Oxnard residents honor Cesar Chavez with march and mass celebrating United Farm Workers’ 50th Anniversary

Oxnard, Calif.—Hundreds of farm workers, United Farm Workers’ supporters and community activists will celebrate Cesar Chavez’s birthday by affirming that the lives and work of farm workers "are worth more" during a mass and a march starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 1, at Cristo Rey Catholic Church in Oxnard. Chavez’s March 31 birthday is celebrated as an official holiday in eight states, including California.

The UFW’s twin legislative priorities as it marks its 50th anniversary in 2012 are union-sponsored bills further protecting farm workers from dying of the heat and providing field laborers with overtime pay after eight hours a day like nearly all other California workers.

"We honor Cesar Chavez’s legacy on this 50th anniversary of the founding of his union by declaring that farm workers are worth more– and deserve more–in pay and protections,’" said UFW President Arturo Rodriguez. Marchers will support AB 1313, by Assemblymember Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa), the UFW’s eight-hour overtime bill, and union-sponsored AB 2346, by Assemblymember Betsey Butler (D-El Segundo), that would let farm workers enforce shade and water requirements Cal-OSHA has failed to carry out to prevent farm workers from dying or becoming ill when temperatures soar.

Following mass at 10 a.m., there will be a march from Cristo Rey Church, 531 Cooper Rd., to Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 301 North Marquita, in Oxnard. Marchers will walk through the city’s La Colonia barrio, passing Chavez’s childhood home and his first office as a 1950s community organizer.

During Sunday’s observances, 50 local men and women who have steadfastly supported the UFW over the years will receive special recognition.

WHO: Farm workers, UFW leaders and supporters

WHAT: Mass and march on Chavez birthday weekend honoring UFW’s 50th anniversary

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 12 noon, Sunday, April 1 Sunday, April 1, 2012

WHERE: Starting at Cristo Rey Church, 531 Cooper Rd., Oxnard,  CA and ending at Cesar Chavez                       Elementary School, 301 North Marquita, Oxnard, CA.

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