Background and Context
The Texas Farm Workers Union existed for only a handful of years, but nevertheless their legacy of struggle is still remembered by farm workers and their supporters throughout the Lone Star State. The Union fought for wage increases, safer and more sanitary working conditions, and the right to bargain with their bosses collectively.
From its inception, the Union faced huge challenges. The Texas State Government has historically been strongly anti-union, and agricultural laborers are uniquely disadvantaged by most workers' rights legislation. Local farm owners and law enforcement were also often hostile to striking workers, making life as an organized farm worker even more difficult. This situation had led many outside labor organizers, such as Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers, to conclude that unionization was simply impossible in Texas at that time.
In spite of this array of obstacles, Texan farm workers refused to postpone any longer and in 1975 the Texas Farm Workers Union was born. Their struggle in the face of insurmountable odds has obvious implications for us as modern observers: What causes today are worth fighting for, and how can we best support them? Is there such as thing as a lost cause, and if so, is it worth it to resist the inevitable?
Below, you can find a Union promotional flyer, and further, a Daily Texan article on Union strikes in the Rio Grande Valley.
Below, you can find an article from the Daily Texan, the University of Texas student newspaper, that reports on the tense interactions between striking farm workers and local law enforcement. The article also includes valuable quotes and background information.
