ARIZONA (By Alia Beard Rau, Arizona Republic) March 31, 2004 -- Phoenix, Tempe and the Roosevelt School District today are joining an increasing trend across the Southwest to honor the late farm worker labor leader Cesar Chavez with a paid government holiday.

They aren't the first in the state to honor the Arizona native; the town of Guadalupe and Pima County have had a paid holiday honoring Chavez for years.

A few Valley public entities, most notably Glendale, are considering a paid Chavez day off. Many cities and schools are recognizing Chavez with marches, breakfasts and other activities.

About three years ago, Arizona joined a handful of other states in marking March 31 as a non-paid holiday for Chavez, who was born March 31, 1927, on a small farm near Yuma.

He founded the United Farm Workers Union, which used non-violent techniques such as boycotts, protests and fasts to improve the working conditions of farm laborers, bringing them better wages, health insurance and safer working conditions.

A grass-roots group of residents called Arizona United is pushing for a paid state holiday. Its goal is to collect 122,612 valid signatures by July 1 to get the measure on the November ballot.

Any such effort will likely be much different than the Martin Luther King holiday struggle Arizona endured more than a decade ago. That paid holiday was a national movement. Arizona bowed to national pressure, including the loss of a Super Bowl, before being the last state to approve a King holiday.

Since his death in 1993 near Yuma, Chavez's birthday has become a paid holiday in California and in several counties and cities, including Los Angeles, Denver and Santa Fe. Other states with non-holidays that recognize Chavez are Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

Tempe Councilman Ben Arredondo said it is important for his city to be at the forefront of recognizing Chavez because he received an honorary doctoral degree from Arizona State University.

"We needed to play a leadership role to make this happen," he said. "It sends a message in the Southwest that the principles he stood for are valued. And I think you'll start to see other cities begin to do this, too."

Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley has instructed the employee diversity commission to figure out the logistics of establishing a paid Chavez holiday. He expects a recommendation within a week.

"This state is becoming more and more diverse daily, and we are dealing with immigration, migration and opportunity," Beasley said. "Mr. Chavez stood for all of that, and we have the responsibility to recognize the man and what he accomplished."

He said the push for paid holidays is coming now because Chavez's struggles in the past are increasingly being recognized as the struggles of the present and future.

There have been discussions for years about a paid Chavez holiday in Mesa, said Phil Austin, president of the Mesa Association of Hispanic Citizens.

"We haven't felt we've had the political might to get a holiday passed," he said. "We're trying to build up to that."

He said that it has taken several years for the public to realize what Chavez contributed to society and that that's why the push is coming now. He said although the Hispanic community is becoming more powerful in the Southwest, it is also facing increasing backlash on issues such as immigration and bilingual education.

"In light of these attacks, it's becoming more helpful to be able to reflect back on someone else who faced this kind of thing," Austin said. "And it lets us use him as a model to avoid violence and try to work these things out together."

Some Arizonans oppose a paid Chavez holiday.

"If they want to take time off work on their own time, that's one thing," said Corky Heinsen of Phoenix. "But we can't just have a holiday for every famous person."

Some say giving employees a day off doesn't fit with Chavez's message. But Jim Lugo, who is gathering signatures to bring a paid state Chavez holiday to the voters, disagrees.

"People who marched with Cesar when he was alive and worked with him tell us a paid holiday is fitting because it would give everybody time to reflect on his accomplishments," the 20-year-old Glendale man said. "People should take the day to think about all the different sectors of hardworking people everywhere in Arizona."

Arredondo said residents should celebrate Chavez's legacy by making sure the day isn't spent just watching TV or catching up on chores.

"Chavez wouldn't want a day off just to rest," he said. "There is no greater gift, he would say, than giving. Find a way to give to the community."

Phoenix and Tempe's paid Chavez holidays were initiated by employee groups and approved by city councils.

"Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to serving others," Tempe diversity coordinator Rosa Inchausti said. "Our employees feel a connection to that, as we serve others ourselves as public servants."