Mayor, City Council permanently establish Farmworkers Day

PHOENIX—Mayor Kate Gallego and the City Council voted today to permanently adopt Farmworkers Day as the name of the city holiday that once honored late labor leader César Chávez.

The unanimous decision comes after allegations of sexual abuse of young girls and women surfaced earlier this year against Chávez. Dolores Huerta, an organizer and activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Chávez in 1962, has publicly stated that she was one of his victims.

Mayor Gallego wants to ensure that the City of Phoenix continues to honor the farm workers’ movement and their struggle for dignity, fair wages, safe working conditions, and basic rights.

“While César Chávez was a well-known leader in the fight for labor rights, the movement belonged to so many other individuals who were leaders in their own right,” Mayor Gallego said. “We will recognize and honor their collective struggles, sacrifices, and successes on Farmworkers Day.”

The City Council earlier this year unanimously approved a temporary name change of the holiday to Farmworkers Day, and in a Sept. 2 memo to Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher, Mayor Gallego and councilwomen Laura Pastor and Betty Guardado, requested the change become permanent.

“This day belongs to the workers. It belongs to their families. It belongs to everyone who has stood together and said that hard work deserves dignity, respect, and a fair shot,” Councilwoman Betty Guardado said.

Councilwoman Laura Pastor added: “The fight for workers’ rights has always been deeply personal to me. The farmworker movement was built by generations of people who stood together for dignity and fair treatment. Permanently recognizing Farmworkers Day allows us to honor that legacy and center the workers whose courage and sacrifice made progress possible.”

Citing in their memo the important milestone when the National Farm Workers Association reached a historic agreement with a major agricultural grower on April 6, 1966, the elected officials wrote:

“That victory belonged not to any one person, but to the workers whose courage, organizing, and collective action made progress possible. We believe that Phoenix should permanently honor that legacy.”

The City of Phoenix is also taking action to rename streets, municipal buildings, and parks that bear the Chávez name. Read more: Phoenix Begins Implementation of Council Direction on César Chávez Renaming Actions