Bill Text: IL HR0249 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honors the life and legacy of farm workers' leader Cesar Estrada Chavez.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-04-29 - Resolution Adopted [HR0249 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HR0249-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
Representatives are pleased to honor the life and legacy of
farm workers' leader Cesar Estrada Chavez; and
WHEREAS, Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927
on a farm near Yuma, Arizona that his grandfather homesteaded
in the 1880s; after Cesar Chavez's father, Librado, was forced
from his farm in 1937, the Chavez family became migrant
workers in California, the beginning of Cesar's legendary
destiny; he quit school after the 8th grade in 1942 in order to
help support his family by working in the fields full time; and
WHEREAS, In 1944, Cesar Chavez joined the United States
Navy, where he was slated to serve in the western Pacific
theatre during World War II; just before he was to be shipped
to the Pacific, he was arrested in a segregated movie theater
in Delano, California for sitting in the "whites only"
section; and
WHEREAS, In 1952, Cesar Chavez was recruited into the
Community Service Organization (CSO) by community organizer
Fred Ross, who discovered the young farm worker laboring in
apricot orchards outside San Jose, California; together with
Mr. Ross, he organized 22 CSO chapters across California

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during the 1950s, leading to CSO becoming the most militant
and effective Latino civil rights group of its day; and
WHEREAS, On March 31, 1962, his 35th birthday, Cesar
Chavez resigned from CSO, choosing instead to move his wife
and eight small children to Delano, California and to dedicate
himself full time to organizing farm workers; the first
convention of Cesar's National Farm Workers Association (NFWA)
convened in Fresno, California on September 30, 1962; and
WHEREAS, The 1960s presented a prime opportunity for Cesar
Chavez and his new organization to advocate for the rights of
migrant workers; having worked on building the membership of
his infant union during the early 1960s, the NFWA, with
1,200-member families, voted on September 16, 1965 to join an
ongoing strike against Delano-area grape growers started by
the mostly Filipino American members of the Agricultural
Workers Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (AWOC), beginning the
famous five-year Delano Grape Strike; during March and April
of 1966, he and a band of strikers embarked upon a 340-mile
Peregrinacion (Pilgrimage) from Delano to the steps of the
California state capitol in Sacramento to draw national
attention to the suffering of farm workers; as a result of the
march and a four-month boycott, Schenley Vineyards negotiated
an agreement with NFWA, the first genuine union contract
between a grower and farm workers' union in United States

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history; and
WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez's success with the NFWA continued
throughout the late 1960s, with a successful boycott at the
DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation and a strike at the Giumarra
Vineyards Corporation; in 1966, the NFWA and the Filipino
American AWOC merged to form the United Farm Workers, which
affiliated with the AFL-CIO; in 1968, Cesar fasted for 25 days
to rededicate his movement to nonviolence; United States
Senator Robert F. Kennedy joined over 8,000 farm workers and
supporters at a mass where Cesar broke his fast, calling the
weakened farm labor leader "one of the heroic figures of our
time"; and
WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez's movement continued apace during
the 1970s, with most California table grape growers signing
UFW contracts by 1970; after Salinas Valley growers signed
contracts with the Teamsters Union in the summer of 1970, he
led a national boycott of lettuce, a decision that led to a
jail sentence in Salinas, California from December 10 to 24 of
1970; still going strong, the UFW became chartered as an
independent affiliate by the AFL-CIO in 1972, becoming the
United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW); and
WHEREAS, After a hard-fought battle with the California
state government and various growers, Cesar Chavez and the UFW

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managed to pass the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act
in June of 1975, which guaranteed California farm workers the
right to organize and bargain with their employers; under his
leadership, the United Farm Workers of America won hundreds of
labor elections across the nation during 1975 and 1976; and
WHEREAS, The number of farm workers protected by UFW
contracts grew to about 45,000 by the early 1980s; Republican
George Deukmejian was elected California governor in 1982 with
$1 million in grower campaign contributions; under Governor
Deukmajian's leadership, the California Agricultural Labor
Relations Board ceased enforcement of the Agricultural Labor
Relations Act, forcing Cesar Chavez to declare a third grape
boycott in 1984; and
WHEREAS, In 1986, 61-year old Cesar Chavez kicked off the
"Wrath of Grapes" campaign to draw public attention to the
pesticide poisoning of grape workers and their children; the
campaign included a 36 day public fast in Delano, California,
his last and longest-running; and
WHEREAS, In 1992, Cesar Chavez, working with UFW First
Vice President Arturo Rodriguez, led vineyard walkouts in the
Coachella and San Joaquin valleys, resulting in the first
industry-wide pay hike in eight years for grape workers; this
feat proved to be the last for this brave pioneer, who passed

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away in his sleep on April 23, 1993 in the midst of defending
the UFW against a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought against
the union; and
WHEREAS, On August 8, 1994, President Bill Clinton
posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom, America's highest
civilian honor, to Cesar Chavez in honor of his everlasting
contributions to society; and
WHEREAS, Today, the UFW continues its vigilant protection
of its many union members; the union remains strong, with
undeniable strength in numerous states such as California,
Florida, and Washington, a fact that would certainly make
Cesar Chavez proud; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we honor the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez and his
contributions to the downtrodden of our society; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Cesar Chavez as a symbol of our
great esteem and respect.