As a boy, Cesar Chavez picked peas, grapes, and other crops in the hot sun. It was a life of exhaustion, poverty, and despair. His experiences as a migrant farm worker had a profound effect on Chavez. With a strong belief in nonviolence, Chavez staged boycotts, strikes, and other protests to bring national attention to the terrible working and living conditions of the farm workers. He organized a labor union, which became the United Farm Workers Union, to demand higher pay and better treatment. Cesar Chavez never earned much money. He never owned a car or a house. He was simply an ordinary man with extraordinary vision and commitment.