2014
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 14-024
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Guzman and Aguilar, Crowder, Grantham, Heath,
       Herpin, Hodge, Jahn, Johnston, Jones, Kefalas, Kerr, King, Newell,
       Nicholson, Rivera, Roberts, Scheffel, Schwartz, Steadman, Tochtrop,
       Todd, Ulibarri, Zenzinger, Carroll;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Pabon, Duran, Garcia, Moreno, Salazar,
       Vigil, Becker, Conti, Court, Exum, Fields, Fischer, Foote, Gardner,
       Ginal, Hamner, Hullinghorst, Joshi, Kagan, Kraft-Tharp, Labuda,
       Lebsock, Lee, May, McCann, McLachlan, Melton, Mitsch Bush,
       Navarro, Peniston, Pettersen, Primavera, Rosenthal, Ryden, Schafer,
       Singer, Stephens, Swalm, Tyler, Waller, Williams, Young, Ferrandino.
       
       
          CONCERNING RECOGNITION OF "C�SAR CH VEZ DAY". 
       
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Estrada Ch�vez was born on March 31, 1927, on
       a small farm near Yuma, Arizona, and was raised by migrant farm
       workers; and
       
          WHEREAS, In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, like so many
       others, C�sar Ch�vez's father lost his small farming business, and the
       family became migrant workers and joined some 30,000 workers who
       followed the crops from Arizona into southern California; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez left school after the eighth grade to labor
       in the fields and vineyards of the Southwest to help support his family;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1944, at the age of 17, C�sar Ch�vez joined the Navy
       and served in World War II; and
       
          WHEREAS, After experiencing years of discrimination and unfair
       working conditions, C�sar Ch�vez dedicated his life to improving the
       plight of farm workers through struggle, sacrifice, and self-denial; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez formed his own organization in 1962, the
       National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm
       Workers of America (UFW), to help farm workers like himself win equal
       rights and fair treatment; and
       
          WHEREAS, When recognizing C�sar Ch�vez, it is only right to
       recognize the accomplishments of UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, for
       her work on behalf of farm workers; and
       
          WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta brought forward a unique voice on behalf
       of women to ensure all workers had fair representation; and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1965, C�sar Ch�vez led a strike of California grape
       pickers to demand higher wages and urged all Americans to boycott table
       grapes as a show of support; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez believed in the principles of nonviolence
       practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and used
       tactics such as boycotts, marches, strikes, and fasts to lead a successful
       five-year boycott that gained millions of members and supporters for farm
       labor unions across the United States; and
       
          WHEREAS, By 1970, C�sar Ch�vez and the UFW had persuaded
       grape growers to accept union contracts and had successfully organized
       almost the entire industry; and
       
          WHEREAS, During a fast in 1972, C�sar Ch�vez coined the phrase
       "S�, se puede", which in English means "Yes, it can be done", reflecting
       his conviction that failure happens only by giving up on nonviolent
       tactics; and
       
          WHEREAS, The work of C�sar Ch�vez was informed by his devout
       Catholic faith, and he traditionally included images of Our Lady of
       Guadalupe at marches and demonstrations and led supporters in praying
       the rosary; and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1975, C�sar Ch�vez and the UFW's efforts resulted in
       the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, a groundbreaking law
       protecting the right of farm workers to unionize; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez tirelessly devoted himself to making all
       people aware of the struggles of farm workers and their need for better
       pay and safer working conditions; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez and the organization he cofounded with
       Dolores Huerta, the UFW, achieved the following:
       
               The first collective bargaining agreement between farm workers
               and growers in the continental United States; and
       
               The first union contracts requiring rest periods, clean drinking
               water, hand washing facilities, and protective clothing against
               pesticide exposure; and
       
               The first ban on pesticide spraying while workers were in the
               fields and the first ban on DDT and other dangerous pesticides;
               and
       
               The first and only performing pension plan for retired farm
               workers; and
       
               The first union contracts regulating safety and sanitary conditions
               in farm labor camps and banning discrimination in employment
               and sexual harassment of female workers; and
       
               Abolition of the use of the infamous short-handled hoe that
               crippled generations of farm workers; and
       
               Extension of state coverage under unemployment, disability, and
               workers' compensation to farm workers; and
       
          WHEREAS, On April 23, 1993, C�sar Estrada Ch�vez died peacefully
       in his sleep in San Luis, Arizona; and
       
          WHEREAS, In 1994, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded
       C�sar Ch�vez the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian
       honor in the United States; and
       
          WHEREAS, C�sar Ch�vez influenced and inspired millions of
       Americans to seek social justice and civil rights for the poor and
       disenfranchised in our society; now, therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-ninth General Assembly of
       the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
          That we, the members of the General Assembly, honor a man who
       devoted his life to improving the working conditions, safety, and dignity
       of so many on the day that the entire state observes as "C�sar Ch�vez
       Day", March 31, 2014.
       
          Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to
       former State Representative Frana Mace; former State Representative
       Fran Coleman; former State Representative Val Vigil; former State
       Senator Polly Baca; former State Senator Rob Hernandez; former State
       Senator Abel Tapia; each member of Colorado's congressional delegation;
       Dolores Huerta of the Dolores Huerta Foundation; Dr. Ram�n Del
       Castillo, cofounder of the C�sar Ch�vez Peace and Justice Committee and
       Professor and Chair of the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department at
       Metropolitan State University of Denver; Woodbury Library in Denver;
       the members of the Pueblo City Council; Cesar Chavez Academy in        Pueblo; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock; and the members of the Denver
       City Council, in recognition of their efforts to promote "C�sar Ch�vez
       Day".
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Morgan Carroll                       Mark Ferrandino
       PRESIDENT OF                    SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Cindi Markwell                        Marilyn Eddins
       SECRETARY OF                CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES