BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 114
Author: Campos (D) and Alejo (D), et al.
Amended: 4/30/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Read and adopted, 3/28/14
SUBJECT : César Chávez
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution calls upon all Californians to
observe César Chávez's birthday, March 31, as a day of public
service, to recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that
farmworkers go through to feed all the families in our state,
and to learn from César Chávez's life and his mission of
nonviolence, social justice, and selfless service to others.
Senate Floor Amendments of 4/30/14 clarify that César Chávez was
born in Yuma, Arizona.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1.César Chávez is one of the most significant civil rights
leaders in the history of our nation and experienced the
hardships and injustices of farmworker life firsthand. He was
born on March 31, 1927, in Arizona, where the family joined
some 30,000 farmworkers who followed the crops throughout
California and lived in tents and makeshift housing that often
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lacked a bathroom, electricity, or running water.
2.César Chávez and Fred Ross, an organizer for the Community
Service Organization (CSO), established CSO chapters across
California and Arizona during the 1950s, helping Latinos
register to vote, pushing for basic public services and
infrastructure in the barrios, peacefully battling police
brutality and racial discrimination, and creating the most
effective Latino civil rights group of its era.
3.In 1962, after failing to convince the CSO to let him organize
farmworkers, César Chávez moved his wife and eight children to
Delano, California. There, César Chávez, his family, and
close friends began building the National Farm Workers
Association, which later became the United Farm Workers of
America.
4.In 1965, in a partnership with a union of Filipino American
farmworkers, César Chávez organized a major strike against
grape growers in California. Later efforts, including a
25-day fast by César Chávez, resulted in the enactment of
California's historic Agricultural Labor Relations Act of
1975, the first and still the only law in the nation to
"encourage and protect" the right of farmworkers to organize
and bargain with their employers.
5.César Chávez successfully increased public awareness of
farmworker working conditions. The fruits and vegetables that
we enjoy in our daily lives are produced by farmworkers who
often endure long hours of backbreaking work and still face
challenges such as inadequate enforcement of pesticide,
safety, and labor protection laws in the fields.
6.In 2000, the Legislature passed and Governor Gray Davis signed
into law
SB 984 (Polanco, Chapter 213), to create the first annual state
holiday in the country on César Chávez's birthday, March 31,
in recognition of César Chávez as the most important Latino
leader in the U.S. during the 20th century.
This resolution calls upon all Californians to observe César
Chávez's birthday, March 31, as a day of public service and to
recognize the hard work and self-sacrifice that farmworkers go
through to feed all the families in our state and to learn from
ACR 114
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3
César Chávez's life and his mission of nonviolence, social
justice, and selfless service to others.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
JL:e 4/30/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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