Cesar Chavez debating with a grower

It was a busy year. Members of Santa Maria's UFW chapter witnessed the bloody summer of 1973. The photograph captures a tense moment in which Cesar Chavez, hand on chin, and flanked by UFW supporters, is locked in a heated debate with a Coachella Valley grower. Chavez had asked the farm owner why he had picked the Teamsters, who are standing behind the owner, to represent the farm workers who picked his grapes. By accepting Teamster representation, Chavez argued, growers were trying to deny farm workers their democratic right vote for a union.