A Self-Inflicted Wound: Cesar Chávez and the Paradox of the United Farm Workers

In the late 1970s, the future of organized labor in the fields of California had never looked brighter. A decade of boycotts, strikes, and marches had generated public and political pressure that culminated in the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act—“the best labor law in the country,” the United Farm Workers’ chief negotiator triumphantly proclaimed in June 1975. Soon thereafter, the Teamsters agreed to withdraw and cede organizing in the fields to Cesar Chávez's union, ending a costly and violent rivalry.