Chavez and Huerta's Movement Won Better Wages for Farmworkers

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Dolores Huerta and the late César Chavez are both credited with leading a movement that pushed growers to negotiate for better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. Their legacies are now getting renewed attention after allegations emerged that Chavez sexually abused Huerta and other women and girls, leading to the cancellation of several celebrations honoring him.

Why it matters

The rise of the farmworker movement led by Chavez and Huerta is considered one of the most important events in U.S. Latino history, as it resulted in the most significant and sustained improvements to the working conditions of agricultural laborers nationwide. However, the allegations against Chavez have complicated his legacy and prompted a re-examination of his actions.

The details

Chavez and Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962, which later became the United Farm Workers of America. Their efforts prompted California to pass the first state law recognizing farmworkers' right to collective bargaining. Chavez is known for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott, and eventually forcing growers to negotiate better wages and conditions. Huerta secured higher wages, health benefits, pensions, and pesticide protections for farmworkers through decades of organizing and advocacy.

• Chavez and Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962.
• The National Farm Workers Association merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee a few years later to become the United Farm Workers of America.
• In 1966, Chavez led a march that started with a few activists in Delano, California and ended in Sacramento with 10,000 people.
• In 1988, Huerta was seriously injured while demonstrating.
• Chavez died in 1993 at the age of 66.

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