Dolores Huerta, a prominent labor organizer and trade union leader, died at age 96. Though she never served as president of the United Farm Workers, she played a central role in building the organization and advancing its campaigns throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Her mobilization slogan “Sí, se puede!” was later adapted into English as “Yes, we can” and adopted during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.
Huerta’s labor organizing work began in the 1950s after she left a teaching career, joining activist Fred Ross’s Community Service Organisation and later helping establish agricultural worker groups. In 1962, she co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Padilla. The organization merged with another group in 1965 following the Delano grape strike, forming the United Farm Workers with Chavez as president and Huerta as vice-president. As the union’s chief negotiator, she orchestrated strategies involving secondary boycotts and national supermarket chain boycotts that pressured California’s agricultural industry. Her organizing efforts contributed to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975.
Huerta was also involved in broader social justice campaigns beyond labor issues, including civil rights and feminist causes. She encountered violence while demonstrating against political figures, suffering serious injuries in 1988 when police broke her ribs and ruptured her spleen during a protest in San Francisco. She pursued activism on immigration policy and women’s issues within the labor movement.
Following Chavez’s death in 1993, Huerta transitioned to a primarily advocacy role within the UFW. In 2002, she established the Dolores Huerta Foundation to promote community organizing and civic participation. Throughout her career, she earned numerous recognitions for her contributions to labor and social justice movements in the United States.
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