PRINTER'S NO. 1527
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
253
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY HAYWOOD, FONTANA, SANTARSIERO, CAPPELLETTI,
STREET, KANE, KEARNEY AND COSTA, MARCH 30, 2022
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, MARCH 30, 2022
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing March 31, 2022, as "Cesar Chavez Day" in
Pennsylvania to honor an American labor leader who advanced
the rights of farm workers and advocated for labor reform in
this Commonwealth and across this nation.
WHEREAS, Cesar Chavez was a member of the Community Service
Organization that advocated for and worked on registering farm
laborers to vote in California; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, Mr. Chavez founded the National Farm
Workers Association to increase workers' rights throughout
California by securing employment and increasing wages; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez was one of the earliest labor leaders
that exclusively used nonviolent methods like peaceful protests
to achieve reforms; and
WHEREAS, From 1965 through 1970, Mr. Chavez led a successful
nationwide boycott against grapes grown using nonunion labor,
resulting in a new collective bargaining agreement for more than
10,000 farm workers across California, increasing their wages,
implementing new safety measures and offering a health insurance
plan; and
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WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez allied with many political leaders, such
as California Governor Jerry Brown and President John F.
Kennedy, to advance the rights of laborers; and
WHEREAS, This culminated in the passage of the California
Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 that established a
labor review board allowing investigations into unfair labor
practices for farm workers in California; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Chavez extended his advocacy outside of
California when he protested an Arizona law that would prevent
farm workers from organizing, boycotting or entering into
collective bargaining agreements; and
WHEREAS, In 1972, Mr. Chavez gave a speech to 2,000 coal mine
workers in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, on the 75th anniversary of
the Lattimer Strike, in which 19 coal miners were killed; and
WHEREAS, In that speech, Mr. Chavez stated that workers all
throughout the United States faced similar struggles in their
attempts to unionize, stating that "the lives of those miners,
they too are immigrants, they too have strange sounding names,
they too speak a foreign language, they too [were] trying to
build a union"; and
WHEREAS, In recognition of his work in fighting for the
rights of farm workers and his use of peaceful protest tactics,
Mr. Chavez was awarded a posthumous Presidential Medal of
Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1994; and
WHEREAS, In 2014, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31
of every year to be "Cesar Chavez Day" to honor Mr. Chavez's
life and legacy; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize March 31, 2022, as "Cesar
Chavez Day" in Pennsylvania to honor an American labor leader
who advanced the rights of farm workers and advocated for labor
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reform in this Commonwealth and across this nation.
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