One Life: Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta (born 1930), along with César Chávez (1927-1993), brought the working conditions of field laborers to the public’s attention. Through the twentieth century farm workers were some of the worst paid workers in the nation.

They received below-poverty-level wages for long days of backbreaking work, and lived precariously moving from place to place as they followed seasonal harvests.

Huerta and Chávez galvanized national solidarity on the workers’ behalf. As vice-president of the United Farm Workers, as well as an energetic picket captain, a persuasive lobbyist, and an unyielding contract negotiator, Huerta not only improved the lives of farm workers but advanced new models of womanhood.

A turning point that steered Dolores Huerta to a life of community organizing occurred in 1955 when she met Fred Ross (1910–1992). Ross was the founder of the Community Service Organization (CSO)—one of the first organizations to advocate for Latino civic participation in the United States.

Huerta volunteered in the establishment of a CSO chapter in her hometown of Stockton, and eventually became the organization's Sacramento lobbyist. At CSO she met fellow organizer César Chávez.

After 1962, when Chávez and Huerta parted with CSO to found the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), Ross became an advisor to the organization.

The National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) championed workers’ rights and advocated for fair wages but avoided the term “union” so to appeal to those who were fearful of their employer’s retaliation.

In Stockton, Huerta held house meetings to recruit members and build local support. She became the vice president of the NFWA.

Chávez and Huerta’s National Farm Workers Association merged with the Agricultural Workers Organization Committee, which was led by the Filipino Larry Itliong, to become The United Farm Workers Organization Committee (UFWOC).

The NFWA’s red-and-white flag with a black silhouette of an eagle (an important animal in Aztec mythology) evokes the Mexican roots of the union’s larger constituency. The word “Huelga,” featured on top, is Spanish and Filipino for strike.

Huerta saw family and women’s involvement as natural to the movement, having declared: “People are poor so the whole family works together and the whole family strikes together and pickets together...

We are nonviolent, and the women bring a lot of dignity to our movement.” She stands here at the end of meeting in a human chain singing the folk song "De Colores" with three of her eleven children.

An articulate and energetic speaker, Huerta led the union’s public relations effort, conveying the movement’s values and aims to the larger public in print, radio, and television.

She bolstered the morale of workers on the picket line with her cry to arms, “¡Sí se puede!”

The UFW worked with more than those who picked grapes. They also advocated for those who picked lettuce, dates, lemons, and strawberries.

Without a legal background or ever before having seen a contract, Huerta spent a week studying contract examples and on behalf of the union negotiated a contract with Schenley Industries in March 1966. This was the first victory of the grape strike.

Huerta’s negotiating skills and unyielding character at the bargaining table earned her the title “Dragon Lady.” By 1975 she had negotiated more than 100 contracts for the union.

Huerta challenged the paradigm of women putting family responsibilities first and inspired women to become involved in the labor movement.

She voiced her concerns and demanded that issues around sexism, child care, and sexual harassment needed to be taken seriously.

This earned her the respect of Chicanas and renowned feminists such as Gloria Steinem.

One shared aspect of the African American civil rights movement and the farm workers’ movement was the emphasis on the body as a tool for social change.

Marches, pickets, boycotts, and sit-ins were all physical activities that could be performed by destitute individuals to call attention to social injustice and demand their rights. As a picket captain, Huerta led many of these efforts.

Chicana artist Barbara Carrasco was a volunteer and staff artist for the United Farm Workers (UFW) and considered Huerta her mentor and close friend.

She made this iconic portrait of Huerta as a way to honor the civil rights leader. The image serves as a symbol for female power for the Chicano and feminist movements.