The origins of this celebration date back to President Lyndon Johnson, who first established Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968.  In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to cover a 30-day period from September 15 to October 15.  Hispanic Heritage Month was enacted into law in 1988, and the start date of September 15 was chosen for the celebration because it marks the anniversary of independence for a number of Latin American countries.

Observing Hispanic Heritage Month allows us to recognize and support the work Hispanic Americans are doing in helping this country and our union grow. Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the UFCW will pay tribute to the culture and history of Hispanic Americans and their positive impact on the labor movement and promote voter turnout leading up to the midterm elections. If you have members who would like to share their stories about what this month means to them, please reach out to Julie Anderson at janderson@ufcw.org.

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The conference was held from March 31 – April 3, 2022 and  featured several plenaries and workshops on organizing, leadership development, and social justice advocacy as well as other timely topics. In order to promote language equity, 18 Spanish speaking UFCW organizers were recruited to facilitate multiple workshops in Spanish.

During the opening plenary, UFCW United Latinos President Rigoberto Valdez, Jr. said he hoped attendees came away from the conference “empowered to tackle the work ahead with an understanding of the crucial need to organize immigrant, refugee, and Latinx workers.”

UFCW President Marc Perrone spoke as well, saying: 

“For decades, the United Latinos have spoken out and stood up. And while the difference any one of us can make may at times be difficult to measure, you must never forget the lasting and positive impact you have had on the lives of so many workers, Hispanic and non-Hispanic, especially over these difficult last two years.”

He additionally pledged funding for UFCW New American Citizenship Fund to encourage more member applications. The fund helps to cover the costs associated with applying for citizenship for UFCW members who have recently become U.S. citizens.and who have shown a commitment to elevate workers’ voices in their unions and communities.

To learn more about the New American Citizenship Fund, please click here.

UFCW United Latinos also welcomed three newly elected board members: Anuhar Udave (UFCW Local 2), Jessica García (RWDSU), and Simplice Kuelo (UFCW Local 431).

Swearing-in of New Board Members

2022 Honorees

During its awards ceremony, UFCW United Latinos recognized local unions and trailblazers across labor and the community who have contributed to the advancement of Latinx working families. 

United Latinos of the UFCW Champion Award 
Kim Cordova, Local 7 President
Dora Cervantes, IAM, Secretary Treasurer

The Joe Barragan Award
Esther Lopez
Oscar Saenz

The Building Community and Union, Building America Award
NOVO Legal

The Building Union and Community Award
UFCW 1518
TUAC 500

The John Rene Rodriguez Award – Líderes del Futuro
Clara Mejía Orta

2022 UFCW United Latinos Conference Photos

Click here to see more photos of the 2022 UFCW United Latinos Educational Conference.

Do you want to learn how to get involved in issues affecting working Latinxs in the labor movement?

The United Latinos of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is an organization of UFCW union leaders, members, and allies promoting issues critical to Latinx workers. The United Latinos has developed many initiatives to support organizing efforts and strengthening the relationship between UFCW and the different segments of the U.S. Latino, immigrant, and refugee community.

To learn more, visit the UFCW United Latinos website.

In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson instituted Hispanic Heritage Week in recognition of the growing Latino population. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to cover a 30-day period from September 15 to October 15.  Hispanic Heritage Month was enacted into law in 1988, and the start date of September 15 was chosen as it marks the anniversary of independence for a number of Latin American countries.

UFCW is grateful for all the Latinx unionists who have been integral in advancing and defending workers’ rights throughout the years.

As UFCW celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, let’s look back and learn from some Hispanic and Latinx labor leaders who were not only trailblazers but left a lasting impact on the labor movement:

César Chávez

Chávez’s passion for social justice led him to become a community organizer, registering Latinos to vote so they could fight for their civil rights, but he understood that farmworkers could only win dignity and respect by banding together to form a union in the fields. Even some of Chávez’s allies doubted that Spanish-speaking migrant workers could ever organize successfully, but he led the creation of the organization that would become the United Farm Workers (UFW) in 1962.

The organization struggled at first, but in 1965 Filipino workers on grape farms launched a strike demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage (from which they were excluded) and approached Chávez for support. Chávez inspired Latino workers in the grape industry to stand in solidarity with the strike, which spread rapidly through the California fields. During the strike, Chávez pioneered unprecedented strategies that have become invaluable to all of us in the labor movement. He led workers in long marches that crossed the state of California to raise awareness of the strike, sent workers and students to cities to lead consumer boycotts of table grapes, and even put his body on the line in a series of hunger strikes. After a grueling five year campaign, the UFW won the strike and secured living wages and a union voice in the grape fields.

After the triumph in the grape fields, the UFW grew dramatically until it represented more than 50,000 farmworkers, and farmworkers’ right to join together and bargain with their employers was enshrined in California law. Chávez continued to lead the UFW and fight for the rights of workers, immigrants, and Latinos until his untimely death in 1993.

Dolores Huerta

Before becoming a labor organizer, Dolores Huerta was a grammar school teacher, but soon quit after becoming distraught at the sight of children coming to school hungry or without proper clothing. 

In 1955, Huerta launched her career in labor organizing by helping Fred Ross train organizers in Stockton, California, and five years later, founded the Agricultural Workers Association before organizing the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in 1962. Some of her early victories included lobbying for voting rights for Mexican Americans as well as for the right of every American to take the written driver’s test in their native language. A champion of labor rights, women’s rights, racial equality and other civil rights causes, Huerta remains an unrelenting figure in the farm workers’ movement.

Luisa Moreno

Luisa Moreno, a Guatemalan immigrant, first got involved in labor activism in 1930 at in Zelgreen’s Cafeteria in New York City, when she and her co-worker protested the employer’s exploitation of its workers with long hours, constant sexual harassment, and the threat, should anyone object, of dismissal. Hearing that workers would picket the cafeteria, police formed a line on the sidewalk that allowed customers to pass through. Luisa, in a fur collar coat, strolled through the cordon of policemen as if she was going to enter the cafeteria. When she was directly in front of the door she pulled a picket sign from under her coat and thrust it in plain view, yelling, “Strike!” Two burly policemen grabbed her by the elbows. They lifted her off the sidewalk and hustled her into the entrance way of a nearby building. She came out with her face bleeding and considered herself fortunate that she was not disfigured. 

Moreno spent the next 20 years organizing workers across the country. Her story serves as a reminder of just how dangerous the conditions were in those days to simply make one’s voice heard, but her bravery helped change those conditions for the better.

Jessie De La Cruz

A field worker since the age of five, Jessie knew poverty, harsh working conditions, and the exploitation of Mexicans and all poor people. Her response was to take a stand. She joined the United Farm Workers union in 1965 and, at Cesar Chavez’s request, became its first woman recruiter. 

She also participated in strikes, helped ban the crippling short-handle hoe, became a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, testified before the Senate, and met with the Pope. She continued to be a political activist until her death in 2013, at the age of 93.

Carmelita Torres

On Jan. 28, 1917, 17-year-old Carmelita Torres led the Bath Riots at the Juarez/El Paso border, refusing the toxic “bath” imposed on all workers crossing the border. Here is what the El Paso Times reported the next day: “When refused permission to enter El Paso without complying with the regulations the women collected in an angry crowd at the center of the bridge. By 8 o’clock the throng, consisting in large part of servant girls employed in El Paso, had grown until it packed the bridge half way across. “Led by Carmelita Torres, an auburn-haired young woman of 17, they kept up a continuous volley of language aimed at the immigration and health officers, civilians, sentries and any other visible American.”

Linda Chavez-Thompson

Mexican-American Linda Chavez-Thompson is a powerhouse in the labor movement, who served as the first Latina Vice President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) from 1995 until 2007. Until she retired, she worked in numerous organizations as a labor leader. Her work helped improve the quality of labor unions, and she set the bar high, as she was once the highest ranking women in the labor movement.

Baldemar Velasquez

At the age of 12, Baldemar led his first strike, helping migrant workers at his summer job win better wages. After high school, he attended several colleges, graduating from Bluffton College in 1969 with a degree in sociology. He continued working while in college, and in 1967, Velásquez founded the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) with his father. The initial idea behind the committee was to organize farm workers to seek improvements in pay, housing and education for pickers. Soon, Velásquez and FLOC were organizing strikes and other actions to convince growers to raise wages and improve working conditions. FLOC had significant success until the American Farm Bureau Federation convinced some growers to withdraw from the market and others to refuse to honor contracts.

In the 1970s, FLOC shifted its attention toward national and international companies, with Velásquez saying that the previous focus on local growers was a mistake and that real change would come from confronting farm-related corporations instead. The new strategy led to victories, including the 1978 strike against the Campbell Soup Co., which was the largest agricultural labor action in the history of the Midwest and which led to the first three-way contract with industry, grower associations and workers. That success led to expanded actions in the South, most notably with successful campaigns for workers at the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. in the 1990s and at R.J. Reynolds tobacco in the 2000s. 

Ernesto Galarza

When he was young, Ernesto assisted his family during harvest season, gathering his first experience as a farmworker. Because he had learned English in school, other Mexican migrant workers asked him to speak to management about polluted drinking water, providing him with his first experience in organizing and activism.

Because of his experiences and education, he began to focus his efforts on improving the living conditions of working-class Latinos. This led to him being hired by the Pan American Union (later the Organization of American States) as a research associate. When the union created a Division of Labor and Social Information, Galarza was chosen to lead it. 

In the late 1940s, he was recruited by the National Farm Labor Union, which later became the United Farm Workers, to be director of research and education. Over the next several years, he helped direct numerous strikes and fought back against “right to work” laws. He became a leading figure in exposing abuse of Mexican American workers in government. 

Galarza became a leading writer on the plight of Mexican and Mexican American workers and the abuse of farmworkers. During his career, he wrote more than 100 publications and was a professor at the University of Notre Dame, San Jose State University, University of California, San Diego, and University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Emma Tenayuca

Emma Tenayuca was born in San Antonio, Texas on Dec. 21, 1916. Later, she would become known as “La Pasionaria de Texas” through her work as an educator, speaker, and labor organizer. 

From 1934–1948, she supported almost every strike in the city, writing leaflets, visiting homes of strikers, and joining them on picket lines. She joined the Communist Party and the Workers Alliance (WA) in 1936. Tenayuca and WA demanded that Mexican workers could strike without fear of deportation or a minimum wage law. In 1938 she was unanimously elected strike leader of 12,000 pecan shellers. Due to anti-Mexican, anti-Communist, and anti-union hysteria Tenayuca fled San Antonio for her safety but later returned as a teacher.

Eliseo Medina

Prior to his retirement from labor, Eliseo served as SEIU’s International Secretary-Treasurer after holding various positions since 1986. 

Eliseo’s career as a labor activist began in 1965 when, as a 19-year-old grape-picker, he participated in the historic United Farm Workers’ strike in Delano. Over the next 13 years, he worked alongside labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, and eventually served as the United Farm Workers’ National Vice President.

Eliseo led the effort to unite the unions of the Change to Win federation and AFL-CIO around a comprehensive framework for immigration reform. Eliseo also helped strengthen ties between the Roman Catholic Church and the labor movement to work on common concerns, such as immigrant worker rights and access to health care.

Esther López

Esther Lopez labor activism started when she was in high school using her bilingual skills to register Latino voters and get them to the polls.

In November 2006, López joined the UFCW as director of the Civil Rights and Community Action Department. She served on the front lines of battles against voter suppression, ending exploitation of refugees, expanding opportunities for women and pursuing LGBTQ equality, including overseeing the launch of UFCW’s LGBTQ constituency group, OUTreach. 

She created the UFCW’s Union Citizenship Action Network (UCAN), which focuses on helping union members get on the path to citizenship. 

From 2016 to 2019, López served as UFCW International Secretary-Treasurer –becoming the first Latina to serve in that role in the union’s history.

Prior to her time at UFCW, Lopez played an active role in improving labor conditions within the state of Illinois, when she served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Labor, as well as in the governor’s cabinet as Director of the Illinois Department of Labor. She is recognized as a national leader on immigration reform and civil, human and labor rights.

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If you are a UFCW member and want to get involved in Hispanic/Latinx activism in the union, you can reach out to ufcwunitedlatinos.org or like their Facebook page for updates. 

Sources:

AFL-CIO
National Park Service
Zinn Education Project
Mi Familia Vota

To commemorate today’s benchmark, Latina Equal Pay Day, we talked to UFCW Local 1245 staff member Nereyda Curiel about how she creates change by getting active and inspires others to, as well.

An elected councilwoman in her hometown of Haledon, New Jersey Nereyda is an involved member of her community. In addition to her job at serving UFCW Local 1245 members, much of her work as a councilwoman involves coordinating special events that benefit children and senior citizens.

Growing up in a union household, Nereyda is very familiar with the role unions play in helping hard-working people build a better life, including when it comes to equal pay for men and women: “My mother was a seamstress, and both my parents are immigrants from the Dominican Republic,” she said. “I know how important it is for a working family to have those union benefits. I love what our union represents, and I love being a voice for working people—both through the union and as a councilwoman.”

Nereyda also came from a nonunion job before working at UFCW, where she is a union member. “It’s very different,” she said. “I see firsthand how we being part of a union helps people secure good benefits, job security, and so much more. I’ve experienced what it’s like when no one represents you. The union is here—and I’m here to help.”

Although Nereyda says unequal pay for men and women is “ridiculous”, she’s well aware of how much it still exists. “We each do the same job—all that should matter is that it’s getting done—not who’s doing it.” She notes that even members of her family who live in the same household and have the same workplace do not take home the same pay. “We need to continue to work hard to fix this. If we stick together, we can,” she said.

Aside from being in a union, Nereyda believes the other best way to ensure equal pay is to get more politically involved, specifically getting registered to vote and voting in the November elections. “Our vote is our voice,” said Nereyda.

“We have to be heard not just as Hispanics but as Hispanic women, and I know that my vote counts. I’m concerned about immigration and family separations—we need to unite people. Right now, anyone who is affected by our current immigration laws—Dreamers included—are pretty much living on standby. My parents came to this country with a dream and a goal to build a better life here; everyone comes here with a dream, even if that’s all they have. That’s why I get involved, and why I’m so passionate. I know that I can make a difference by voting to elect people who represent us and our concerns.”

Nereyda hopes to continue helping other Latina women get more involved in both their union and communities this year. “I live in a very diverse area that includes a large Latino population. I want all of them to know that anyone can run for office on some level. “If we want to make change, we need to vote and change the voter turnout.”

As a single mom balancing family and a career as a CNA at Chapin Center Nursing Home, Lisa had to put in for FMLA leave to take time off from work, but was horrified to find her request for the urgently needed time off denied by her employer.

Wanting to shift their workplace culture to one that prioritized the needs of the staff and respected the hard work nursing home employees put in to provide quality care for the residents, Lisa and her coworkers decided to take matters into their own hands and join the UFCW to make sure no one felt left out to dry in times of need.

“They helped me out 100%,” Lisa says. “It still brings tears to my eyes,” she says of that trying time, “but thanks to my union I still am able to have a job, and my family is healthy now.”

Being a single mom and balancing work was still hard, but knowing the union would be there for her helped provide peace of mind and a sense of security. Before becoming a union member, for instance, Lisa was no stranger to pay inequity. “It hurts,” she says about knowing how much longer it takes for some women to reach the wages of their white male counterparts. “I work just as hard, or even harder than a male co-worker. Especially when I was a single parent—I had to work just as hard and take care of my children.”

She explains that her union contract guarantees good wages and fair treatment. “Being part of a union ensures I receive the equal pay I’ve earned. Equal pay, and equality at work, allow me achieve my goals, and go further in life.”

In addition to organizing her workplace, Lisa went on to become a shop steward, where she worked to help fellow members get pay issues and other problems they encountered resolved.

UFCW stewards are members who volunteer or are elected to take on a more active role protecting the rights of their coworkers on the job. They are knowledgeable about what benefits and policies the union negotiates with their employer and they help keep an eye out to make sure everyone is getting treated fairly.

These days, Lisa works as a union representative at UFCW Local 1459 and serves on their Executive Board. She hopes her story helps inspire others to get involved and take action when they see a change that needs to be made.

Lisa is half Puerto Rican and was born in the continental U.S, but moved to Puerto Rico as a young child, and returned not knowing any English. Before her involvement with the union, she’d never voted or registered to vote. Now she helps get the word out about how vital voting is to protecting the rights of working people.

“We need more push and shove, more education,” she says, frustrated that more of her peers don’t have a plan to vote in the upcoming election. “If more people knew that their vote counts, and used it, we could win.”

Her message for people going through a hard time in this political climate—experiencing things like unfair wages and more—is to stay strong, because you’re not alone.

Although Latinas make substantial contributions to the U.S. economy, they have the largest wage gap, typically earning only 54 cents for every dollar earned by White, non-Hispanic men. You can help us fight unfair and unequal wages by supporting hard-working Latinas today, on Latina Equal Pay Day.

UFCW International Secretary-Treasurer Esther López explains more about today and how we can work together to make a better life for Latinas working in the U.S.

As López writes:

“There exists a sure-fire way for Latina women to earn the better wages they deserve: joining a union in their industry. Latina women who have joined a union earn more than their non-union counterparts — $242 more per week, in fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For decades, the labor movement, constituency groups, women’s organizations and other allies have been fighting for just and safe working conditions for hard-working families. Many of these folks are Latina women who are constantly finding new and innovative ways to bring people together and drive them to action.”

Read the whole Bustle piece here.

Please get involved and help us draw attention to this economic disparity by joining the Twitter storm (#LatinaEqualPay and #Trabajadoras) on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 2-3 p.m. Eastern Time. Additional information about Latina Equal Pay Day is available here.

On average, unionization raises Latino workers’ wages by over 17% – about $2.60 per hour.

The difference is even more dramatic in low-wage jobs. Unionized Latino workers in low-wage occupations are 41 percent more likely to have health insurance and 18 percent more likely to be in a pension plan.

Fair Scheduling

Case-in-point: Erratic scheduling, especially in the retail industry, can create burdens on families with young children or elderly parents, making it unaffordable to take sick relatives to the doctor when needed. But more than one in three people who belong to a union like UFCW get at least one week’s notice of their work schedules.

Discrimination

Our union family understands how confusing and difficult these times are for many of our Latino members. Which is why we’re committed to ensuring every member has easy access to critical immigration-related information. We’re also using our contracts to ensure any hateful, discriminatory action which seeks to isolate our members at work and in their communities is stopped before it starts.

Citizenship

We’re also proud to support Latino members in areas where the government either fell short or stalled. Without any federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, we launched a groundbreaking program called the United Citizenship Action Network (UCAN), which was designed to be a resource for members looking to apply for citizenship. UCAN helps folks find legal counsel, proper documents, and other assistance to get the complicated citizenship process started. Across the country, UFCW Local Unions have hosted workshops and trainings to help members who are legally eligible realize their dreams of becoming citizens.

Education

Another critical issue for Latino members is education. It’s a harsh reality that too many economic factors stand in the way of someone being able to earn a quality college degree that may help them build a better life. Thanks to our Free College Benefit, every UFCW member and their families can earn a debt-free degree from Eastern Gateway Community College.

Building Better Lives

We want Latino millennials to realize their huge economic and political power, and we want to make sure that they know that the UFCW union family can be a resource for their goals of building better lives for themselves and their loved ones. In fact, nearly six-in-ten Hispanics are millennials or younger.

If you’d like to learn more about how the United Latinos of UFCW are working to communicate, organize, and service members, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Monica Jimenez, a pharmacy technician and Local 1428 union steward at Rite Aid, loves helping others. At her job she helps patients fill their prescriptions and in her spare time she runs races to fund research to cure diseases.

She began her career at a laboratory, but after three years she wanted a change and applied at Rite Aid.

“We treat each other like family, so going to work doesn’t feel like going to a workplace.”

“What I like about Rite Aid is that the people in the store come together,” Jimenez said. “We treat each other like family, so going to work doesn’t feel like going to a workplace.”

Jimenez thought she had it all: a loving husband in Earl, two daughters, Vanessa and Emily, and a job she loved. But an earthquake in 2012 taught her she needed something more: to help the less fortunate.

“I felt like I needed to make each day count, so I signed up for a 5K race and then another one and then another one,” she said.

Her volunteering spirit quickly spread among her family and friends. Her daughters joined her in races and then her co-workers followed suit.

At work, Jimenez encouraged patients to donate to the Children’s Miracle Network, which benefits children’s hospitals.

“When customers check out at Rite Aid, they are occasionally asked to donate $1 so they can write their names on balloon cards that are displayed in our store,” Jimenez said. “Our store raised the most funds for the Children’s Miracle Network, so we were invited to an event to meet the kids our donations helped.”

Last year, Jimenez and her sister decided to grow their hair out and donate their ponytails to Locks of Love, an organization that creates wigs for people who lose their hair while having chemotherapy.

“People asked me why my hair and my sister’s hair was getting so long,” Jimenez said. “We told people it was for Locks of Love and we got so many people who wanted to help that I needed a place to host an event to cut people’s hair.”

UFCW Local 1428 stepped up and offered its auditorium. By the end of the night, Jimenez and her sister collected 85 ponytails for Locks of Love.

“That night was so special,” Jimenez said. “It takes six ponytails to create one wig, so we helped a lot of people that night.”

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for the UFCW to pay tribute to Hispanic Americans and their positive contributions to our communities and our country.

The origins of this celebration date back to President Lyndon Johnson, who first established Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968.  In 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the celebration to cover a 30-day period from September 15 to October 15.  Hispanic Heritage Month was enacted into law in 1988, and the start date of September 15 was chosen for the celebration because it marks the anniversary of independence for a number of Latin American countries.

Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month, the UFCW will pay tribute to the culture and history of Hispanic Americans and their positive impact on the labor movement.

Do you have a story to share about your Hispanic heritage or how the Labor movement has played a role in your life? Let us know at submissions@www.ufcw.org and we might share it on our blog and social media!

On June 23, Making Change at Walmart (MCAW), along with The Black Institute, the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, and ColorOfChange.org, sent a letter to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon that calls on the retail giant to withdraw its sponsorship of the 2016 Republican National Convention due to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s history of racist, misogynistic, anti-veteran, and Islamophobic remarks. A full copy of the letter can be viewed here.

“Walmart cannot afford to stay silent when it comes to Donald Trump,” said Jess Levin, communications director at MCAW. “Throughout his presidential campaign, he has managed to offend men and women of all races and religions and across the political spectrum with his racist, misogynistic, anti-veteran and Islamophobic statements. These are Walmart customers and Walmart employees. Walmart needs to send a message that it will not support bigotry, and join the growing list of companies who are refusing to sponsor this year’s Republican National Convention.”

MCAW has launched an online petition where supporters can sign on to the letter. To date, over 10,000 supporters have signed the petition.