Hundreds of workers rallied in the Westlake district Monday before boarding buses bound for Delano for the “Con Estas Manos/With These Hands” César Chávez Day march.
Workers from hospitals, foster care, mental health, courts, law enforcement, libraries, street services, sanitation, water treatment, parks services, janitors, child care providers, health care and home care workers and gig workers gathered outside the headquarters of Service Employees International Union Local 721 for the rally.
“We’re really saying these hands, `estas manos,’ put food on the table of every American family in this country,” David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West union, told KCAL9 at the event.
“With these hands, people clean skyscrapers across the country. With these hands, … whole economies are sustained because of the hands, the labor of immigrant workers.”
Organizers have likened Monday’s march to the 340-mile, 25-day march Chavez led from Delano, about 30 miles north of Bakersfield, to Sacramento in 1966 that is widely credited with awakening the conscience of America about the farmworkers’ struggle for rights and creating momentum for the farmworkers’ fight to form their union.
The theme of the march “honors not only the labor of workers who use their hands to feed us, to care for our children, the old, and the sick, and to build our shelter. It also recognizes how much we all share in common with families seeking safety in our state and parents willing to endure deep sacrifice to ensure their children don’t grow up with fear or hunger,” organizers said.
Meanwhile, UCLA marked César Chávez Day with the opening of the Latinx Success Center, which the university bills as “a campus hub focused on improving student achievement, academic outcomes and overall college experiences, with academic and advising services as well as leadership and mentorship programs among its many offerings.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed outdoor opening celebration titled, “Floreciendo en Comunidad,” Spanish for “Flourishing in Community.”
The center is part of UCLA’s efforts to reach benchmarks to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is part of a commitment “to ensure that all Bruins — including Latino, first-generation and low-income students — can reach their highest potential,” according to the university.
“It is critical that UCLA be a place of belonging — a place where everyone is valued, and everyone adds value,” Chancellor Julio Frenk said in a statement. “The opening of this center is part of our commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment where all students can thrive.”
Then-Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation in 2000 making the March 31 anniversary of the birth of a co-founder of the United Farm Workers in 1927 a state holiday.