Le Grand woman helped United Farm Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/622549.html

By JONAH OWEN LAMB
[e-mail]

Black eagles crowd a small room in Zeferina Perez's Le Grand home.

Like guardian angels they watch over newspaper clippings, paintings and her memorabilia from the United Farm Workers union and its founder, Cesar Chavez. The block-like eagles, which have for years been the UFW's symbol, spread their wings on red flags and pins and even Perez's T-shirt in this homage to a movement.

This shrine seems a fitting tribute to Chavez and the UFW, to which Perez gave years of her life.


SUN-STAR PHOTOS BY GEORGE MACDONALD - Le Grand resident Zeferina Perez worked with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers to organize farm workers throughout California, At 75, she is still trying to improve the lives of those who have built up the state’s agriculture industry. A room in Perez's home is largely devoted to the life and legacy of Chavez and the UFW.

For more than a quarter-century, the 75-year-old Perez has been fighting, in one way or another, for farm laborers' rights. From the first union she helped organize in the late 1970s, to picketing for one of the UFW's several grape boycotts and finally to organizing across the state, Perez has been a foot soldier in "La Lucha" -- the struggle that the UFW midwifed into existence in the 1960s.

In 1962 Cesar Chavez and his family moved to Delano and started organizing farm laborers. The union he began reached a peak membership of 70,000 in 1970. Despite its relatively small numbers, it was a powerful political and moral force into the 1980s. Through strikes, boycotts and statewide marches, the UFW brought the plight of the lettuce and tomato pickers to America's dinner table and consciousness.

Perez, who is now retired from organizing, speaks little English, but still carries the dedication that seeped into her bones under Chavez's leadership. After organizing across the state for 13 years, she seems to hold the fearlessness like an invisible talisman.

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