Stamp of Approval
The
current administration may not support workers’ rights,
but at least one government agency is giving respect to a
union hero. The U.S. Post Office has issued a stamp honoring
Cesar Chavez, the founder of the farm workers union and a
tireless fighter for worker and civil rights. Chavez founded
the National Farm Workers Association (which became the United
Farm Workers) in 1962 after years of witnessing first-hand
the exploitation of migrant farm workers in California. The
UAW was an early friend to Chavez and the NFWA, giving thousands
of dollars and tactical advice to the cause, particularly
during the five-year Delano Grape Strike that started in
1965. Then-UAW President Walter P. Reuther joined the farm
workers during demonstrations and organizing drives. Chavez
admired the nonviolent principles of Mahatma Ghandi and Martin
Luther King Jr. Of his cause for the farm workers, Chavez
said, “What is at stake is human dignity.”
Chavez received the UAW Social Justice Award in 1972.
