Invisible Women of the United Farm Workers Union

In 1962 the National Farmworkers Association was founded in Delano, California. This was one of the key pieces in the advancement of farm worker labor rights, higher wages, and improved working conditions. Cesar Chavez was recognized as being a critical and influential individual in the United Farm Workers Union and alongside him were strong and powerful women we want to recognize.

This is part two of a blog series that will cover accomplishments of just a few of the women who were rendered invisible in the history books but integral throughout the United Farm Workers Union Movement.  

Helen Chavez

Helen Chavez stood with Cesar Chavez during the height of the United Farm Workers movement though she preferred to remain out of the spotlight. During the Movement she was arrested four times, two of which were publicized, and encouraged other women to use their voice (Karlins, 2015).  

Helen held many roles in her lifetime. She was a business administrator for a bank, a laborer, and an activist. While her husband was on the road, Helen was able to stay home and continue the fight. She was the main source of income during this time. One of her contributions included teaching literacy classes for migrant farm workers (Karlins, 2015). She also won the “Latina of the Year” by the National Latino Officers Association of LA in 2008 for her nonviolent advocacy for those who are marginalized. 

Dolores Huerta

Dolores Huerta worked with Cesar Chavez to create the United Farm Workers Union (UFWU). Though her inspiration originated from her work in schools, she would often work with farm children going hungry and found herself wanting to organize farmers and farm workers. In 1955 she co-founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization - an organization geared toward voter registration. Shortly after, she met Chavez and the two bonded over the organizing of farm workers. She served as the UFWU president until 1999 (Michals, 2015). She was known for her rallying cry of “si, se puede” during her boycott on the East Coast. Dolores was arrested over two dozen times and brutalized by police officers during protest. Similar to Helen, she showed women that their voices should be heard (Bennett, 2019). Huerta continues to be an influential person today through the Dolores Huerta Foundation which inspires individuals to organize to build other organizations geared towards social justice. Currently, Huerta still wears many hats including being a board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation, the Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus of the UFWU, and she serves as the president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation (Michals, 2015). She continues to show the world that women deserve to be heard.   

Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez was a leader, spiritual figure, community organizer, and entrepreneur at the front of the United Farm Workers Union. The United Farm Workers pushed for change in areas like labor rights, education reform, and land reclamation (Carrillo, 2020). Chavez is well known for his nonviolent acts during the Delano Grape strike in 1966 where the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers collaborated to protest years of poor working conditions and pay. In doing this they were able to engage consumers to boycott grapes. This led to grape growers signing their first union contracts where they were granted better pay and benefits (Abbott, 2016). During his time, Chavez participated in two 25-day fasts and one 36-day fast for nonviolence and for those being poisoned by pesticides while working in the fields (Cesar Chavez Foundation, 2022).  

Chavez’s work and dedication led to supportive programs for working families including: 

• A burial program 

• A credit union for farm workers

• Job training programs 

• Daycare centers  

• Health clinics   

Cesar Chavez fought for workplace rights and set a standard for farm worker conditions and pay.   

Out of the work of Helen Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar Chavez emerged an ongoing fight for farm workers in the United States and around the world. Farm workers are a crucial population in food growth and distribution in the US – ensuring their continued access to safe working conditions, health care, and basic human rights is our collective responsibility

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