[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ disabled_on=”on|off|off” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_direction=”360deg” background_color_gradient_stops=”#000000 0%|rgba(10,10,10,0) 65%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”http:\/\/farmworkermovement-csun.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/17.41.JK_.N35.B7.05.28.09-scaled.jpg” background_size=”custom” background_image_width=”110%” background_position=”top_center” background_vertical_offset=”30%” width=”100%” min_height=”39vh” custom_margin=”-2px|||||” custom_padding=”98px|0px|98px|0px|true|true” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”85px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_font_size=”76px” custom_margin=”||-16px|||” header_font_tablet=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_font_phone=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_font_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ disabled_on=”off|on|on” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_direction=”360deg” background_color_gradient_stops=”#000000 0%|rgba(10,10,10,0) 65%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”http:\/\/farmworkermovement-csun.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/17.41.JK_.N35.B7.05.28.09-scaled.jpg” background_size=”custom” background_image_width=”110%” background_position=”top_center” background_vertical_offset=”35%” width=”100%” min_height=”39vh” custom_margin=”-2px|||||” custom_padding=”98px|0px|98px|0px|true|true” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”85px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_font=”|700|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#FFFFFF” header_font_size=”40px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||-16px|||” header_font_tablet=”Roboto Slab|700|||||||” header_font_phone=”Montserrat|700|||||||” header_font_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding=”25px||35px|||”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”12px||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/digital-library.csun.edu\/fmc” link_option_url_new_window=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Jerry Cohen speaks into a microphone at a rally at the State Capitol in Sacramento, California in 1975. Photo by John Kouns.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.6em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n In 1967, having just graduated from law school, Jerry Cohen started work at the California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), a federally funded legal aid program expecting to work with C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez and the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC). However, he learned after starting work that the funding conditions of the CRLA prohibited him from working with the Union directly. His CRLA supervisor asked him to refrain from being seen on Union picket lines even in his free time after Cohen visited a picket in Bakersfield and offered a few words of legal advice to clear up an incident between UFW boycotters and a Mayfair store owner. Cohen decided to start hanging out at People’s Bar in Delano, where he bumped into Ch\u00e1vez and recounted his frustration that the CRLA could not help UFWOC. In response, Ch\u00e1vez recruited the 26-year-old Cohen to be the union\u2019s first General Counsel, a position he held for 14 years.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”http:\/\/farmworkermovement-csun.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/17.41.JK_.N35.B7.05.28.08-scaled.jpg” background_size=”custom” background_image_width=”110%” background_position=”top_center” background_vertical_offset=”37%” min_height=”508px” custom_margin=”||5px|||” custom_padding=”13px||1px|||” link_option_url=”https:\/\/digital-library.csun.edu\/fmc” link_option_url_new_window=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”448px” custom_padding=”15px||4px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”20px” text_line_height=”1.6em” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Working out of a tiny kitchen-turned-office in the Pink House in Delano with assistant Jessica Govea and Union leadership, Cohen led many legal battles against the growers. The Wagner Act established the right to collective bargaining and to take collective action such as strikes- however, the federal law excluded farmworkers. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the Wagner Act and deemed secondary boycotts illegal, but because it excluded farmworkers, the UFWOC was able to secondary boycott Safeway stores selling Giumarra products. Jerry Cohen created a separate union for the nine UFWOC members working at DiGiorgio’s peanut shelling plant to ensure that no UFWOC members were working jobs that fell under the federal jurisdiction of the Wagner Act, allowing the Union to secondary boycott without fear of litigation of the growers. When Giumarra got a court order that deemed the usage of bullhorns illegal because it disrupted business, Cohen proved that it was taking away petitioners’ right to speak. Cohen was one of the leading figures in negotiating the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) in 1975. After a couple of years of working at La Paz, the new Union headquarters, Jerry Cohen and his legal team were relocated to Salinas in 1974 to be closer to the vegetable workers striking. Cohen left the UFW in 1981.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” link_option_url=”https:\/\/digital-library.csun.edu\/fmc” link_option_url_new_window=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Jerry Cohen speaks into a microphone at a rally at the State Capitol in Sacramento, California in 1975. Photo by John Kouns.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#D8D2C4″ min_height=”530px” global_module=”70″ saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,1_4,1_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/farmworkermovement-csun.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/footer_logos.png” title_text=”footer_logos” url=”https:\/\/www.csun.edu\/bradley-center” url_new_window=”on” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/farmworkermovement-csun.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NEH-Preferred-Seal.png” alt=”NEH-Preferred-Seal-logo” title_text=”NEH-Preferred-Seal” _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Tom & Ethel Bradley Center [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Emergency Information<\/a><\/p>\n University Policies & Procedures<\/a><\/p>\n Title\u00a0<\/span>IX<\/abbr><\/a><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.21.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Terms and Conditions for Use<\/a><\/p>\n
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