Migrant Farm Workers
In the 1960s, migrant farm workers, who traveled to the U.S. for seasonal work, labored
under horrible conditions. They were paid low wages, had no access to toilets in the fields
where they worked, and lived in unheated shacks. How could farm laborers with no voice
combat this problem? Activists Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta joined forces to help
them. They created a union called the United Farm Workers, or UFW, and organized
California grape pickers to leave the fields and go on strike. They also initiated a boycott,
convincing millions of people around the country to stop buying California grapes from
nonunion growers. By 1970, many grape growers had signed an agreement with the
UFW, promising higher wages, better working conditions, and health-care benefits.
What is the main idea of the passage?