Editor's note: This story has been updated.
(The Center Square) – The California Senate unanimously passed a bill on Thursday that renames Cesar Chavez Day “Farmworkers Day.”
A few hours later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill, which received unanimous approval from the Assembly on Monday. The March 31 state holiday will be known by its new name.
The Legislature moved to rename the day, originally in honor of late farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, after a New York Times investigation published this month found that there were multiple allegations of sexual abuse and assault by Chavez against women and girls for years.
Chavez, who was president of United Farm Workers, died in 1993.
“For generations, farmworkers have labored under a relentless sun,” Sen. Maria Durazo, D-Los Angeles, said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “They built one of the most consequential labor movements in all of American history, not because of any one person, but because of their collective strength, their sacrifice and their refusal to be invisible.”
The legislation renaming the holiday was Assembly Bill 2156. It was introduced by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Salinas, and Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara.
State lawmakers in California also signaled support for female farmworkers this week by announcing legislation that would give women in fields, farms and other agricultural labor settings access to menstrual products for free. Women at a press conference held in the California Capitol on Tuesday said female relatives who worked in the fields often had to suffer in silence on their menstrual cycles, working in jobs that required hard physical labor while enduring cramps and not making enough money to afford menstrual products.
“There were times when she had to use rags, paper or even pieces of her own clothing because she had no access to menstrual products,” Perla Sanchez, the daughter of a migrant worker, said of her mother’s experience on Tuesday. “She could not afford them. There were no stores nearby, and she was too ashamed to ask for help.”
The California Legislature joins other governments across the country in removing Cesar Chavez’s name from parks, schools, streets and days honoring the U.S. farmworker movement, according to previous reporting from The Center Square. The Phoenix City Council on Wednesday voted to rename Cesar Chavez Day “Farmworkers Day," while the city of Seattle took Chavez’s name off of one of its parks in the South Park neighborhood.
In addition, an Arizona Senate committee voted Wednesday to advance a bill repealing Cesar Chavez Day statewide. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors followed the lead of the city of Los Angeles and renamed the holiday "Farmworkers Day." Likewise, the Los Angeles Unified School District board approved a motion Tuesday to remove Chavez's name and likenesses from wherever it appears in the nation's second-largest school district. That included renaming two schools.
The March 31 date for Cesar Chavez Day prompted quick action across the country to respond to the allegations made by women in the farm labor movement who, according to The New York Times, were assaulted by Chavez from the time they were children. Dolores Huerta, the farm labor movement’s most prominent female leader, also said in The New York Times investigation that she was raped by Chavez.
“When we talk about honoring farmworkers, this is not about one person,” Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Lancaster and the daughter and granddaughter of farmworkers, said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “This is not about one narrative. It’s about honoring generations of sacrifice, resilience and hope. No one person owns this story.”
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