May Day

Today is Labour Day in Singapore; a day for all workers including myself to rest. Some of my friends were wondering the role of unions and I remembered a story about César Estrada Chávez (March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) with Dolores Huerta in 1962. This later became the United Farm Workers (UFW).

Cesar Chavez is best known for his efforts to gain better working conditions for the thousands of workers who laboured on farms for low wages and under severe conditions. Chavez and his UFW union battled California grape growers by holding nonviolent protests. Chavez got the idea for nonviolent actions from Martin Luther King Jr., who was a leader in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans. Inspired by Gandhi of India, Chavez also went on hunger strikes, protesting by refusing to eat for long periods of time. In 1968 he fasted for 25 days in support of the UFW commitment to non-violence. Because of Chavez's peaceful tactics and public support for the union, he and the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee were able to negotiate contracts for higher wages and better treatment of agricultural workers with California grape producers.

Cesar is also known for the inspirational slogan, Sí, se puede (Spanish for "Yes, we can"). The phrase was coined when he was fasting for 25 days in Phoenix, Arizona in 1972. Since then it has become a rallying cry for both farm workers and millions of Latino activists.