1916
George Gilmary Higgins born in Chicago
1927
Cesar Estrada Chavez born near Yuma, Arizona
1938
Chavez family moves to San Jose, California, after loss of family farm
1940
Higgins ordained in Archdiocese of Chicago; begins study at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC
1944
Higgins begins work with the Social Action Department (SAD) of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (NCWC)
Chavez joins the U.S. Navy
1945
SAD director Father Raymond McGowan relinquishes authorship of his syndicated The Yardstick column to Higgins, which he would use to address numerous labor issues
1946
Chavez returns to California to work in the fields
1952
Community organizer Fred Ross, on the recommendation of Father Donald McDonnell, convinces Chavez to join the Community Service Organization as a volunteer organizer; by 1958, Chavez would be director of CSO
1954
Higgins named director of SAD
1959
Secretary of Labor James Mitchell names Higgins to commission to investigate bracero program, recommending that it be phased out. The program ended in 1964
1962
Chavez resigns from CSO after being unable to convince colleagues to allow him to unionize farmworkers; he and former CSO colleague Dolores Huerta found National Farm Workers Association
1965
Filipino-led Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) begins strike of grape growers in Delano, California, in protest of braceros being used for the harvest; the NFWA joins the strike days later
1966
Chavez embarks on march from Delano to Sacramento to bring attention to the plight of the farmworkers and the grape strike
U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare’s Subcommittee on Migratory Labor hold hearings in California on the grape strike; Sen. Robert Kennedy, a committee member, voices his support the workers
DiGiorgio Fruit Company and Perelli-Minetti Winery workers vote to be represented by UFWOC
NFWA and AWOC join to form United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC)
1967
Higgins and Chavez meet for the first time at the National Catholic Social Action Conference convention in Boston; Higgins lauds Chavez in Yardstick column of September 4
UFWOC and Teamsters reach jurisdictional agreement
1968
Chavez engages in first fast as a means of continuing the UFWOC’s commitment to non-violence. He would end his fast March 10 after 24 days by eating with Kennedy
National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) issues Statement on Farm Labor, which urges legislation to assist farmworkers but does not endorse the grape strike
1969
Higgins endorses grape strike in his Yardstick column
NCCB creates Bishop’s Ad Hoc Committee for Farm Labor to act as a mediator in negotiations between the UFWOC and growers
1970
Bishop’s Ad Hoc Committee assists in negotiating contracts between remaining grape growers and UFWOC, signaling the end of the grape boycott
Teamsters negotiate contracts with lettuce growers to be sole labor representative of its workers; UFWOC initiates lettuce strike and boycott
Chavez is jailed for 20 days in December for defying a court order prohibiting the use of strikes and boycotts
1972
UFWOC shortens its name to United Farm Workers of America (UFW) after its acceptance into the AFL-CIO.
Chavez holds 25-day fast in Phoenix to protest Arizona law that essentially outlawed union organization, strikes, and boycott
California Proposition 22, which would have guaranteed the right to unionization, but severely restricted strikes and boycotts, was opposed by the UFW and defeated by California voters.
1973
Teamsters negotiate new contracts with grape growers as those originally signed with UFW in 1970 expire; UFW reinstitutes grape boycott.
U.S. Catholic Church officially endorses UFW and its boycotts
1974
Chavez granted an audience with Pope Paul VI in Rome.
1975
The California State Legislature passes, and new Gov. Jerry Brown signs, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (CALRA), which allows for secret ballot elections among workers to decide whether they want union representation, and if so, what organization will represent them. The act also sets up a commission that will hear labor disputes.
1976
Bishop’s Ad Hoc Committee begins to pull back from the California struggle due to the passage of CALRA
1977
Teamsters and UFW reach long-term agreement respecting jurisdictional boundaries
Mid-1970s
UFW wins numerous unionization elections
1980
Higgins retires from the NCCB (now United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
1977-1993
Chavez continues to lead the UFW with varying degrees of success
1993
Chavez dies on April 23 in Arizona
2002
Higgins dies on May 1 in Illinois