(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)

Axan Kuauhtli said Tonatierra's fair trade coffee operation benefits small farmers in places including Chiapas, Mexico.

(Photo by Mariana Dale - KJZZ)

Jose Antonio Habre, better known as Casper, is a board member at Chicanos Por La Causa. He said it was the labor movement that inspired him to grab a picket sign.

(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)

"I don’t see myself organizing farmworkers anymore cause there isn’t any to organize," said Jose Cortez, who now runs to promote awareness and unity in indigenous communities," said Jose Cortez.

(Photo by Matthew Casey - KJZZ)

"I know in classrooms, students want to talk to me about ‘this relic of the past, this union thing you’re talking about, this dinosaur," John Coughlin said.

In a three-part series, KJZZ explores a turning point of undocumented citrus workers in the state.

Before the sun rises, Axan Kuauhtli is busy in a small building in downtown Phoenix. He pours green coffee beans from Chiapas, Mexico, into the coffee roaster’s hopper.

“There’s a lot of positive energy that gets produced by the projects that happen here and not just by the coffee,” Kuauhtli said.

The fair-trade-coffee operation is part of Tonatierra, an indigenous rights group. About 40 years ago Tonatierra had another name — the Maricopa County Organizing Project (MCOP). MCOP was labor group that organized agricultural workers for the first successful undocumented worker strike.

The contract MCOP helped negotiate ensured money went directly to economic development projects in Mexico. Labor groups have lost influence, but the ideology lives on in groups like Tonatierra and its coffee enterprise.

“We’re working with small farmers and cooperatives and collectives in the area who are trying to do community work in their area," Kuauhtli said. "It’s a small difference, but it really makes a big difference.”

'New wages of immigrants'

These efforts are limited. A new generation of workers makes their way from Mexico to the United States, legally and illegally, to seek new opportunities.

“We know there’s new waves of immigrants," said Paul Chavez, son of the late labor leader Cesar. He recently visited El Mirage with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to promote immigration reform. “We have a lot of people that are lifting and harvesting the greatest bounty [of] food that this country has ever seen, who are left in the shadows.”

Investigative reporting has shown farm workers can be subject to similar inhumane conditions fought against in the 1960s and '70s by leaders like Cesar Chavez and Gustavo Gutierrez.

For example,

• The Center for Investigative Reporting's 2013 report "Rape in the Fields," found hundreds of women agricultural workers had complained to the federal government about rape and assault and little action from law enforcement.

• A 2015 report by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune found half of Florida's migrant work camps received an "unsatisfactory" grade from the state health department in a five-year period. 
•  The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting created a database with more than 1,900 housing violations in eight states. Migrant workers lived in employer housing with black mold, bed bugs and overflowing sewage.

Those who study labor organizing, like John Coughlin, have watched the movement’s influence wane.

“I know in classrooms, students want to talk to me about ‘this relic of the past, this union thing you’re talking about  this dinosaur,” said Coughlin, who is history faculty at Glendale Community College.

Participation in labor unions has plummeted nationally. The latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor show 6 percent of all workers in Arizona have union representation.

“Organized labor’s goals now, as maudlin as this sounds, is to survive,” Coughlin said. “To maybe fight that fight down the road.”

One of these survivors is Jose Cortez. A one-time bodyguard for Cesar Chavez, he now runs to promote awareness for indigenous people.

“But I don’t see myself organizing farm workers anymore cause there isn’t any to organize,” Cortez said.

Planting seeds for a new generation

The leaders and followers of the labor movement also helped found other organizations such as Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), which provides social services to low-income groups.

CPLC board member Jose Antonio Habre, who goes by Casper, grew up in Phoenix barrios.

“My government name is, but they know me as Casper," he said.

He saw the buses pick up campesinos each day and drive them to the fields. When he learned about the condition the people labored under, he grabbed a picket sign and joined the cause.

“What it did for me is make me think,” Habre said. “And from making me think, it brought clarity to it. I started speaking out.”

Habre gets to fewer protests these days. He’s a substance abuse counselor and works with area youth.

“We don’t know which kids going be the one that’s going to stand up from that bunch,” he said. “We’re hoping that we’re going to plant a seed and let it grow.”

PART I: Arrowhead Ranch Past: Arizona Undocumented Workers Went On Strike 39 Years Ago

PART II: Arizona's 'Unsung Hero' Of The Farm Labor Movement