Dolores Huerta, the labor and civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers with César Chávez, died at age 96 in Bakersfield, California, according to a family statement. Supporters are mourning her decades of work fighting for farmworkers. Dolores Huerta dies at a time when her advocacy remains widely cited in debates over farm labor.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, Huerta died surrounded by her family. Family spokesperson Erik Olvera confirmed the death in a statement to the Monitor. The sources say she died on a Wednesday, but they do not give an exact date.
Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 with Chávez. That group later became the United Farm Workers, according to the Monitor. She played a central role in the 1965 to 1970 Delano grape strike and coined the rallying cry "Sí, se puede," meaning "Yes, we can."
The Monitor reports that her organizing was instrumental in California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. The law granted farmworkers the legal right to form unions, hold secret-ballot elections and bargain collectively. South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that Huerta served as vice-president of the United Farm Workers for nearly four decades, organizing strikes and walkouts.
In March, following a New York Times investigation into Chávez’s sexual misconduct, Huerta publicly stated that she had been sexually abused and raped by Chávez in the 1960s, according to the Monitor.
Huerta remained politically active until a few months before her death. She protested U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the San Joaquin Valley and across the state. Around 100 people held candles in downtown Bakersfield on Wednesday evening. Her daughter, Lori de Leon, urged people to vote.
SCMP describes Huerta as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The excerpt available to reporters does not include a source for that claim.
The cause of death is not reported in any source reviewed. The NBC News item was available only as a headline and short excerpt, so its details could not be verified beyond that. The sources also include no response from federal immigration authorities to Huerta’s criticism of ICE operations. Most of the details in this report rely on the Monitor and SCMP, and the sources do not give the exact date of death.
No memorial or funeral arrangements are reported in the sources. Calls continue for her advocacy for workers and for voting to carry on.
Sources
This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.