, like California.

In order to solve this problem, the Department of Labor allows foreign, agricultural workers to be employed in the country on a temporary or seasonal basis under the H-2A worker program. H-2A workers are granted admission into the U.S. for a short term period of up to one year. Extensions are made for qualifying employment of up to one year each, with a three-year maximum total stay. After the three year period, foreign workers must return to their home country for a 3-month period before reapplying for the H-2A process again.

To learn more about applying for H-2A worker status, visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

English Version: www.uscis.gov/ working-united-states/temporaryworkers/h-2a-temporary-agricultural-workers Spanish Version: www.uscis.gov/es/ trabajar-en-los-estados-unidos/trabajadores-temporales/trabajadoresagricultores-temporales-h-2a Families of H-2A workers also have the option of coming to the United States under the H-4 classification,

though they are not eligible for employment. H-4 defines families as the H-2A worker’s spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21. To learn more about applying for H-4 status, visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

English Version: www.uscis.gov/ working-united-states/temporaryworkers/employment-authorizationcertain-h-4-dependent-spouses Spanish Version: www.uscis.gov/es/ trabajar-en-los-estados-unidos/trabajadores-temporales/autorizacionde-empleo-para-ciertos-conyuges-h4-dependientes Once you have an H-2A worker classification, you can find an H-2A job by contacting your local Employment Development Department (EDD) office and asking to speak with an EDD H-2A Specialist or make an appointment to go over the process in person.

For more information, visit the EDD website at: www.edd.ca.gov or call using one of the telephone numbers in the EDD Resources box. You can also visit www.caljobs.ca.gov to search for California H-2A job openings.

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Voice of the Fields California Circulation: 45,000 copies www.LaCooperativa.org Published monthly by: La Cooperativa Campesina de California 1107 9th Street, Suite 420, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone 916.388.2220 • Fax 916.388.2425 This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.

Content produced by ALZA Strategies, a full-service strategy firm that offers quality media relations, crisis communications, public affairs services, and expertise into the growing Latino market.

EDDResources Resources EDD

www.edd.ca.gov

Workforce Services AJCC Locator ............. 1-877-872-5627 CalJOBSSM ....................... 1-800-758-0398 Monitor Advocate, Report work related complaints.................... 1-866-289-8356 e-mail:................ madvocat@edd.ca.gov Unemployment Insurance English: ......................... 1-800-300-5616 Spanish: ........................ 1-800-326-8937 Disability Insurance English: ........................ 1-800-480-3287 Spanish: ........................ 1-866-658-8846 Paid Family Leave English: ........................ 1-877-238-4373 Spanish: ....................... 1-877-379-3819 Ask EDD Request EDD information online: ......................................askedd.edd.ca.gov