“The union has always been run according to the views of the President, Cesar Chavez. It became unable to deal with dissenting opinions. There can be no doubt that the other Plaintiffs and I were removed because Cesar perceived us to pose some kind of threat to his stronghold on the UFW, not because we failed to do our jobs.”

Mario Bustamante declaration, May 18, 1982, after he and eight other workers sued the union to overturn their dismissals. The court concluded Chavez had no right to fire the paid representatives, but by then it was too late.