6th Annual Cesar Chavez Day March

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Hundreds of labor union members marched through
downtown San Diego Monday to celebrate Cesar Chavez Day.

The annual Cesar Chavez Day March has become largest of the year for the
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, according to the umbrella
organization that represents the region's unions.

Marchers rallied at Spanish Landing Park, then marched to Lindbergh
Field and around county and state buildings, before winding up on the Community
Concourse next to City Hall.

Chavez, who championed the rights of farm workers in California and
other states, would have turned 86 years old on Sunday.

“He was an incredibly committed person, but he did it with an aura —
like maybe Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela — of a calmness, of sweetness, of
love that just brought people together,” said Mayor Bob Filner.

Chavez died in 1993.

San Diego Unified School District trustee Richard Barrera and Labor
Council CEO Lorena Gonzalez, who is running for the open Assembly seat in the
southern part of San Diego County, also took part in the march.