Fred Ross Jr. (1947 – November 20, 2022) was a labor and political organizer in California, working closely with the

United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...

(UFW) and other progressive causes.

Early life and education

Ross was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, in 1947 to

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

and Frances Ross. He grew up in Boyle Heights, and Spanish was his primary language. He graduated from Redwood High School (Marin County). He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and graduated in 1970. He also graduated with a law degree from University of San Francisco Law School in 1983. His father was an active community organizer in California, known for his work with the UFW.

Farmworkers and other labor groups

Ross joined his father's work with the UFW after graduating from college in 1970. He worked with Dolores Huerta and

Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...

alongside his father. In 1971 he spearheaded farm worker campaigns in Oregon and Washington. In early 1975, he organized a march support of in farm workers. The march from Union Square in San Francisco to the

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

company headquarters of Gallo wines gathered between 15,000 and 20,000 farm workers and covered 115 miles. Ross Jr. also worked in other areas of labor organizing. He worked in Los Angeles as a community organizer with Industrial Areas Foundation in the mid-1990s. Later he organized health care and service workers at the SEIU and utility workers at IBEW 1245.

Political organizing

Ross was considered a key player in the election of

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...

in 1987 in a special election in San Francisco. He later served as the district director in Pelosi's local San Francisco office while she served in Congress. He founded Neighbor to Neighbor, a grassroots non-profit organization that opposed the Reagan-era support for policies in Nicaragua and El Salvador. To put pressure on the US government, Ross Jr. organized picket lines to discourage the unloading of Salvadoran coffee in California ports.

Personal life

Ross was married to Margo Feinberg, a labor attorney. They had two children, Charley and Helen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Fred Jr American political activists American workers' rights activists Activists from California People from San Diego 1947 births 2022 deaths