Baldemar Velasquez
Encyclopedia
Baldemar Velásquez is an American
labor union
activist. He co-founded and is president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee
, AFL-CIO
. He was named a MacArthur Fellow (the so-called "Genius Grant") in 1989, and awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle
in 1994, the highest honor Mexico can bestow on a non-citizen.
. He was the third of nine children born to Cresencio and Vicenta Castillo Velásquez. Baldemar's father was born into a Mexican American
family in Driscoll, Texas
. His grandfather died when Cresencio was just 11 years old, forcing the young Cresencio to seek employment as a migrant worker. Baldemar's maternal grandparents fled to Pharr in 1910 after the Mexican Revolution
, and his mother, Vicenta, was born there in 1920. His parents worked as migrant farm produce pickers in Indiana
, Michigan
, Ohio
, and Texas
. Baldemar Velásquez later said that his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic
and a pasion for social justice
linked to the Christian
faith.
Velásquez began assisting his parents in the fields when he was four years old. His family traveled from the Southwest
to Midwest
each year, following the harvest season for various crops. They rode with other migrant workers in a pickup truck
with a canvas-covered bed, huddling around a can of hot ashes and covering themselves in blankets to stay warm. Often, the family would have only a single room for the parents and all their children. One winter, he and his siblings had gather together for warmth while snow drifted into their one-room shack through gaps in the walls. The family's poverty worsened one year when an employer paid his father only half the wages he was owed. In 1954, his parents settled permanently in Gilboa, Ohio
, where they worked in the fields in the summer and in a cannery
during the winter. Baldemar knew almost no English
when he entered the first grade, and struggled academically. He was a good athlete, playing several sports, but was often ridiculed for his Mexican American heritage. Velásquez led his first strike at the age of 12, helping pickers at his summer job win better wages. He began to excel in his studies in the eighth grade, making honor roll
. He attended Pandora-Gilboa High School
, where he participated in baseball
, basketball
, football
, and track and field
, and took college preparatory course
s. His high school
career guidance counselor
advised him to only focus on industrial arts
courses, but Velásquez refused.
A high school English teacher convinced him to go to college. He enrolled at Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas
, in 1965, intending to major in engineering
. Living in south Texas made him curious about his roots there, and he enrolled in a Texas history which, he said, opened his eyes to the exploitation of Mexican Americans and farmworker
s. A local Roman Catholic priest
assisted him in obtaining financial aid, and he transferred to Ohio Northern College
(a private, United Methodist Church
-affiliated school) in 1966. He transferred to Bluffton College
(a private, Mennonite
-affiliated school) a year later. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in sociology in 1969.
While at Bluffton College, he was mentored by Dr. Lawrence Templin, a noted pacifist
who had been imprisoned for his beliefs and was now a professor of English literature
. Templin had grown up in India
as the son of Christian missionaries and who knew Mohandas Gandhi personally. Templin's teachings deeply influence Velásquez's approach to securing social justice for farmworkers. Templin knew Bayard Rustin
while in prison, and Templin encouraged him to volunteer with the Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE)—a civil rights organization in which Rustin played a major role. Baldemar Velásquez spent several weeks in the summer of 1968 working with CORE and living with an African American
family in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduation, he spent time picking cherries in Michigan to pay off his student loans, and went to Wisconsin
to meet with the founder of Obreros Unidos
, Jesus Salas (also known as "Jesse Salas").
His association with Templin changed his life in another way as well: Baldemar Velásquez married Templin's daughter, Sara Templin, on June 11, 1969. The couple had four children together.
, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Initially, his goal was merely to organize the farmworkers so that they could cooperate with the growers to improve pay, housing, and education for the pickers. Sensing that the farmworkers would not take a 20-year-old student seriously, Velásquez relied on his father to gather the employees and get them to listen to him. He even sent volunteer organizers to Texas during the winter to talk to and organize the workers during their months away from work. But the effort largely failed, and in September 1968 Velásquez called a strike against 10 tomato growers in Ohio. Five growers signed contracts recognizing the union, agreeing to a minimum wage and limited health insurance, and promising not to discriminate against union members or union organizers. Within a few weeks, 21 other growers had agreed to contracts with FLOC as well. But in the following year, sustained anti-union opposition from the growers (backed by the American Farm Bureau Federation
), the withdrawal of some growers from the tomato market, the refusal of some growers to honor their contracts, and the efforts of some growers to raise wages and improve working conditions (which led employees to abandon the union) caused Velásquez to rethink his organizing strategy.
In the 1970s, Velásquez began focusing on national and international companies in addition to local growers. "It was a big mistake to go after individual farmers," he said, "instead of focusing on the large corporations. We spent a lot of years doing that, and it was a mistake." From 1970 to 1983, Velasquez implemented a long-term strategy to build public support for the farmworkers, publicizing the discrimination, low wages, and often appalling working conditions they faced. In 1976, workers at a tomato cannery in Warren, Indiana
, struck over the employer's tactic of overrecruiting workers in order to force down wages. The workers spontaneously barricaded themselves inside the cannery, refusing to allow the perishable crop inside until their grievances had been addressed. The workers asked FLOC to intervene. A federal district court issued an injunction
requiring that the workers vacate the premises, but they refused. Although nearly all the workers were arrested, there was extensive publicity about the strike, the employer's overrcruitment tactic, the low wages and unsanitary conditions the workers suffered, and the use of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
to intimidate workers and avoid paying them (through deportation proceedings). Velásquez later said the tomato cannery strike helped improve FLOC's negotiating and worker mobilization skills and provided a trial run for the union's dealings with large corporations.
Velásquez decided that the union's first target should be the Campbell Soup Company
. The goal was three-way bargaining: The produce buyer (Campbell's) would pay slightly more for produce, which would allow growers to pay farmworkers much higher wages. Velásquez asked migrant workers in 1978 to strike growers with contracts with Campbell's, and 2,000 farm workers walked off the job. Velásquez required that all strikers be trained in nonviolent protest techniques, and he worked closely with local churches and religious groups so that large numbers of clergy and nuns were present (which inhibited violence). Campbell's denied any involvement in the strike (claiming the union's dispute was with the growers and not the soup company), and Velásquez announced a boycott in 1979. In August 1983, Velasquez led migrant workers on a 560 miles (901.2 km) protest march from the union headquarters in Toledo, Ohio
, to Campbell's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey
. Four months later, he took out advertisements in newspapers denouncing the conditions in the fields, and Campbell's responded with ads promoting its labor practices. Campbell's said the strike and boycott was having no effect on the company, and the United Food and Commercial Workers
and AFL-CIO
opposed FLOC's boycott out of concern that it would harm union members working for Campbell's. At the 1984 Democratic National Convention
, Velásquez strategically positioned farmworkers in the audience with signs reading "Boycott Campbell's." Cameras focused on the signs during a prime time speech by Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson
, which raised the profile of the boycott (but otherwise seemed to have little effect). Velásquez also encouraged stockholders to sell their company shares, and for schools and parents to not participate in the company's program which donated money to local schools in excahnge for product purchases. One the advice of Ray Rogers
, a comprehensive campaign
expert, Velásquez agreed to raise the financial pressure on Campbell. A shareholder resolution to recognize FLOC was introduced at the 1984 company stockholder meeting, but it was easily defeated (27.3 million shares to 263,906 shares). Velásquez and about 200 FLOC members picketed the shareholder meeting, which was held under heavy security. Velásquez also put pressure on directors of Prudential Insurance Company
, Equitable Life Assurance Society, and Philadelphia National Bank, many of whom also were directors of Campbell's, to resign from the Cambell's board or face a stockholder campaign as well. After two years of the widened financial campaign, Campbell agreed to the nation's first three-way collective bargaining agreement on February 23, 1986. Although it only covered 600 workers at 16 tomato growers in Ohio and 12 cucumber growers in Michigan, an additional 71 growers agreed to hold union organizing elections in the summer of 1986.
Velásquez soon signed agreements with Aunt Jane Foods
, Dean Foods
, Green Bay Foods
, H. J. Heinz Company
, and Vlasic Pickles. A few years later, the growers began complaining that they could not compete with inexpensive Mexican produce. Velásquez personally traveled to Mexico
, successfully lobbied the Mexican unions to raise their wages and benefits, and closed the price differential.
FLOC also began organizing cucumber pickers and pickle processing workers in North Carolina in the early 1990s. Velásquez decided to target the Mount Olive Pickle Company
, the major pickle processor in the state. Once more, Velásquez decided on a boycott when initial attempts to secure a three-way collective bargaining contract failed. Velásquez personally led a four-day, 70 miles (112.7 km) march from Mount Olive, North Carolina
, to Raleigh
. On September 16, 2004, FLOC signed a collective bargaining agreement with Mount Olive and the growers which covered more than 8,500 of the state's 10,000 guest workers. It was the first union contract for farmworkers in the state, and the first to establish a union hiring hall
in Mexico to supply the state with guest workers.
In 2010, Velásquez led FLOC in joining with the United Auto Workers
in announcing a boycott of JPMorgan Chase to protest the banking concern's efforts to begin extensive foreclosure
proceedings against homeowners nationwide. The same year, he was one of only 15 individuals appointed to a committee of the International Labor Organization to create global working condition stardards for farmworkers.
from Florida International Seminary. He was later ordained a chaplain by Florida-based Rapha Ministries.
Velásquez has served on the board of directors of a number of different organizations. He helped organize the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, and in 2006 served on the board of directors of Agricultural Missions, a nonprofit corporate arm of the National Council of Churches
. As of 2010 serves on the board of Policy Matters Ohio
, the University of Toledo
, and the Toledo Zoo
. In November 2010, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
appointed him to the Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, a state panel which analyzes the problems of and provides information about programs affecting Spanish-speaking people in that state.
s in 1988 for helping organize people for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. He was named a MacArthur Fellow (the so-called "Genius Grant") the following year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In 1994, the National Council of La Raza
bestowed on him the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. That same year he also received Mexico's Aguila Azteca Award—the highest award Mexico can give a non-citizen.
Velásquez has also received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
degrees from Bowling Green State University
in 1996, Bluffton College in 1998, and the University of Toledo in 1998.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labor union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist. He co-founded and is president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee
Farm Labor Organizing Committee
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee , AFL-CIO, is a labor union representing migrant farm workers in the Midwestern United States and North Carolina.-History:...
, AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
. He was named a MacArthur Fellow (the so-called "Genius Grant") in 1989, and awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Order of the Aztec Eagle is a Mexican order and is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country.It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners...
in 1994, the highest honor Mexico can bestow on a non-citizen.
Early life and education
Velásquez was born in February 1947 in Pharr, TexasPharr, Texas
Pharr is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 70,400. Pharr is connected by bridge to the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas...
. He was the third of nine children born to Cresencio and Vicenta Castillo Velásquez. Baldemar's father was born into a Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
family in Driscoll, Texas
Driscoll, Texas
Driscoll is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. The population was 825 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Driscoll is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
. His grandfather died when Cresencio was just 11 years old, forcing the young Cresencio to seek employment as a migrant worker. Baldemar's maternal grandparents fled to Pharr in 1910 after the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, and his mother, Vicenta, was born there in 1920. His parents worked as migrant farm produce pickers in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Baldemar Velásquez later said that his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic
Work ethic
Work ethic is a set of values based on hard work and diligence. It is also a belief in the moral benefit of work and its ability to enhance character. An example would be the Protestant work ethic...
and a pasion for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
linked to the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
faith.
Velásquez began assisting his parents in the fields when he was four years old. His family traveled from the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
to Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
each year, following the harvest season for various crops. They rode with other migrant workers in a pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
with a canvas-covered bed, huddling around a can of hot ashes and covering themselves in blankets to stay warm. Often, the family would have only a single room for the parents and all their children. One winter, he and his siblings had gather together for warmth while snow drifted into their one-room shack through gaps in the walls. The family's poverty worsened one year when an employer paid his father only half the wages he was owed. In 1954, his parents settled permanently in Gilboa, Ohio
Gilboa, Ohio
Gilboa is a village in Putnam County, Ohio, United States. The population was 184 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Gilboa is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....
, where they worked in the fields in the summer and in a cannery
Canning
Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...
during the winter. Baldemar knew almost no English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
when he entered the first grade, and struggled academically. He was a good athlete, playing several sports, but was often ridiculed for his Mexican American heritage. Velásquez led his first strike at the age of 12, helping pickers at his summer job win better wages. He began to excel in his studies in the eighth grade, making honor roll
Academic grading in the United States
Academic grading in the United States most commonly takes on the form of five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest —began...
. He attended Pandora-Gilboa High School
Pandora-Gilboa High School
Pandora-Gilboa High School is a public high school centered in Pandora, Ohio. It is the only high school and school in the Pandora-Gilboa Local School district. The district serves students from Pandora, Gilboa, and parts of Riley, Blanchard, and Pleasant townships in Putnam County. They are ...
, where he participated in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, and track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and took college preparatory course
College preparatory course
A College preparatory course is a means by which college bound high school students may better meet the more stringent scholastic requirements for entry into colleges and universities. Students taking college-preparatory courses may have an increased quantity of classwork, and expectations to...
s. His high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
career guidance counselor
School counselor
A school counselor is a counselor and an educator who works in elementary, middle, and high schools to provide academic, career, college access, and personal/social competencies to K-12 students...
advised him to only focus on industrial arts
Industrial arts
Industrial Arts is an umbrella term originally conceived in the late 19th century to describe educational programs which featured fabrication of objects in wood and/or metal using a variety of hand, power, or machine tools...
courses, but Velásquez refused.
A high school English teacher convinced him to go to college. He enrolled at Pan American University in Edinburg, Texas
Edinburg, Texas
Edinburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 77,100 at the 2010 census. The University of Texas–Pan American, the only fully accredited four-year university in the Rio Grande Valley, is located in Edinburg.Edinburg is part of the...
, in 1965, intending to major in engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. Living in south Texas made him curious about his roots there, and he enrolled in a Texas history which, he said, opened his eyes to the exploitation of Mexican Americans and farmworker
Farmworker
A farmworker is a person hired to work in the agricultural industry. This includes work on farms of all sizes, from small, family-run businesses to large industrial agriculture operations...
s. A local Roman Catholic priest
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
assisted him in obtaining financial aid, and he transferred to Ohio Northern College
Ohio Northern University
Ohio Northern University is a private, United Methodist Church-affiliated university located in the United States in Ada, Ohio, founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871. ONU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. ONU is a sister...
(a private, United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
-affiliated school) in 1966. He transferred to Bluffton College
Bluffton University
Bluffton University, located in Bluffton, Ohio, United States, is a Christian liberal arts college affiliated with Mennonite Church USA.It was founded in 1899 as Central Mennonite College and became Bluffton College in 1913...
(a private, Mennonite
Mennonite Church USA
The Mennonite Church USA, or MCUSA, is an Anabaptist Christian denomination in the United States. Although the organization is a recent 2002 merger of the Mennonite Church and the General Conference Mennonite Church, the body has roots in the Radical Reformation of the 16th century...
-affiliated school) a year later. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in sociology in 1969.
While at Bluffton College, he was mentored by Dr. Lawrence Templin, a noted pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
who had been imprisoned for his beliefs and was now a professor of English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. Templin had grown up in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
as the son of Christian missionaries and who knew Mohandas Gandhi personally. Templin's teachings deeply influence Velásquez's approach to securing social justice for farmworkers. Templin knew Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
while in prison, and Templin encouraged him to volunteer with the Congress of Racial Equality
Congress of Racial Equality
The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...
(CORE)—a civil rights organization in which Rustin played a major role. Baldemar Velásquez spent several weeks in the summer of 1968 working with CORE and living with an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
family in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduation, he spent time picking cherries in Michigan to pay off his student loans, and went to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
to meet with the founder of Obreros Unidos
Obreros Unidos
Obreros Unidos was an independent agricultural labor union founded in Wisconsin in 1966 by Mexican American civil rights activists Jesus Salas, Francisco Rodriguez and many more, originally Texas-based farm workers from the small town of Crystal City...
, Jesus Salas (also known as "Jesse Salas").
His association with Templin changed his life in another way as well: Baldemar Velásquez married Templin's daughter, Sara Templin, on June 11, 1969. The couple had four children together.
Career with FLOC
FLOC was founded in September 1967 by Baldemar Velásquez and his father. Velásquez had been deeply influenced by the ideas of César ChávezCésar Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Initially, his goal was merely to organize the farmworkers so that they could cooperate with the growers to improve pay, housing, and education for the pickers. Sensing that the farmworkers would not take a 20-year-old student seriously, Velásquez relied on his father to gather the employees and get them to listen to him. He even sent volunteer organizers to Texas during the winter to talk to and organize the workers during their months away from work. But the effort largely failed, and in September 1968 Velásquez called a strike against 10 tomato growers in Ohio. Five growers signed contracts recognizing the union, agreeing to a minimum wage and limited health insurance, and promising not to discriminate against union members or union organizers. Within a few weeks, 21 other growers had agreed to contracts with FLOC as well. But in the following year, sustained anti-union opposition from the growers (backed by the American Farm Bureau Federation
American Farm Bureau Federation
The American Farm Bureau Federation , commonly referred to as the Farm Bureau, is a nonprofit organization and the largest general farm organization in the United States...
), the withdrawal of some growers from the tomato market, the refusal of some growers to honor their contracts, and the efforts of some growers to raise wages and improve working conditions (which led employees to abandon the union) caused Velásquez to rethink his organizing strategy.
In the 1970s, Velásquez began focusing on national and international companies in addition to local growers. "It was a big mistake to go after individual farmers," he said, "instead of focusing on the large corporations. We spent a lot of years doing that, and it was a mistake." From 1970 to 1983, Velasquez implemented a long-term strategy to build public support for the farmworkers, publicizing the discrimination, low wages, and often appalling working conditions they faced. In 1976, workers at a tomato cannery in Warren, Indiana
Warren, Indiana
Warren is a town in Salamonie Township, Huntington County, Indiana, United States. The population of Warren at the 2010 census was 1,239.-Geography:Warren is located at , along the Salamonie River...
, struck over the employer's tactic of overrecruiting workers in order to force down wages. The workers spontaneously barricaded themselves inside the cannery, refusing to allow the perishable crop inside until their grievances had been addressed. The workers asked FLOC to intervene. A federal district court issued an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
requiring that the workers vacate the premises, but they refused. Although nearly all the workers were arrested, there was extensive publicity about the strike, the employer's overrcruitment tactic, the low wages and unsanitary conditions the workers suffered, and the use of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
to intimidate workers and avoid paying them (through deportation proceedings). Velásquez later said the tomato cannery strike helped improve FLOC's negotiating and worker mobilization skills and provided a trial run for the union's dealings with large corporations.
Velásquez decided that the union's first target should be the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
. The goal was three-way bargaining: The produce buyer (Campbell's) would pay slightly more for produce, which would allow growers to pay farmworkers much higher wages. Velásquez asked migrant workers in 1978 to strike growers with contracts with Campbell's, and 2,000 farm workers walked off the job. Velásquez required that all strikers be trained in nonviolent protest techniques, and he worked closely with local churches and religious groups so that large numbers of clergy and nuns were present (which inhibited violence). Campbell's denied any involvement in the strike (claiming the union's dispute was with the growers and not the soup company), and Velásquez announced a boycott in 1979. In August 1983, Velasquez led migrant workers on a 560 miles (901.2 km) protest march from the union headquarters in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, to Campbell's headquarters in Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
. Four months later, he took out advertisements in newspapers denouncing the conditions in the fields, and Campbell's responded with ads promoting its labor practices. Campbell's said the strike and boycott was having no effect on the company, and the United Food and Commercial Workers
United Food and Commercial Workers
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in many industries, including agriculture, health care, meatpacking, poultry and food processing, manufacturing, textile, G4S Security, chemical...
and AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
opposed FLOC's boycott out of concern that it would harm union members working for Campbell's. At the 1984 Democratic National Convention
1984 Democratic National Convention
The 1984 National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California from July 16 to July 19, 1984, to select a candidate for the 1984 United States presidential election. At the convention Walter Mondale was nominated for President and Geraldine...
, Velásquez strategically positioned farmworkers in the audience with signs reading "Boycott Campbell's." Cameras focused on the signs during a prime time speech by Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
, which raised the profile of the boycott (but otherwise seemed to have little effect). Velásquez also encouraged stockholders to sell their company shares, and for schools and parents to not participate in the company's program which donated money to local schools in excahnge for product purchases. One the advice of Ray Rogers
Ray Rogers (labor activist)
Ray Rogers is an American labor rights activist, labor union strategist and organizer as well as a major figure of prominence in the American labor and human rights movement...
, a comprehensive campaign
Comprehensive campaign
A comprehensive campaign is labor union organizing or a collective bargaining campaign with a heavy focus on research, the use of community coalition-building, publicity and public pressure, political and regulatory pressure, and economic and legal pressure in addition to traditional organizing...
expert, Velásquez agreed to raise the financial pressure on Campbell. A shareholder resolution to recognize FLOC was introduced at the 1984 company stockholder meeting, but it was easily defeated (27.3 million shares to 263,906 shares). Velásquez and about 200 FLOC members picketed the shareholder meeting, which was held under heavy security. Velásquez also put pressure on directors of Prudential Insurance Company
Prudential Financial
The Prudential Insurance Company of America , also known as Prudential Financial, Inc., is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the...
, Equitable Life Assurance Society, and Philadelphia National Bank, many of whom also were directors of Campbell's, to resign from the Cambell's board or face a stockholder campaign as well. After two years of the widened financial campaign, Campbell agreed to the nation's first three-way collective bargaining agreement on February 23, 1986. Although it only covered 600 workers at 16 tomato growers in Ohio and 12 cucumber growers in Michigan, an additional 71 growers agreed to hold union organizing elections in the summer of 1986.
Velásquez soon signed agreements with Aunt Jane Foods
Dean Foods
Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company with two operating divisions: Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar. The company maintains plants and distributors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Dean Foods products are sold throughout the USA.-History:In 1925, Samuel E...
, Dean Foods
Dean Foods
Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company with two operating divisions: Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar. The company maintains plants and distributors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Dean Foods products are sold throughout the USA.-History:In 1925, Samuel E...
, Green Bay Foods
Dean Foods
Dean Foods is an American food and beverage company with two operating divisions: Fresh Dairy Direct and WhiteWave-Morningstar. The company maintains plants and distributors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Dean Foods products are sold throughout the USA.-History:In 1925, Samuel E...
, H. J. Heinz Company
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...
, and Vlasic Pickles. A few years later, the growers began complaining that they could not compete with inexpensive Mexican produce. Velásquez personally traveled to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, successfully lobbied the Mexican unions to raise their wages and benefits, and closed the price differential.
FLOC also began organizing cucumber pickers and pickle processing workers in North Carolina in the early 1990s. Velásquez decided to target the Mount Olive Pickle Company
Mount Olive Pickle Company
The Mount Olive Pickle Company is an American food processing company located in Mount Olive, North Carolina. The company's primary product is pickled cucumbers, but it is also a large supplier of mixed pickle, relish and other pickled products....
, the major pickle processor in the state. Once more, Velásquez decided on a boycott when initial attempts to secure a three-way collective bargaining contract failed. Velásquez personally led a four-day, 70 miles (112.7 km) march from Mount Olive, North Carolina
Mount Olive, North Carolina
This article is about the town in Wayne County, North Carolina. For the unincorporated community in Stokes County see Mount Olive, Stokes County, North Carolina....
, to Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. On September 16, 2004, FLOC signed a collective bargaining agreement with Mount Olive and the growers which covered more than 8,500 of the state's 10,000 guest workers. It was the first union contract for farmworkers in the state, and the first to establish a union hiring hall
Hiring hall
In organized labor, a hiring hall is an organization, usually under the auspices of a labor union, which has the responsibility of furnishing new recruits for employers who have a collective bargaining agreement with the union....
in Mexico to supply the state with guest workers.
In 2010, Velásquez led FLOC in joining with the United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
in announcing a boycott of JPMorgan Chase to protest the banking concern's efforts to begin extensive foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
proceedings against homeowners nationwide. The same year, he was one of only 15 individuals appointed to a committee of the International Labor Organization to create global working condition stardards for farmworkers.
Other service
In 1990, Velásquez obtained a degree in practical theologyPractical theology
Practical theology is the practical application of theology to everyday life. Richard Osmer explains that the four key questions and tasks in practical theology are:# What is going on? # Why is this going on?...
from Florida International Seminary. He was later ordained a chaplain by Florida-based Rapha Ministries.
Velásquez has served on the board of directors of a number of different organizations. He helped organize the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, and in 2006 served on the board of directors of Agricultural Missions, a nonprofit corporate arm of the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
. As of 2010 serves on the board of Policy Matters Ohio
Policy Matters Ohio
Policy Matters Ohio is an Ohio-based nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research organization founded in January 2000. Its research focuses on economic issues facing low- and middle-income workers in Ohio. Through research, advocacy, media work, public events, and forging partnerships, Policy Matters...
, the University of Toledo
University of Toledo
The University of Toledo is a public university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. The Carnegie Foundation classified the university as "Doctoral/Research Extensive."-National recognition:...
, and the Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo
Toledo Zoo is a zoo located in Toledo, Ohio. The zoo began in 1900 as Toledo Zoological Gardens and operated by the City of Toledo's Parks Board. In 1982 ownership was transferred from the city to Toledo Zoological Society, a private non-profit organization, and professionalized the zoo's management...
. In November 2010, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
Ted Strickland
Theodore "Ted" Strickland was the 68th Governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ....
appointed him to the Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, a state panel which analyzes the problems of and provides information about programs affecting Spanish-speaking people in that state.
Honors
Velásquez has received numerous honors. He received an inaugural Bannerman FellowshipBannerman Fellowship
The Alston/Bannerman Fellowship Program, based in Baltimore, Maryland, is committed to advancing progressive social change by helping to sustain long-time activists of color. The program honors those who have devoted their lives to helping their communities organize for racial, social, economic and...
s in 1988 for helping organize people for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice. He was named a MacArthur Fellow (the so-called "Genius Grant") the following year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In 1994, the National Council of La Raza
National Council of La Raza
The National Council of La Raza is a non-profit and non-partisan advocacy group in the United States, focused on improving opportunities for Hispanics. It is sometimes confused with La Raza Unida...
bestowed on him the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award. That same year he also received Mexico's Aguila Azteca Award—the highest award Mexico can give a non-citizen.
Velásquez has also received honorary Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
degrees from Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green State University, often referred to as Bowling Green or BGSU, is a public, coeducational research university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The institution was granted a charter in 1910 by the State of Ohio as part of the Lowry Bill, which also established Kent State...
in 1996, Bluffton College in 1998, and the University of Toledo in 1998.