Esther Uranday

Esther Tarango Uranday (April 26, 1933 - December 18, 2017) was a Filipino American activist for the United Workers Front (UFW). She told Cesar Chavez that Filipino farm workers were striking against grape growers and helped get him involved in their work. She got more involved inthe UFW. Uranday managed the UFW and contracts. She helped build the UFW, and was a close friend of Helen Chavez. She traveled with Helen and Cesar Chavez to lead the National Boycott Tour, encouraging people to not eat grapes from certain growers. She also was an active and regular participant in picket lines (protests where the protestors try to stop people from getting into an area/place of work) at grape farms.

Protests

Besides helping manage hiring for the union, Uranday protested every day. She would get up early to strike at the grape fields. The protestors picketed (formed a picket line) against the terrible treatment of the migrant workers. Most of them were workers themselves, who were on strike (refusing to work as a form of protest). They caught the attention of both newspapers and the grape companies. They lost their jobs. For many, they and their families barely scraped by. They made a picket line near the grape fields and yelled “¡Huelga!”, which means “Strike!” Police would come and arrest them. However, they didn't let the arrests ruin their day and sang and told jokes in jail.