Student Senate passes bill
celebrating Cesar Chavez

The Associated Students of Boise State University Senate unanimously voted to designate the last week of March “Cesar Chavez Week” in recognition of the civil rights activist.

“It is very important to have this celebration because nobody knows what happened in the ‘60s and ‘70s in respect to the Chicano movement or the Farm worker movement,” said Fernando Mejia, general assistant of the Organizacion de Estudiantes Latino-Americanos (OELA) at BSU.

According to the bill, Chavez played a key role in forming the first collective bargaining agreement between farm workers and growers in the United States. The agreement provided required rest periods, clean drinking water, protection from pesticides and the banning of the pesticide DDT. He helped to organize the first farm workers union, credit union and pension plan. He helped set guidelines for safety and banning discrimination and sexual harassment. Chavez helped institute state coverage for unemployment, disability and worker’s compensation benefits, the legislation states.

Chavez led a march 10,000 workers strong in 1992 in the Salinas Valley, Calif., in support of better working conditions in the fields, the legislation states.

Chavez died in April 1993.

“I think that [Chavez] is one of the most important Americans of the 20th Century,” BSU Sociology Professor Richard Baker told the Senate. “He was just an incredible, charismatic person.”

The Senate also has a bill on its docket that would provide $1,000 from ASBSU’s discretionary account to the BSU Cultural Center to finance this year’s Caesar Chavez Week. The money would fund lectures, discussion forums, workshops, a movie, an exhibit, and promotion of said events.

“The Latino population is the largest minority on campus,” said Sen. Tabielle Antchekov (the sponsor for both bills). “Idaho is a very rural state, and a lot of people don’t realize the impact that farmers have on this state and how farm workers have contributed to our economy. Cesar Chavez is especially important here because of that.”

The bill will not go into effect until signed by ASBSU President David Morriss.

Dustin Lapray
News Writer

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