"As part of the plan to extend the boycott of fresh grapes, organizers were sent out across the U.S. I was sent to Portland, Oregon, to do whatever I could to simply stop the supermarkets from carrying fresh grapes. Soon after I arrived, I organized a picket line of local Portland supporters of the UFW. We gathered at a wholesale produce terminal where we had heard a shipment of grapes was about to arrive via a Teamster-driven truck. It was a glorious success as the Teamster driver refused to cross the picket line and left town without unloading the grapes. He then headed for Seattle where I called ahead to my fellow boycotters so they could get their picket line out to stop the truck again."
~ Francis Ryan, Reflections on the Beginning of the Farmworker Organization, 1968
A Frontier for Workers’ Rights:
The Delano Grape Strike and Boycott
The Delano Grape Strike: The Boycott Campaign
Chavez and Itliong knew farm owners would continue to deny farmworkers their rights, so they reverted to boycotts. The activists urged consumers to boycott grapes by pressuring supermarket chains throughout the US to stop buying grapes. In December 1965, the UFW launched a boycott of Delano's main growers: Schenley Industries and DiGiorgio Fruit Corporation. To rally support, activists gathered in cities all over the nation, picketing establishments that sold Schenley goods. Additionally, DiGiorgio rigged union elections so that strikers could not vote, but Chavez boycotted the election by pulling the NFWA off the ballot. The boycott gained national traction, causing millions of dollars in losses for growers.
Cesar Chavez letter to Los Angeles supporters, Digital Public Library of America, 1968
"The growers are using every trick to stop our victory. They continue to refuse to negotiate with us. We are calling for a national boycott of Schenley Liquors and Delano grapes. The enclosed supplement, published for us by THE MOVEMENT, will give you full information on the boycott. In addition, there is enclosed 'Boycottmemo#1.' Please help us reach the consumers of the country. Tell them that they can support the farm workers grass-roots war on poverty by not buying Schenley Liquors or Delano grapes."
~ Mike Miller and Jim Drake, National Boycott Committee coordinators, letter to Los Angeles public, 1965
"[S]uccess depends on our support, which we can give by boycotting all non-UFW iceberg lettuce, table grapes, and Franzia, Guild, and Gallo wines. The boycott has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO Executive Council, the United Auto Workers, the United Steel Workers of America, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the United Church of Christ, and local labor and religious leaders across the country."
~ UFW, Boycott Lettuce & Grapes: A Political Education Report No. 5, circa 1967
UFW poster, Digital Public Library of America, 1975
UFW flyer, Digital Public Library of America, 1969
"Schenley's...with 1965 profits of $17,000,000, sometimes pays its workers as low as 30¢ an hour. Hundreds of its workers have gone on strike...Because farm workers have no assistance fram the government to help bring about mediation of their strike they are dependent upon the general public to pressure growers to sit down at the table and discuss wages and conditions. So we ask for your help through a boycott of Schenley products"
~ El Malcriado magazine, no. 32, 1966
Map of boycotts and strikes 1965-1975, University of Washington Mapping American Social Movements Project, 2015
Marina Peng, Senior Division, Individual Website