After 60 Years, Time to Honor Fresno Birthplace of National Farmworkers Union

It has been 60 years since the formation of the most successful farmworker union in U.S. history. On September 30, 1962 Cesar Chavez, Gilbert Padilla, and Dolores Huerta gathered about 250 farmworkers in Fresno for the inaugural convention of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), now the United Farm Workers.

It was a daunting struggle to organize laborers who lived in small isolated rural communities, most spoke only Spanish, many were migrant workers, and some lived in labor camps. But the deliberate and thoughtful manner by which the convention was conducted formed the genesis of the Union’s success.

Chavez opened the meeting with an explanation of the use of Robert’s Rules of Order. This led a puzzled worker to ask who this guy Roberto was. Motions were made for dues to be set at $3.50 a month with a group insurance plan to be included and a credit union established. Confident the union would eventually secure contracts, motions were made to create hiring halls and seek to win legislation that would cover farmworkers with unemployment insurance. Most of these benefits were codified four years later with Schenley Incorporated, the first ever labor contract directed by farmworkers.

The three leaders had long established farmworkers would be the face of the union. At the convention, the elected president was a farmworker, as were most of the officers. Later, farmworkers would lead testimony at Senate subcommittee and legislative hearings to demand unemployment insurance, collective bargaining rights, and improved working conditions. With legions of volunteers, the farmworkers would lead strikes, pickets, marches, and boycotts to advance their cause, La Causa, in a clarion call for social change.

In early strikes, the nascent union demonstrated its commitment to farmworkers beyond member services and improved wages. It became a nationwide social movement that unlocked the tenacity and unyielding voice of this disenfranchised population. In a personal letter inviting workers to the convention, Chavez proposed the farmworkers’ burden and his vision. It clearly referenced the determination to spawn a movement:


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