State Offices Close in Observation of Cesar Chavez Day

LOS ANGELES, CA - State offices, including the Department of Motor Vehicles and Superior Courts, will be closed Thursday to observe César Chávez Day.

Federal offices and services, including the U.S. Postal Service, will be open.

Then-Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation in 2000 creating the state holiday honoring the late labor leader credited with improving work and quality- of-life conditions for immigrant farm workers in Central California.

Chávez, an advocate of nonviolence, is remembered for spearheading a grape boycott in 1965 that went nationwide in 1968 and lasted until 1978, resulting in higher wages for farm workers and focusing national attention on their plight.

"César Chávez recognized a quiet dignity in California's farm workers who toiled for long hours, little pay, and in harsh conditions -- all for the promise of a brighter future," Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D- Los Angeles, told City News Service.

"César Chávez gave them a voice, drew strength from their courage, and galvanized a movement that changed our nation. César Chávez Day reminds us that our union is made more perfect by those who continue the fight to make the phrase 'And justice for all' a reality."

Born March 31, 1927, in Yuma, Ariz., Chávez dropped out of school after the seventh grade to help support his family by joining them in the fields as a migrant farm worker, witnessing the many adversities migrant workers faced daily.

Chávez joined the Latino civil rights Community Service Organization in 1952, urging Latinos to register to vote.

In 1962, Chávez joined Dolores Huerta in co-founding the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers.

Chávez and the UFW played an instrumental role in the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, which made California the first state to give farm workers the right to seek union representation and bargain collectively within an established legal framework.

"Californians of every generation and background continue to be inspired by the leadership of César Chávez," Gov. Jerry Brown wrote in his proclamation declaring Thursday to be César Chávez Day.

"On this anniversary of his birth, I ask all Californians to join me in continuing to build on his dream of a world where all workers are treated with dignity and respect."

Brown signed the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act into law in 1975.

Chávez died in 1993 at age 66.

In 2011, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 of each year as César Chávez Day nationally, although it is not a federal holiday.

In this year's proclamation, Obama wrote that "César Chávez demonstrated that true courage is revealed when the outlook is darkest, the resistance is strongest, and we still find it within ourselves to stand up for what we believe in.

"In the face of extraordinary adversity and opposition, he stood up for the inherent dignity of every person, no matter their race, color, creed, or sexual orientation, and for the idea that when workers are treated fairly, we give meaning to our founding ideals.

"Guided by his faith in his convictions, he fasted, marched, and rallied millions to 'La Causa' to expand opportunity and demand a voice for workers everywhere."

--City News Service, photo via Wiki Commos