Decline and Legacy
In the late 1960s the union established a gas and auto-repair co-op, a legal aid office, and other services for migrant workers and members. It also came under the direct control of Cesar Chavez' union, a change in organizational affiliation that many activists wanted but which may have drained its meager resources as Chavez moved the best organizers into positions working to support the California union's grape boycott effort. By 1970, the union broke with Chavez and entered the cannery organizing field, but this move led to a loss of support from the AFL-CIO, and the union rejected an offer to become a Teamster's affiliate union out of loyalty to Chavez even after he had abandoned the union.
Although this union lasted only 6 years many of its organizers went on to work for the United Farm Workers grape boycott effort and other Mexican-American organizations in Wisconsin and Texas including United Migrant Opportunity Services, Inc., La Raza Unida Party, and elected and appointed offices in Wisconsin and Texas.
Read more about this topic: Obreros Unidos
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