03.31.11 - 1:00 PM

What Would Cesar Do?

by Abby Zimet

Talk about bittersweet. Today is Cesar Chavez' birthday, and a holiday in his honor in eight states. What would the iconic labor organizer make of attacks on workers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine et al? Probably much the same as back in the day: A nice look at his visit to New York to support the lettuce boycott, when workers making $3,000 a year tops were broken at 30 and Chavez, making $5 a week, would not give up.

"There are no short cuts, no easy way to organize. To get the first 12 members into our union I took five months - I talked to each one as if he was the only farmworker in the world. Everything good requires time and hard work."