Cesar Chavez Day 2014: Labor Groups Honor Latino Icon

Labor groups staged rallies across the country and lawmakers on the state and federal level issued statements honoring the late Latino icon Cesar Chavez on Monday, March 31, to commemorate what would be Chavez’s 87th birthday. Marchers gathered in cities around Texas in his honor -- including Odessa and Fort Worth -- while an estimated 25,000 people turned out for a rally in San Antonio, according to local news networks. Texas is one of three states where Cesar Chavez Day is an official state holiday, along with Colorado and California.

Milton Rosado, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), said in a press release that Chavez, “a brother and leader in the labor movement, changed our nation's history by empowering Latinos and the country to challenge the injustices migrant farm workers faced in the fields and vineyards across California.” The LCLAA, one of the nation’s biggest Latino-labor-rights groups, represents over two million trade unionists in the US and Puerto Rico.

President Barack Obama also pronounced March 31 Cesar Chavez Day last year, calling upon “all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Cesar Chavez's enduring legacy.” Some groups have campaigned to have him declare it a national holiday -- like that celebrated in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. -- but as of yet, federal offices remain open across the country. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez issued a statement on Monday calling Chavez “one of the greatest Americans of the 20th century” and linking the labor icon’s legacy to progressive priorities. “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,” he wrote.

CBS notes that California Gov. Jerry Brown -- who as the state’s youngest governor in 1975 signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which granted farmworkers the right to union representation and collective-bargaining rights -- also issued a statement making reference to Chavez’s role in the passage of that legislation and paying tribute to his legacy. “As leader of the UFW, Chavez organized agricultural laborers to protest and demand improvements in their working and living conditions,” he wrote. “The UFW motto of 'Si se puede!' or 'Yes, we can!' continues to resound as a timeless rallying cry to workers for social justice.”