Cesar Chavez Day: celebrating farmworkers
Cesar Chavez Day on March 31 celebrates the legacy of one of the most influential activists in American history. Chavez spend his career empowering his fellow farmworkers, a group that is still struggling for improved working conditions and living wages.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler, left, and Paul Chavez, son of Cesar Chavez, lead the 14th Annual Cesar E. Chavez "Si Se Puede!" March on Cesar Chavez Street in Austin, Texas, on Saturday March 28, 2015. Hundreds marched in the mile-long route to City Hall for a rally.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/AP/File
聽(March 24-31) concludes on Cesar Chavez Day, which commemorates the legacy of one of the most influential activists聽in American history.聽In the United States, more than 2 million men and women work on farms,聽providing聽the fruit, vegetables, and other crops that feed聽consumers around the world. Unfortunately, those same consumers聽often overlook聽farmworkers and their contributions.聽
罢丑别听聽ranked the agriculture industry as one of the most hazardous workplaces in the U.S. While in the fields, experts say, farmworkers are at risk for both fatal and nonfatal injuries, lung and skin diseases, and certain cancers associated with chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. In 2011, the聽聽reported at least聽one farmworker death per day, as well as hundreds of injuries due to work-related accidents鈥攁n injury rate 20 percent higher than that of the private industry.
Farmworkers are typically socioeconomically vulnerable immigrants with聽. They receive low wages鈥攊n 2012, the聽聽reported that agricultural workers earn an average annual income of US$18,910鈥攁nd聽聽of the farmworker population live聽below the national poverty line. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, almost half of farmworkers lack work authorization, which, in addition to deficient聽resources, has created a population with little power to speak for themselves.聽
As a Mexican-American migrant worker, Cesar Chavez spent his career empowering聽his fellow farmworkers. Chavez聽founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962聽(now the聽),聽and organized protests, marches, and boycotts to demand improvements in the treatment and economic status of farmworkers. In聽聽to the Commonwealth Club of California, Chavez declared his vision to 鈥渙verthrow a farm labor system in this nation which treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings.鈥�
Despite Chavez's impact, the struggle for improved farm working conditions continues, and has been the subject of recent revelatory films. The 2014 documentary聽聽offers an inside look at the hurdles facing a group of Florida farmworkers as they take on the US$4 trillion global supermarket industry. The short film聽聽reveals聽the tragic聽consequences of toxic pesticide use on those working in fields.
Organizations like聽,听迟丑别听, the聽, and the聽聽work to further Chavez's vision. Not only do these groups combat聽issues facing farmworkers, but they provide聽ways聽for consumers to聽take action and聽encourage fair treatment of those whose toil聽brings food from the field to the kitchen.