(1927–93). The labor leader Cesar Chavez improved the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers in the United States by organizing them into a successful union. The organization he founded, the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), allowed workers to join together to improve their wages and working conditions. After his death Chavez was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Early life and career

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Chavez family lost its property and moved to California. There they became migrant farmworkers, traveling from farm to farm looking for work. Cesar attended more than 30 different schools before dropping out at age 15 to work full-time in the fields.

After serving two years in the United States Navy during World War II (1939–45), Chavez returned to California and married Helen Fabela. The couple eventually had eight children. In 1952 Chavez joined a social-service group called the Community Service Organization (CSO). First as a volunteer and then as a paid organizer, Chavez worked in California cities to register Hispanic voters and help them with other problems.

United Farm Workers

Chavez left the CSO in 1962 and, with the help of Dolores Huerta, founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The founders patiently built the union, member by member. Chavez traveled to many parts of California to talk to migrant workers. He led marches to call attention to their problems.

In the mid-1960s Chavez became known all over the country after launching what became a five-year strike by California grape pickers. Strikers refused to work until their pay and working conditions were improved. The growers sometimes used violent measures to stop the strikes, but Chavez insisted that the union remain nonviolent. He led a nationwide boycott of California grapes. Chavez remained in the public eye by holding a hunger strike and by allowing himself to be arrested to dramatize the struggles of farmworkers. By 1970 most grape growers had signed contracts that improved wages and benefits for their workers. Battles with other growers and agricultural businesses generally also ended with agreements between the union and the employers.

The NFWA joined with another union in 1966, and the combined organization became known as the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1971. Chavez served as president of the UFW from its beginning until his death. He died in San Luis, Arizona, on April 23, 1993.