DINNER COMMITTEE Sigmund Arywitz SPONSORS Bishop Juan Arzube Aileen Adams Congresswoman Yvonne Braithwaite Burke Assm. Richard Alatorre Assm. Jim Keysor Rev. Priscilla Chaplin Congressman Glenn Anderson Meliss Keller Charles F. Armin Rev. Thomas Kilgore Sam Cordova Ralph Arriola Louis & Ruby Knowles Congressman James Corman Hal Ashby Rev. J. M. Lawson, Jr. Senator Alan Cranston Edward Asner Jack Leckie Rev. William H. Atwill Mildred & Edward Lewis Supervisor Ed Edelman Art Avila David Lizarraga Rabbi Meyer Heller Dr. Wes Balbuena Rev. Amador Lopez, OMI Mr. and Mrs. Norman Lear Harmon R. Ballin Hank Lopez Rabbi Leonard Beerman Samuel McNeal, Jr. Speaker Leo T. McCarthy Jeff Berg Ray Mendoza Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mazursky Candice Bergen Mr. & Mrs. Alex Miramon Sr. Patricia Marie Mulpeters Marilyn & Alan Bergman W. D. "Red" Mitchell Jack Blackburn Max Mont Paul Newman The Very Rev. John F. Blethan, O.S.A. Dr. Miguel Montes William Piercy, Jr. Board of Rabbis ofSouthern California Barbara Nardella Congressman Edward Roybal Peter Bonerz Marcia Nasatir Mr. & Mrs. William Chandler -Dr. Julian Nava Dr. Carl Segerhammar Dr. Karl J. Christ Gwen Newton Stanley K. Sheinbaum Rev. Francis Colborn Rev. Truman Northup Jerry Whipple Rev. George Cole Rev. Stanley Olson Ruth Compagnon Seniel Ostrow Laura DeLacy Joan Palevsky MASTER OF CEREMONIES Rev. William L. Diamond Max Palevsky Steve Allen Joan Didion and John Dunne Vina M. Parra Ass. Julian C. Dixon Robert J. Petris Dorothea and Oliver Eggers Jim Quillin Rabbi Harry Essrig Robert Radnitz Henry Fiering Rabbi Sanford Ragins Dave Fishman Assm. Leon D. Ralph Rev. Sean Flanagan David Rintels Mr. & Mrs. Henry Fonda Senator Alan Robbins Charles Fox Mr. & Mrs. Seymour Robinson Rabbi Allen Freehling Senator David Roberti Joe Garcia Dr. Armando M. Rodriguez Louis Garcia J. J. Rodriguez Rev. Oliver Garver, Jr. Rev. Juan Romero Will Geer Assm. Herschel Rosenthal William L. Gilbert Richard Roth Henry Giler and Edith Pollach Rev. Stephen Ryan David Gilmore Commissioner Joseph Sanchez M/M Roy Giordano H. O'Niel Shanks "Bishop Charles Golden Manuel Sierras Syd Goldfarb Rev. John G. Simmons Lee Grant Tom Smothers Clarence Gregory M/M Michael Straeter Gilbert Guzman Al Tafoya Mr. & Mrs Richard Halsey Raoul Teilhet Rev. Paschal Hardy Mr. & Mrs. Hal E. Tobin Rev. Ray Heer Assm. Art Torres Buck Henry Richard C. Vasquez Al Hernandez Jeanne Valvo Vic Hochee Mr. & Mrs. Jon Voight Charles Hogan Rev. Frank Wagner, OMI Rector Luther O. Ison Dennis Weaver Rabbi Sidney and Ms. Betty Jacobs Paula Weinstein Rev. Richard Jiru, SOB Mimi (Mrs. Bernie) West Dr. James E."Jones Florence M. White Julian J. Keiser Alfred K. Whitehead (Partial list) Photo: Gayanne Fietinghoff Photographed and Edited by Sound Mixing GLEN PEARCY TODD BOEKELHEIDE Still Photographs Location Sound Recorded by BOB FITCH CRESSON FRALEY GEORGE BALLIS GAYANNE FIETINGHOFF RICK TEJADA·FLORES DAVE SMITH GLEN PEARCY GLEN PEARCY EL MALeR/ADO Additional Footage Editorial Consultant RICK TEJADA·FLORES ROBERT DALVA Production & Post-Production Assistance General Consultant KEN DOYLE ROBERT NEWMAN FRANKLIN GREER MICHAEL WADLEIGH Narration Written by SUSAN PEARCY GLEN PEARCY KAREN OHMANS PETER MATTHIESSEN PUBLIC MEDIA CENTER LUIS VALDEZ Color, Titles & Opticals by CONSOLIDATED FILM INDUSTRIES, Hollywood Narration Spoken by Edited & Mixed at LUIS VALDEZ AMERICAN ZOETROPE, San Francisco Thirteen years ago, in April, 1962, Cesar Chavez" Helen his wife, and their eight children moved into a two­ bedroom house on Kensington Street, Delano. At ap­ proximately the same time, the AFL-CIO decided to strengthen its drive to organize farm workers and dispatched fresh organizers to several locations in the state. The California Migrant Ministry, now known as the National Farm Worker Ministry, took the historic step of placing staff in the fields along side union organizers. And, in the deep South, a campaign to liberate Black Americans was raging. Between 1962 and September, 1965, the fledgling National Farm Worker Association, formed by Cesar and a handful of determined organizers, grew to several thousand members. A credit union, the first for migrant farm workers, an automotive cooperative, a newspaper, service center, and death benefit insurance plan were established... all without foundation or government grants, depending solely upon the will of the farm worker union members for support. But in that incredible September of 1965, four mighty streams - the NFWA, the religious, civil rights and labor movements converged to support what is now known as the Great Delano Grape Strike. Members of the predominantly Filippino AFL-CIO and the Chicano NFWA formed a joint strike committee dedicated to bringing the powerful table grape growers of California to the bargaining table. Their strike was met by sheriff's deputies at riot alert, dogs, private police, guns, helicopter patrols, and of course strike­ breakers recruited by labor contractors. The American Farm Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, John Birch Society, and later the Nixon-Reagan Axis, joined hands in an alliance of Right-Might, determined to crush the farm workers' movement. The United Auto Workers, International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, and other independent labor organizations threw their weight behind La Causa. And even then, the battle, as in so many in the agricultural fields before, looked hopeless. Then a new tactic was tried. In spite of those who said it wouldn't work, a consumer boycott of table grapes was launched. Student volunteers and farm workers literally rode the rails and hitch hiked to distant cities to ask the public not to buy grapes. Through a sacrifice rarely ex­ ceeded in the history of the American Labor Movement, workers from the lush vineyards fanned out across the entire world. Like a fist slowly closing, the grip on grower profits tightened, until, in the summer of 1970, Pay stub of an undocumented worker in table grape growers from Coachella to Chowchilla Fresno County. The worker will never see any Social Security. The labor contractor charlles trooped up to the bargaining table and made their peace $77.50 for bad food and unsanitary housIng and ded·ucts $20 for the cost of smuggling with the new farm workers union, now called United the worker into the U.S. The total smuggling fee is usually $250-$400. Farm Workers, AFL-CIO. Meanwhile, other skirmishes were fought and won: Over four thousand farm worker strikers were arrested Gallo, Almaden, Christian Brothers, Novitiate, Fran­ for refusing to obey unconstitutional injunctions. Hun­ zia, Perelli-Minetti" Schenley, and Italian Swiss Colony dreds were gassed and beaten. Two were killed. felt the sting of the strike and boycott, fought back, and finally signed contracts with the union. Thus, almost The Gallo Wine Company and the table grape growers 60,000 migrant farm workers covered by union con­ have all signed contracts with the Teamster without per­ tracts saw their labor respected, their wages raised from mitting their workers the simple dignity of casting a vote 90 cents to $2.50 per hour, their health protected by a for the union of their choice. Farm workers have been medical plan, and their lives lengthened by protections robbed of their union contracts and today are in slavery. against deadly organo-phosphate pesticides in the fields. They must pay dues to Frank Fitzsimmon's union For a while it seemed that the dreadful statistic quoted against their will, or be fired. by the U.S. Department of Labor, that farm workers enjoy a life expectancy of only 49 years, would be erased And so, Gallo, grape and lettuce strikers are boycotting and forgotten. Victorious and exhausted, farm worker again. organizers returned to their homes to begin to enjoy the fruits of the long struggle. But barely before the ink was They are fighting for their lives. dry on the grape contracts, signed in the summer of 1970, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters an­ Fight beside them. nounced a campaign to wipe out the momentum of the UFW by signing contracts with all the lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley. Outraged, UFW members in the let­ tuce fields carried out the largest and most effective agricultural strike in the history of the United States. In a matter of days, however, the picketing was prohibited by the growers' traditional friends, the medieval-minded, black-robed rural judges. Un­ daunted, the union pressed forward with a boycott of head lettuce, which continues to this day. Meanwhile, labor peace settled over the vineyards. Even the hated labor contractors, with their man-slaughtering buses, were driven from the fields and replaced by hiring halls. In 1972, just ten years after Cesar, Helen and family had moved to Delano, the number of migrant children graduating from high school had risen 700070. Farm workers were settling down, participating in local politics, and enjoying long-sought stability. Then, on April 16, 1973, these table grape contracts ex­ pired in Coachella Valley. The outlook was not good for renewal. In fact, labor leaders, churchmen, and jour­ nalists were appalled to hear of the incredible alliance announced by Teamster International President, Frank Fitzsimmons at the annual convention of the American Farm Bureau. But there it was, out in the open, a blatant conspiracy between these two giants to destroy the United Farm Workers. In the face of appeals for reason from the National Conference of Bishops, the wedding took place. The Teamsters and the Growers honeymooned, and gave birth to a scrap of paper they named a contract. Again, as in the lettuce dispute, the outraged farm workers struck with all their might. Again, the courts came to the defense of the agri-business Giants. And this time, in Kern County, the full force of the Sheriff's Department was thrown into the battle on the side of the Growers and Teamsters. VIVA LA CAUSA! Victory to the UFW, Cesar, and the dedicated workers, in the greatest cause of ourtime.