A dedication ceremony was held Thursday for the high school named after Cesar Chavez. But relatives of the late United Farm Workers leader refused to attend.

Members of a teachers union were picketing the ceremony and Chavez family spokesman Marc Grossman says the family doesn’t cross picket lines. “They feel very bad about not being with the community on this great day. It’s the first new high school in Stockton in 50 years and then to be named for Cesar Chavez has been a real source of pride but it is an issue of fundamental principle that we do not cross picket lines.”

The Stockton Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association are in the middle of contract talks with the school district.