Because braceros were neither permanent nor American, they were a highly malleable low-wage labor force. Originally conceived in response to domestic labor shortages during World War II, the Bracero Program proved highly profitable, and growers successfully lobbied to have the program extended after the war.

From 1942 to 1964, the United States imported Mexican guest workers, referred to as “braceros,” to work in agriculture. However, despite widespread labor mobilization, labor unions were unable to significantly alter their situation due to their extreme political and social marginalization.Ī major obstacle to farm-labor mobilization during the 1940s and 1950s was the Bracero Program.

During the 1930s there were significant instances of farm labor insurgency throughout California (Daniel 1981, González 1999, L. The emergence of the UFW in the 1960s was predicated on a long history of Mexican American political mobilizations, dating to the early part of the twentieth century. The UFW was part of this social-movement cycle. This time period is most often associated with the civil rights and antiwar movements, but women, gay and lesbian persons, Native Americans, and Latinos were also active in pressing for change throughout the country. During the height of its activities in the 1960s and 1970s, the UFW was able to improve working conditions for farmworkers and was part of a broader movement for the social and political inclusion of people of Mexican origin into American society.ĭuring the 1960s, a plethora of political advocacy organizations emerged in the United States pressing for social and political change. The organization first emerged in 1965 under the leadership of César Chávez. The United Farm Workers of America (UFW) is a predominantly Mexican farm labor union operating primarily in California, but also in Arizona, Texas, Washington, and Florida.

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