Delano grape strike

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The Delano grape strike began on September 8, 1965, and lasted more than five years.

[edit] The strike

The strike began when the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, mostly Filipino farm workers in Delano, California, walked off the farms of area table-grape growers, demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage. One week after the strike began, the predominantly Mexican-American National Farmworkers Association, led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, joined the strike, and eventually the two groups merged, forming the United Farm Workers of America. Quickly, the strike spread to over 2,000 workers. Through its grassroots efforts—utilizing consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance—the movement gained national attention for the plight of some of the nation's lowest-paid workers. By 1970, the UFW had succeeded in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the table-grape growers, affecting in excess of 10,000 farm workers.

[edit] External links

• Official Site of the United Farmworkers
• Fight In The Fields, PBS documentary on Chavez and the UFW's history