The purpose of this memo is to compare the similarities and contrast the differences between Jimmy Hoffa Sr. and Cesar Chavez. Both Hoffa and Chavez were great charismatic labor organizers who had different methods of achieving their goals for their union. They had vastly different attitudes and personalities which aided them both in different ways. To fully understand each individual, a bit of background information is necessary.
Jimmy Hoffa Sr. grew up in an industrial world. He saw all of the ills, woos, and horrors that the industrial world had to offer. While still a young boy, Hoffa's father grew more and more ill as he worked as a coal miner and eventually died. After his father's death, his mother had to work which led them to moving
They believed that their approaches to making changes for the workers would work if they continued practicing the same method. Oftentimes their very own methods worked, and would result in the desired way. Sometimes however these methods would lead to quite a bit of anger from those that they opposed. The opposition would call on the courts to attempt to get the union leaders to stop whatever their union was doing. When the leaders did not do this, they were imprisoned. This was the main reason for Chavez's imprisonment. While this possibly partially led to Hoffa's imprisonment, his involvement with the mafia was most likely the main reason for his arrest.
Chavez and Hoffa were highly successful. The differences in their methods and approaches, should not lessen the incredible feats that they achieved for the workers that they worked with and for the workers of today. Their personalities and approaches are what led to them being two of the most remarkable union organizers and leaders of the
Hoffa was proud. He would talk about what he had accomplished, what he still will accomplish, why he was going to do it, and how great it would be for him and the union. He was proud and wanted others to know that he was. Now this may have been a tactic to make others realize what his true powers were and to frighten them into submission. Or it may just have been his ego and he enjoyed having it inflated by amazing others with his amazing feats. Additionally, Hoffa did not feel the need to ask for help. He rather said he could do it by himself than admit that he is vulnerable and needed
The strike was the final straw of years of racial build up, poor pay, and poor conditions towards Filipino American grape workers. From 1965 to 1970, Huerta and Chavez worked together to highlight the poor conditions that 5,000 migrant farm workers were dealing with in a series of non-violent marches, speeches, and rallies. There was no significant response for the first two years, where strikers began to loose faith and turned their impatience to anger. Huerta, with the help of Chavez, took on a different tactic towards the boycott and began to spread the strike nationally. Huerta encouraged and helped farmers travel across the United States and Canada, spreading the news on what was really happening and asking for more
This strike was a battle over several issues. One factor that escalated the strike intensity was the pensions battle. Billons of dollars in pensions were on the line. The Teamste...
Jimmy Hoffa began his union career as a teenager in the 1930s. A grade school dropout, he almost single handedly built the Teamsters union into an awesome national power. His hammer-handed negotiating techniques, his alleged links to organized crime, and his bitter feuds with John and Robert Kennedy made Hoffa the prototypical labor leader of his day.
By the time he finished the 8th grade, he dropped out of school to become a full-time migrant worker to help his family out. When Chavez became a full-time worker, he was exposed to the hardships of a farm worker's life. This sprang his dream of helping other farm laborers like him. On his birthday, March 31st 1962 he founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became known as the United Farm Workers of America. It started off with 10 people in the group, him, his wife, and his eight children but soon he started to recruit other members.
After having read and watched the video about Cesar Chavez’s union, I gained an understanding about his long struggle to gain rights for field workers. But after having attended the event “What I learned about Cesar Chavez” I even gained a better understanding about how Cesar Chavez accomplished what he did. Throughout Grossman's lecture I was able to form several connections to what I learned from the book. Grossman spoke about Cesar Chavez’s determination and ability to inspire others. These characteristics inspired me to fight for what I believe in.
Henry Ford and Walter Reuther are two of the biggest names in the world of automobile industries and organized labor. They were both activists in their own way. Also, they were completely different from each other, one could even argue that they were opposites. Their ideas were contradicting, but still both of them had positive effects on society.
Chavez was greatly supported the idea of equality the he “gained national stature as a labor union spokesman” with all the action he would take not only in his community but others as well. He was such an influential person that the people of the US Senate offered him to” have a testimony during an US Senate subcommittee hearing” . While he is there he lets the people know how these migrant farm workers are being treated and what people are able to do to help. His actions that he took changed US History by letting the people know what and how the migrant workers are treated.
Cesar chavez (1927-1993) was a civil rights leader. He is most famous for creating the National Farm Workers Association. Chavez grew up in Arizona on his family’s farm. When the depression hit, Chavez was 11 years old, and his family lost their farm and were forced to become migrant workers. The working conditions on the farms Chavez and his family worked on were horrible. This later inspired him to make a union for farm workers, the National Farm Workers Association. He is known for being an activist of civil rights for Latinos, rights for farm workers, and also for animal rights.
Through the years, individuals have shown that a single man can make a difference. Men who, when committed to a cause, will rise up with honor, integrity, and courage. Cesar Chavez was such a man. He represented the people and rose above his self concerns to meet the needs of the people. Cesar Chavez showed us that, “The highest form of freedom carries with it the greatest measure of discipline.” He lived by this standard and fought freedom with the highest form of dignity and character.
against their employers, employees were able to go on strike and prove a point. Some
...d knight of labor. When they are all fighting the workers are still in bad conditions and nothing gets done. In 1895, the Supreme Court declared that the government has power from the Constitution to remover obstruction from the highway (Document H). This really tells us that the government has all the power and can replace the strikers when they get in the way. Since the government is more powerful, they have more control over the activists outweighing them all. So, because the activists are busy fighting, the government can take over and so the poor are left where they are.
If Chavez would have stood for illegal immigration, I believe, he would have been twice as powerful. Thousands didn't join him in his cause because of his position on that. In spite of that, however, Chavez reached millions and changed the Mexican American society forever.
To sum up, Chavez was a man that fought for farmers to be traded better. One of his quotes was “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people”. With this, we can conclude that no matter the kind of strike he had lead, it was always for the people. For example, when he was fighting about the pesticide in grapes or lettuces, the true fight he was leading was always a fight for the people in order to make their lives easier. Maybe his life was not easy as a child working at a young age or maybe it got more complicated as he got older and enter the unions to defend the people that worked on farms, but he got to be a hero among the farmers. More importantly, Chavez got the farmers the momentum they needed in order for them to fight for what they wanted, and in the end, accomplished to get the rights they deserved.
3. Dolores Huerta was the main negotiator during the Delano grape strike. In 1965 Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez were approached by Filipino members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee ("AWOC"). AWOC wanted higher wages from the Delano are grape growers. AWOC wanted to negotiate new contracts with their employers but they needed the help of Huerta and Chavez. The NFWA was still new and growing although Huerta thought that NFWA was not ready to attack corporate America she could not refuse to help AWOC. The two unions formed into one union called United Farm Workers union. Under this the union Dolores began the battle with the Delano grape growers. Dolores organized over 5,000 workers to walk off their job and to strike until they could reach an agreement with their employers.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy described him as “one of the heroic figures of our time” (Cesar Chavez Foundation). This shows that Cesar Chavez made a difference in people’s lives, including Senator Robert’s. Some people may say that immigrants are bad people but Cesar Chavez was an immigrant himself yet, also a hero to the country. Experts say he was an American farm worker, labor leader, and a civil rights activist. This shows that he fought for what he believed in. Being a farm worker wasn’t something he planned on doing but he had no choice because he was an immigrant. He saw how cruel Americans were treating immigrants so he fought for their rights. He spoke for all the immigrants everywhere. The Cesar Chavez Foundation mentioned that at age 11, his family lost their farm during the great depression and became migrant farm workers. This shows how and why Cesar Chavez fought for farmworkers rights. He grew up not having the best childhood but he took others lives into consideration and fought for them to have a better and brighter