UFW co-founder Huerta inspires her campus hosts

By Franklin Crawford

For students, staff and faculty involved in Cornell's Farm Work Advocacy Coalition, April 29 was a watershed day. On the eve of an important rally for a farm workers' bill of rights in Albany, Dolores Huerta, legendary co-founder and matriarch of the United Farm Workers union visited campus and addressed an audience of about 250 people in Anabel Taylor Auditorium.

Rebecca Bixby '03, left, meets with Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, during a luncheon in Huerta's honor in the Latino Studies Program offices in Rockefeller Hall, April 29. During the gathering, Huerta praised the work of Cornell's Farm Work Advocacy Coalition. Robert Barker/University Photography

At a festive luncheon held earlier in the day at the Latino Studies Program's offices in Rockefeller Hall, Huerta praised the coalition's work. The informal meet and greet was attended by students, faculty and other guests.

"The fact that she said she respected the work that we've been doing really means a lot for the group," said Rebecca Bixby '03, president of the coalition, a group of students, staff and faculty members at Cornell who work as allies with the farm worker community in New York state. "But she also reminds me of how much more we need to do," Bixby said.

Renu Tipirneni '03 said she helped conduct research last summer on farm workers through Cornell Cooperative Extension in Suffolk County. Tipirneni said Huerta's visit helped to stress the importance of educating not only farm workers, but the general public as well about farm labor issues.

"Agriculture is one of the largest industries in the United States and we all have this direct connection to farm workers," she said. "They help to put food on our tables and yet are so removed from our daily lives. We have all these educational resources and yet we still don't have a clear idea of the struggles these people have for basic human and worker rights like health insurance."

There are approximately 47,000 migrant workers in New York state alone. They follow the seasons harvesting various crops such as apples, grapes and cherries, but also labor on many of the state's dairy farms. Current legislation excludes agricultural workers in New York state from labor rights such as collective bargaining protection, a weekly day of rest and overtime pay. On April 30 farm workers and allies from across the state converged on Albany following a 10-day march to demand basic human and labor rights.

Kathleen Castania, a senior extension associate in the Department of Human Development's Migrant Program office in Rochester, arrived Tuesday accompanied by Librada Paz and her brother Maurilio, members of a family of farm workers that live year round in Brockport.

"Cornell is one of the only land grant universities in the country that has a migrant program," said Castania. "It's a small program and considering that there is an agricultural school here, more attention needs to be paid to the people who actually do the work in the fields."

It was a big day for the Paz family as well, as they served as guides and chaperones for Huerta. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, they arrived in New York after coming to the states and working on farms in California, Washington and Florida. Maurilio Paz is now disabled by plastic anemia, an immune disease requiring chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant from his twin brother José Fino Paz, who works with Castania in the Rochester office. Fortunately for Maurilio, his 16 years as a laborer in New York entitled him to some health benefits.

After an extremely difficult life working in migrant camps, Librada Paz got her high school diploma and eventually graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. They both said they were proud to accompany Huerta and joined her and about a half-dozen Cornell students the next day in Albany.

Suyapa Portillo, a Cornell graduate in history, first met Huerta when Portillo was working as a labor organizer in Southern California. While at Cornell, Portillo visited the Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls and was thrilled to see Huerta's portrait among the women honored there. Huerta was inducted in 1993.

"It was so affirming as a woman of color to see her picture there," she said. "There are very few role models for Latino women and to have her with us in person is truly an inspiration."

Indeed, Huerta is the most prominent Chicana (Mexican American woman) labor leader in the United States. She is cofounder and first vice president of the United Farm Workers union. For more than 30 years she has dedicated her life to the struggle for equal rights for migrant farm workers. Honored with countless community service, labor, Hispanic and women's awards, Huerta is a role model for Mexican-American women in particular and everyone in general.

If Huerta's reputation preceded her with hints of radical chic, she was quick to dispel any glamorous affect during her hour-long talk. The 73-year-old mother of 11 described the bloody struggle for farm workers' rights in California and elsewhere, delivering a short course on Activism 101 interspersed with dissenting commentary on numerous social issues and a fearless call to action.

When asked how one became a leader, Huerta said it was simple and quoted her friend and UFW co-founder, the late Cesar Chavez: "A leader is a person who does the work."

"What's the work?" she asked. "Leafleting, telephoning, urging people to come to a city council meeting or a board of supervisors meetings or a march on the state capital. ... In our country, we're educated not to stand up for ourselves, we're discouraged from taking leadership. [But] building a democracy is not rocket science."