Palm Sunday, April 3, marked a significant breakthrough for the NFWA. The pilgrims attended mass in the morning in Manteca’s South City Park and then embarked on a walk that started with several hundred participants and grew to several thousand people upon reaching Stockton. As the marchers rested in St. Mary’s Square, César Chávez received a call from Sidney Korchak, a Los Angeles labor negotiator representing Schenley, a major liquor distributor with property in Delano. He wanted to schedule a meeting to discuss union recognition and negotiate a contract.

After discussing with the other marchers, Chávez and Chris Hartmire left Stockton driving to Beverly Hills. In the following days, the NFWA negotiated an agreement with Schenley Industries, securing union recognition. The contract, negotiated by Dolores Huerta and signed on June 21, 1966, became the first union contract in California farm labor history. It provided a new minimum of $1,75 wage but most importantly union recognition and the creation of a union hiring hall that would eliminate labor contractors. At that time, California’s $ 3.7 billion agricultural industry employed some 500,000 workers, and the average income of seasonal farm workers was estimated at $2,500. (Go to Day 19)