Labor activist Dolores Huerta dies at 96

Labor movement leader Dolores Huerta, who founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) alongside Cesar Chavez, has died at age 96, her family said Wednesday.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved mother, Dolores Huerta, has passed away today at the age of 96,” her family wrote on Instagram . “As you can imagine, this is an incredibly difficult time for us, and we ask for privacy as we grieve this incredible loss to our family.”

Huerta advocated for labor unions and farmworkers throughout the 1960s as well as women’s and LGBTQ rights later in life.

After meeting Chavez in the late 1950s, Huerta began advocating for better working conditions for farmworkers. Huerta and her group organized national boycotts of produce including lettuce and grapes, and their activism ultimately led to the first legislation awarding collective bargaining rights to California’s farmworkers.

Her movement practiced nonviolent civil disobedience, akin to the tactics of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement.

Later in life, she continued to advocate for farmworkers, serving on a commission established by Congress focused on their rights in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Huerta was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2012.

Huerta was also a political activist, supporting Democrats throughout her career. She campaigned for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016 and former Vice President Harris in 2024. The UFW had previously endorsed Harris in the primary when she ran for president in 2020.

In a post on the social platform X Wednesday, Harris reacted to Huerta’s death and remembered her legacy.

“The work of Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers was a driving force for change across California and our country,” Harris wrote. “Thanks to her, immigrants and workers won better wages, working conditions, environment protections, and voting rights.”

“Doug and I send our love and prayers to the four generations of loving family she leaves behind,” she added.

Her partnership with Chavez took a dark turn earlier this year after The New York Times reported several women had accused him of sexually assaulting and abusing them when they were as young as 12. Following the revelation, Huerta came forward with her own sexual assault allegations against Chavez.

Huerta said she too had been sexually assaulted by Chavez on two occasions in the 1960s. She said both assaults led to pregnancies and that she gave the children to other families.

The labor leader said she did not come forward sooner because she was focused on the movement and farmworker rights.

“The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights, and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way,” Huerta wrote in her statement recounting the abuse. “I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.”

The allegations left Chavez, who died in 1993 at age 66, with a complicated legacy.

After the women came forward, California lawmakers urged against Cesar Chavez Day celebrations and called for his name to be removed from the holiday, which commemorates the labor movement. Los Angeles renamed the event Farmworkers Day.

Huerta, a California resident, was praised for coming forward by some of the state’s elected officials at the time. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus said it was committed to renaming monuments with Chavez’s name, and, in a March poll, 51 percent of Americans said they would support such a move.

Reactions began to pour in on social media to Huerta’s death, from tennis star Billie Jean King to the Los Angeles Dodgers to Democrats from California and around the country.

“Her courageous leadership in civil disobedience set an invaluable example in nonviolence. Dolores’s memory will live on,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote in a social media post .

“May her legacy continue to inspire us all to fight for justice and dignity for everyone. Rest in power,” Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) wrote on the social platform X.

“Dolores’ fight for gender equity, workers’ rights, and civil rights paved the way for generations to come — teaching people what was possible with determination and heart,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said on social media.

Huerta’s family said it would follow up on plans to honor her life.

“We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning, and we will be following up on plans to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy,” her family wrote.