The people that pick your vegetables and harvest your fruit deserve to vote to unionize without being intimidated — and they want the governor of California to know it. This month, members of the United Farm Workers walked for 24 days, and their grueling 355 mile march in 100 degree weather was documented on TikTok and Instagram.
Their destination was the state Capitol building in Sacramento, where they are now protesting to convince California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would give them the right to vote to unionize via mail-in ballot. Bill AB 2183 has passed in the state legislature as of Aug. 29 and is awaiting a signature from Newsom. United Farm Workers says the bill would eliminate employer coercion and intimidation and allow farmworkers to organize to secure better working conditions.
Newsom had refused to sign a version of the bill in September 2021, citing “various inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection and review of ballot cards.”
Perhaps his opposition to this particular bill has something to do with the $14.5 million winery he just bought.
Farmworkers have always been an especially vulnerable group, given the uncertainty of many of their immigration statuses. According to KQED, there are almost half a million undocumented farmworkers in California alone. Their work involves intense physical labor, without protection from pesticides, heat, or dust. Some of it requires that they bend down for much of the day, leading to significant health problems. This is often the only work undocumented workers can find, and their pay is usually dependent on how much produce they can harvest a day.
After Newsom refused meetings with elected worker leaders to discuss the bill on Cesar Chavez Day (Mar 31), United Farm Workers announced the march. Its 355 miles trace the route Cesar Chavez walked in 1966 when he brought demands for worker’s rights and protections to Sacramento. Chavez founded United Farm Workers in 1962.
This year’s march began in Delano, California on Aug. 3 and concluded at the Capitol 24 days later, on Aug. 26. Along the way, many displays of support have been captured on social media by Flor Martinez, an activist and founder of farmworker-focused nonprofit Celebration Nation. Here are some of the most touching interactions:
UPS workers
Construction workers
Andres Chavez (grandson of Cesar Chavez) and Martin Luther King III
This sweet man, passing out hand-cut oranges
Families in the towns they walked through
Firefighters
Students from the UC Davis School of Medicine
Schoolchildren
And many, many more
You can support United Farm Workers by learning more about their work or donating to them at ufw.org.
