Sunnyside, Wash.—Farm workers are marching in Sunnyside on Sunday to honor Cesar Chavez, celebrate Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing of the new Chavez Day law and protest ICE enforcement actions striking fear in many farm communities across the nation. Joining the march will be state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, Senate sponsor of the law honoring the iconic civil rights and farm labor leader that the governor signed during a ceremony in Yakima on Chavez’s March 31 birthday.
Marchers will also use the event to urge enactment of overtime pay after eight hours a day for Washington state farm workers, similar to a United Farm Workers-sponsored law passed in California in 2016. In addition, the marchers will highlight threats from dangerous pesticides and unsafe working conditions in the state’s fields and dairies.
Four comparable marches are being organized this month in California. A sixth is set in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. The UFW reports stepped up activities in farm communities by ICE agents randomly targeting farm workers, often as they drive to work.
Who: Yakima Valley farm workers and supporters, state Sen. Rebecca Saldaña.
What: Honoring Cesar Chavez, celebrating passage of the state’s new Chavez Day law and protesting ICE enforcement activities spreading fear in many farm worker communities.
When: March begins at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 8, 2018.
Where: Central Park, 559 So. 4th St., Sunnyside, WA 98944.
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