Buttons

Huelgistas at Coachella with buttons on their shirts and hats

Overview

Buttons also have a long tradition in union organizing.  Cheap and easy to produce, they are small and portable and can be worn on shirts, hats, and backpacks.  They can be designed to speak to specific issues and locations.  Many union members proudly wear buttons to show their participation in specific actions and events. Union supporters display buttons to show their solidarity with labor and community causes.

The buttons below illustrate how the UFW logo can signal solidarity with a larger struggle while also being customized to fit a particular strike, community, or crop. The first two display the UFW logo in support of the grape boycott, while the others speak to specific towns and crops. The last two link the UFW history of fighting for farm workers to later struggles in the strawberry fields of the Pajaro Valley.

Questions

  • What messages do the buttons below convey? 
  • Who might wear these buttons? Where might they be worn?

Button with UFW logo and the words "Boycott Grapes" Button with UFW logo and the words "boycott grapes" and "viva la causa"

Button with UFW logo and the words "Huelga Delano" Button with UFW logo and the words "Hasta la Victoria Siempre en Salinas Valley"

Button with UFW logo, a strawberry, and the words "Justicia Dignidad" Button with UFW logo, a strawberry and the words "Support Strawberry Workers, 5 cents for fairness"

Huelgistas with buttons Coachella.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University. 

Boycott Grapes.  LARTPN1438.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Boycott Grapes: Viva la Causa. LARTPN1798.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Huelga Delano. LARTPN1816.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Hasta la Victoria Siempre en Salina Valley. LARTPN1145.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Justicia Dignidad. LARTPN2163.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Support Strawberry Workers. LARTPN2123.  Labor Archives Research Center, San Francisco State University.