Celebrating Farmworkers Day

“The farmworkers movement was built by thousands—tens of thousands—of workers. People like my grandfather. People who labored in the fields. People who organized, who sacrificed, who stood up when it was hard… It is defined by a movement—a movement for dignity, a movement for justice, a movement that still lives on today.” CA Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas

Today is Farmworkers Day in California, a day to honor the thousands of laborers who organize and sacrifice for fair wages and fundamental human dignity. This movement was built on the belief that collective action can overcome systemic exploitation, and these early efforts challenged decades of legal exclusion to prove that those who harvest our food deserve the same respect and protections as any other workforce.

At the SLC, we recognize that this struggle remains a contemporary crisis as farmworkers from the UFW and beyond continue to organize for their basic rights. 

• Farmworker Movement, CSU Northridge Library

• The history of the farmworkers' movement, beyond Chavez, KPBS

• News, United Farmworkers Foundation