Mark Medina

Some of them worked with Cesar Chavez in the heyday of the United Farm Workers. And in the years and decades since then, since the Delano boycotts and other things, there's been a growing rift of what the next steps should be. And I think that for a lot of farm workers, because they don't organize under the general labor law that we have for most workers,

There is a sort of patchwork system for how farmworking organizing happens in the United States that's dependent upon different states and legislatures. And for the most part, with the exception of only two states, farmworkers don't have the same kind of protections that regular workers generally in the society have for union recognition, for collective bargaining.

There is a sort of patchwork system for how farmworking organizing happens in the United States that's dependent upon different states and legislatures. And for the most part, with the exception of only two states, farmworkers don't have the same kind of protections that regular workers generally in the society have for union recognition, for collective bargaining.

There is a sort of patchwork system for how farmworking organizing happens in the United States that's dependent upon different states and legislatures. And for the most part, with the exception of only two states, farmworkers don't have the same kind of protections that regular workers generally in the society have for union recognition, for collective bargaining.

Only Washington and New York at the moment, I believe, have laws that allow for elections for farmworker unions. And there's a very particular reason for that being the case. Farmworkers were excluded from the Wagner Act for having general labor rights. in the 1930s because precisely it was seen as immigrant labor.

Only Washington and New York at the moment, I believe, have laws that allow for elections for farmworker unions. And there's a very particular reason for that being the case. Farmworkers were excluded from the Wagner Act for having general labor rights. in the 1930s because precisely it was seen as immigrant labor.

Only Washington and New York at the moment, I believe, have laws that allow for elections for farmworker unions. And there's a very particular reason for that being the case. Farmworkers were excluded from the Wagner Act for having general labor rights. in the 1930s because precisely it was seen as immigrant labor.

And immigrants were not seen as meriting the same rights as white Americans in the same way that domestic workers were removed because that was seen at the time as black labor. So it has its roots in racism.

And immigrants were not seen as meriting the same rights as white Americans in the same way that domestic workers were removed because that was seen at the time as black labor. So it has its roots in racism.

And immigrants were not seen as meriting the same rights as white Americans in the same way that domestic workers were removed because that was seen at the time as black labor. So it has its roots in racism.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. No, absolutely. And I'm sure your audience is well aware of a lot of these subject matter. It is a bleak history. And it wasn't until groups like the United Farm Workers in the 60s and the 70s that they began to create the possibility for something new for the Hispanic community.

Yeah. No, absolutely. And I'm sure your audience is well aware of a lot of these subject matter. It is a bleak history. And it wasn't until groups like the United Farm Workers in the 60s and the 70s that they began to create the possibility for something new for the Hispanic community.

Yeah. No, absolutely. And I'm sure your audience is well aware of a lot of these subject matter. It is a bleak history. And it wasn't until groups like the United Farm Workers in the 60s and the 70s that they began to create the possibility for something new for the Hispanic community.

It was United Farm Workers that built not just a lot of solidarity with other immigrant groups in the California area, but they also built a sense of pride and identity and belonging for a lot of communities. I grew up in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles. Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers murals are everywhere.

It was United Farm Workers that built not just a lot of solidarity with other immigrant groups in the California area, but they also built a sense of pride and identity and belonging for a lot of communities. I grew up in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles. Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers murals are everywhere.

It was United Farm Workers that built not just a lot of solidarity with other immigrant groups in the California area, but they also built a sense of pride and identity and belonging for a lot of communities. I grew up in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles. Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers murals are everywhere.

You know, me and my friends would often joke that Cesar Chavez is like the patron saint of East Los Angeles, even though it's nowhere near Delano. And there's a reason for that. I think that a lot of us looked up to the United Farm Workers. We looked up to the farm worker union movement and we saw in them our heroes, our modern day heroes. We saw them. We saw people who said, be proud to be brown.