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Migrant Ministries
During the mid-1960s, the UFW and California Migrant Ministries partnered in support of farm worker justice through boycotts of major California table grape growers. More state Migrant Ministries joined in and helped grow the grape boycott nationally into one of the major social movements of the 1960s and 70s. -
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United Farm Workers Organization
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NFWM First Formed
State Migrant Ministries along with denominational partners, under the umbrella of the National Council of Churches, came together in 1971 and incorporated as NFWM. -
National Boycott
After the victorious signing of union contracts by California grape growers in 1970, the UFW called on NFWM to support a national boycott of non‐union lettuce following major lettuce and vegetable strikes in the Salinas Valley. -
Grapes of Wrath
In the 1980s, led by the UFW through the “Grapes of Wrath” Campaign, NFWM educated thousands of people of faith about the dangers of pesticides for farm workers and their children. -
2nd Grape Strike
NFWM’s growing base of supporters mobilized for the second grape strike and further UFW organizing efforts throughout the succeeding decade. -
Cesar Chavez’s death
After Cesar Chavez’s death in 1993, NFWM remained untiring supporters of the UFW. From the 1990s through 2000s, NFWM educated and mobilized supporters around the U.S. for UFW campaigns with companies including Coastal Berry Co., Pictsweet Mushrooms, Gallo of Sonoma and Threemile Canyon Dairy. -
AgJobs
NFWM supported the UFW-led effort to pass AgJobs (the first major immigration reform bill since the 1980s) and we continue following the UFW’s lead on immigration reform legislation. -
Modern NFWM
NFWM has supported multiple UFW organizing campaigns including Giumarra, Darigold and Gerawan Farming and supporting significant California legislative victories such as the 2002 Mandatory Mediation law and the 2016 Over-time for Farmworkers law.