Dolores Huerta Dies at 96

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, died at age 96.

Her family confirmed the death via an Instagram post on Wednesday morning. Huerta had been active in labor and civil rights work well into her ninth decade. She served as a central figure in the UFW from its 1962 founding in Delano, California, until she left full-time union work in the late 1980s.

Historians credit Huerta with much of the early organizational work that established the union. She traveled from door to door to recruit members and maintained picket lines to keep workers out of the fields. She helped negotiate the first labor contract for farmworkers in North America, an agreement with the Schenley Wine Co. reached in 1966. She also promoted the union's national grape boycott on the East Coast. Her rallying cry, 'Sí, se puede!', became a standard chant at labor rallies for decades.

Huerta's relationship with her co-founder, Cesar Chavez, was long and complex. They met through the Community Service Organization, a progressive group focused on government services and equal rights. Chavez called Huerta to his East Los Angeles home in 1961 to propose starting a union. She joined him, and the two moved their families to Delano. Chavez relied on Huerta to negotiate with growers and create hiring halls, though the two frequently clashed over strategy. Audio recordings from a 1979 confrontation show Chavez calling Huerta 'stupid bitch' and accusing her of stealing. Huerta would often leave the union only to return within weeks. In a biography of Chavez, author Miriam Pawel described their bond as a 'mutual dependence that survived decades of discord.'

In March 2026, Huerta spoke publicly about sexual misconduct by Chavez. Two women stated that Chavez had assaulted them when they were teenagers. Huerta told the New York Times that Chavez had forced sex on her twice, resulting in two pregnancies. She said she remained silent for six decades to protect the farmworker movement. 'I now understand that I am a survivor, of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control,' she said. Some supporters argued the revelation reflected poorly only on Chavez, who had been viewed as a civil rights icon until his death in 1993.

After leaving the UFW, Huerta focused on women's rights and Democratic politics. She continued to campaign for workers and register voters. In 1999, she helped secure government benefits for workers displaced by a citrus freeze. She also negotiated with the Gallo wine company. Her Dolores C. Huerta Foundation supported various community projects, including a performing arts camp for children and food distribution during Central Valley floods in 2023. Her daughter, Camila Chavez, headed the foundation, while her son, Emilio Huerta, provided legal advice. Four other relatives served on the board.

In 2025, the foundation broke ground on the Dolores Huerta Peace & Justice Cultural Center in Bakersfield. The $35 million project, largely funded by the state of California, will include an academy for training community organizers. Huerta told a crowd at the groundbreaking that the next generation 'are the ones who are going to guide us forward.'

Huerta's influence extended beyond the UFW. Many former union members went on to lead other labor organizations. Eliseo Medina, a grape picker recruited by Huerta in the 1960s, later became the international secretary treasurer of the Service Employees International Union, a group with more than two million members. Medina said Huerta had a 'gift for making you believe in yourself.'

The union faced challenges in its later years. In 1973, the UFW lost many contracts to the Teamsters Union, which made deals with growers. Membership declined, though the union helped persuade California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. to impose strict farm labor regulations in 1975. Chavez died in 1993 at age 66. Huerta continued to work as a public speaker and foundation leader until her death. She was known for her red beret and her fierce advocacy for what she called 'la causa,' the struggle for better conditions for poor workers.