UFW, DOL, White House Mark Cesar Chavez Day
Chavez, born March 31, 1927, and Dolores Huerta founded the union now named the United Farm Workers in 1962.
The United Farm Workers union held red carpet screenings of the new movie "Cesar Chavez" and tied in fundraising receptions with them in seven California cities and Washington, D.C., March 28-30. An outdoor screening of the movie took place March 25 in Delano, Calif., with more than 1,000 farmworkers; actress America Ferrera; director Diego Luna; Paul Chavez, Chavez's son and president of the Cesar Chavez Foundation; and UFW President Arturo S. Rodriguez in attendance.
Chavez, who was born March 31, 1927, and Dolores Huerta founded the union (its original name was the National Farm Workers Association) in 1962. The California screenings/receptions took place in San Diego, Oxnard, Sacramento, Bakersfield, West Los Angeles, Salinas, and Fresno. UFW is based in Keene, Calif.
President Obama issued a proclamation declaring March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day, and U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez issued a statement marking the day: "Today, we celebrate one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century. César Chávez's passion for social justice and his devotion to improving the lives of working people remain an inspiration 87 years after his birth. A heroic and iconic labor leader, a gifted practitioner of the politics of protest and boycott, a man of towering strength and indescribable courage, one of our history's leading humanitarians and civil rights giants, César Chávez stirs a new generation of activists fighting for change today. As we move closer to fixing our broken immigration system, as we rise to the challenge of income inequality, as we protect the right to join a union, as we work to create opportunity for all, we draw strength from his vision and moral example. On César Chávez Day — and every day — we must continue to remind ourselves: ¡Sí Se Puede!"