March to Modesto
March to Modesto
Luis Valdez and marchers walking on the street during the march to Modesto, Modesto, CA, 1975. Photo by John Kouns.
In the summer of 1973, E. & J. Gallo Winery decided not to renew their contracts with United Farm Workers and instead signed with the Teamsters. 127 Gallo farm workers went on strike at Gallo’s Livingston Ranch when Gallo signed these new contracts because they weren’t consulted and because the Teamsters’ contracts gave workers less protection from pesticides in the field. The UFW decided to march in 1975 in protest for an election to determine if Gallo workers really wanted to switch to the Teamsters’ contracts from the UFW’s. The 110-mile march from San Francisco to Modesto lasted one week, from February 22 to March 1. A concurrent march happened from Delano up to Modesto on a similar path to the march to Sacramento in 1966. After the march, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 was signed, giving farm workers the right to collective bargaining.
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