Two of these events were held back-to-back on September 13th in Eugene at the First United Methodist Church and September 14th at SEIU Local 49 Hall in Portland. These gatherings also commemorated the tenth anniversary of the passing of PCUN co-founder and President Cipriano Ferrel; he died on September 13, 1995 at the age of 45.

In Portland, Masters of Ceremonies Martín González and Carmén Ramírez opened the program. “We hear it said often that our Movements don’t celebrate enough. Well today at least, we’re aiming to do something about that”. SEIU Local 49 President (and SEIU International Vice President) Alice Dale welcomed PCUN and supporters to Local 49’s hall and lauded PCUN’s many contributions to the broader labor and immigrants rights movements.

Both events featured keynote speaker Magdaleno Rose-Avila, Director of the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project in Seattle, an author and a nationally know human and immigrants rights organizer. “PCUN dreamed the impossible”, declared Rose-Avila. “And we’re here today celebrating because they have achieved much of that dream and we’re here to continue dreaming—about what we envision for the next twenty years.” He was referring to the display surrounding the audience listing 34 ideas for that vision already gathered from PCUN members and leaders and from leaders of PCUN’s sister organizations.

The events also included the announcement of a new project: research, writing and publication of a biography of Ciprano Ferrel. Leading this project is Mario Sifuentez, a doctoral student at Brown University in Rhode Island. Mario’s studies there prevented him from attending the gatherings but in a prepared statement he introduced himself and explained the project. “I am the son of migrant farmworkers who came to eastern Oregon in the late 70s. Through their hard work I was able to attend the University of Oregon on an academic scholarship and completed both my Bachelors and Masters degrees there. Now, as an academic in training I believe that the next logical step for me is to tell the story of all those dedicated, passionate, and socially conscious people who made PCUN what it is today. Cipriano Ferrel was a large part of PCUN’s success, yet he did it with a modesty and humbleness not often seen in today’s world. Through his life, I plan to tell the story of not only PCUN, but also the story of so many Mexican immigrants and their families who make the Northwest the agricultural success it is.”

At the Eugene event, PCUN President Ramón Ramírez invited those attending to add to the program’s listing of PCUN’s 68 major accomplishments to date in farmworker and labor rights, immigration and movement building and to help prioritize the ideas for PCUN’s twenty year vision. “We know that our work is never done.” Ramón concluded, “But we’ve made a lasting difference in the lives of thousands of farmworkers and Latino immigrants and with your help we’ll make even more historic change.”

True to PCUN’s community roots, musical interludes were performed by Raul Cortés Pérez, a farmworker who resides at the Nuevo Amanecer housing project in Woodburn and by the Rondalla Alma Latina from Salem, composed of guitar students and led by director and instructor Amador Aguilar. The program closed with a look back at the financial support which has sustained PCUN work over the past two decades, including more than $1,500,000 contributed by farmworkers.

No farmworker movement event would be complete with out frequent cries of “Si Se Puede!” (“It Can be Done!”). As the program concluded, PCUN Secretary-Treasurer Larry Kleinman pointed to the back page of the written which simply said “Si Se Pudo” (We Did It!) and said “Today, we can add ‘Si Se Podrá’ (‘We Will Do It!’)”.



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