U.S. labour union founded in 1962 as the National Farm Workers Association by Cesar Chavez (Chavez, Cesar), a migrant farm labourer. The union merged with the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in 1966 and was re-formed under its current name in 1971 to achieve collective-bargaining (collective bargaining) rights for farmworkers in the United States. UFW seeks to empower migrant farmworkers and improve their wages and working conditions. It also works to espouse nonviolence and to educate members on political and social issues.