jun 1, 1978 - Growing Schisms

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In June 1978, Chavez joined a picket in Yuma as part of his cousin Manuel's Arizona melon strike. This broke an injunction and Chavez was thrown into the county jail for a night. By 1978, there was growing anger at the UFW among vegetable workers; they were frustrated by its incompetency, especially in the running of its medical plan. In the 22 farmworker elections that took place between June and September 1978, the UFW lost two-thirds. To stop the loss of its contracts and members, Chavez launched his Plan de Flote, an initiative to regain the trust of the vegetable pickers. Chavez organized a new strike over wages, hoping that salary increases would stem the UFW's losses; the union made its wage demands in January 1979, days after its contracts had expired.[Eleven lettuce growers in the Salinas and Imperial Valleys were included in the strike, which caused lettuce prices to soar.

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