Monday is Cesar Chavez Day, and people across the nation will remember and commemorate the late civil rights icon and labor leader. In three states - California, Colorado and Texas - it is an official state holiday.
In California, most state offices and public schools are closed. In his proclamation declaring Monday Cesar Chavez Day, California Governor Jerry Brown stated that “Cesar Chavez and the UFW played an instrumental role in the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which I signed into law in 1975." Brown went to to say the legislation made California "the first in the nation to give farm workers the right to seek union representation and bargain collectively within an established legal framework.”
The movie "Cesar Chavez" opened this past weekend, and a new documentary and book have contributed to a resurgence of the late civil rights leader's life and accomplishments.
On Monday Labor Secretary Tom Perez tweeted out about the late labor leader's importance:
