Editing Cesar Chavez (section)

===Growing success: 1966–1967===
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| quote = WE SHALL OVERCOME. Across the San Joaquin Valley, across California, across the entire Southwest of the United States, wherever there are Mexican people, wherever there are farm workers, our movement is spreading like flames across [a] dry plain. Our PILGRIMAGE is the MATCH that will light our cause for all farm workers to see what is happening here, so that they may do as we have done. The time has come for the liberation of the poor farm worker. History is on our side. MAY THE STRUGGLE GO ON! VIVA LA CAUSA!
| source=— Luis Valdez's "Plan de Delano", read aloud at each stop along Chavez's march to Sacramento{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=53}}
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In March 1966, the [[United States Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare|U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare's]] Subcommittee on Migratory Labor held three hearings in California. The third, which took place in Delano, was attended by Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]], who toured a labor camp with Chavez and addressed a mass meeting.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=122–123}} As the strike began to flag in winter, Chavez decided on a march of {{Convert|300|mi|km}} to the state capitol at [[Sacramento]]. This would pass through dozens of farmworker communities and attract attention for their cause.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=357|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2p=51|3a1=Pawel|3y=2014|3pp=124–125}} In March, the procession started out with about fifty marchers who left Delano.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=359|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2p=52|3a1=Pawel|3y=2014|3p=125}}

Chavez imbued the march with Roman Catholic significance. Marchers carried crucifixes and a banner of the [[Virgin of Guadalupe]] and used the slogan "Peregrinación, Penitencia, Revolución" ("Pilgrimage, Penitence, Revolution").{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=51|2a1=Wells|2y=2009|2p=7|3a1=Pawel|3y=2014|3pp=125, 127}} Portraying the march as an act of [[penance]], he argued that the image of his personal suffering—his feet became painful and for part of the journey he had to walk with a cane—would be useful for the movement.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1pp=52–53|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=127}} At each stop, they read aloud a "Plan de Delano" written by Valdez, deliberately echoing the "[[Plan de Ayala]]" of Mexican revolutionary [[Emiliano Zapata]].{{sfn|Bruns|2005|p=51}} At Easter, the marchers arrived in Sacramento, where over 8,000 people amassed in front of the state capitol. Chavez briefly addressed the crowd.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=359|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2pp=53–54|3a1=Wells|3y=2009|3p=7|4a1=Pawel|4y=2014|4pp=129–130}}

During the march, Chavez had been approached by Schenley's lawyer, [[Sidney Korshak]]. They agreed to contract negotiations within 60 days. Chavez then declared an end to the Schenley boycott; instead, the movement would switch the boycott to the [[DiGiorgio Corporation]], a major Delano land owner.{{sfnm|1a1=Street|1y=1996|1p=360|2a1=Bruns|2y=2005|2pp=53, 55|3a1=Pawel|3y=2014|3pp=129, 132}} DiGiorgio then called an election among their vineyard workers, hoping to challenge the NFWA's influence.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=133}} A more conservative union, the [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters]], was competing against the NFWA in the DiGiorgio workers' election.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=55|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=134}} After DiGiorgio altered the terms of the election to benefit a Teamster victory, Chavez removed the NFWA from the ballot and urged his supporters to abstain. When the vote took place in June 1966, nearly half of eligible workers abstained, allowing a Teamster victory.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=136}} Chavez then appealed to [[Pat Brown]], the [[Governor of California]], to intervene. Brown agreed, wanting the endorsement of the [[Mexican American Political Association]]. He declared the DiGiorgio election invalid and called for an August rerun to be supervised by the [[American Arbitration Association]].{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=136–137}} On September 1, Chavez's union was declared the victor in the second election.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=56|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=141}} DiGiorgio subsequently largely halted grape production in Delano.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=157}} The focus then shifted to [[Giumarra]], the largest grape grower in the [[San Joaquin Valley]].{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=182}} In August 1967, Chavez announced a strike against them followed by a boycott of their grapes.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=183}}

An agreement was reached that Chavez's NFWA would merge with the AWOC, resulting in a new United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC).{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=56|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=139}} AWOC's [[Larry Itliong]] became the new group's assistant director,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=139}} although soon felt marginalized by Chavez.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=145}} UFWOC was also made an organizing committee of the AFL-CIO; this ensured that it would become a formal part of the U.S. labor movement and would receive a monthly subsidy.{{sfnm|1a1=Bruns|1y=2005|1p=56|2a1=Pawel|2y=2014|2p=139}} Not all of Chavez's staff agreed with the merger; many of its more left-wing members mistrusted the growing links with organized labor, particularly due to the AFL-CIO's [[anti-communist]] views.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=139–140}} The UFWOC was plagued by ethnic divisions between its Filipino and Mexican members,{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=140}} although it continued to attract new volunteers. The majority of the volunteers were whites brought into the movement via left-wing and religious groups, or as part of social service internships.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=149}} Chavez brought new people, such as LeRoy Chatfield, [[Marshall Ganz]], and the lawyer Jerry Cohen, into his inner circle.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=144–145}} His old friend Fred Ross had also joined.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=133–134}} Soon, the secretary–treasurer Antonio Orendain was left as the only Mexican migrant in the union's senior ranks.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=145}}

In June 1967, Chavez launched his first purge of the union to remove those he deemed disruptive or disloyal to his leadership. His cover story was that he wanted to eject members of the [[Communist Party USA]] and related far-left groups, although the FBI's report at the time found no evidence of communist infiltration of the union.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=150}} Some longstanding members, such as Esher, left because they disapproved of these purges.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=154}} Tensions between Chavez and the Teatro had been building for some time; the Teatro's members were among those highly critical of the union's new links with the AFL-CIO.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=152}} Chavez was concerned that the Teatro had become a rival to his prominent standing in the movement and was questioning his actions.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|p=153}} Chavez asked the Teatro to disband, at which it split from the union and went on a tour of the U.S.{{sfn|Pawel|2014|pp=152–153}}