Dolores Huerta was one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement. She was born on April 10, 1930, in New Mexico and from a young age faced hardship. Her parents divorced when she was three years old and Huerta moved to Stockton, Califonia with her mother. Her grandfather helped raise her as her mother was constantly juggling jobs in order to provide for her family.
As Huerta grew older, she attended the University of the Pacific's Delta College and received an associate teaching degree. Huerta briefly taught school, however, when she saw so many hungry farm children coming to school, she decided to do more to help them.
She eventually founded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1955. Through this organization, Huerta led voter registration drives and fought for economic improvements for Hispanics. Additionally, she founded the Agricultural Workers Association and alongside Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association which later became the United Farm Workers' Union (UFW).
Huerta served as vice president of the UFW until 1999. Through her work with the UFW, Huerta organized workers, negotiated contracts, and advocated for safer working conditions. She was also the leader of many of the nationwide grape boycotts. One of the boycotts eventually led to the passing of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 which allowed farmworkers to forms unions and bargain for better wages.
Huerta has received many awards for her actions such as being inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2013 and in 2012, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama. Despite ethnic and gender biases, Dolores Huerta remains to this day one of the most influential activists for the Chicano civil rights movement.
Sources:
http://doloreshuerta.org/dolores-huerta/
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dolores-huerta
I was curious which specific boycott lead to the passage of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 and found that it is often attributed to the series of strikes, pickets and boycotts known as the Salad Bowl Strike. The UFW organized the strike against the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who created contracts with California growers in order to avoid compliance with UFW terms, and it became the largest farm worker strike in history. Unfortunately the strike turned violent; many UFW protesters were attacked and a UFW regional office was bombed. However, due to the political climate created by this movement, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act was finally passed.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.peoplesworld.org/article/today-in-labor-history-united-farm-workers-launch-the-lettuce-boycott/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Agricultural_Labor_Relations_Act_of_1975
http://19280265.weebly.com/salad-bowl-strike.html
I found your blog post very informational because I had heard little about the accomplishments of Dolores Huerta. I liked how you included facts about her background and family life before writing about her significance as a labor activist because it gives the reader a better sense about why she felt passionate towards fighting for economic improvements. In addition to your blog, Dolores Huerta is still very politically active and influential today, for example, on August 2019, she was arrested in Fresno County by sheriffs in Visalia California for demanding better pay for workers who care for the elderly and disabled.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/20/dolores-huerta-civil-rights-leader-arrested-fresno-labor-protest/2068197001/