The APWU is saddened to learn of the passing of Dolores Huerta, a long-time labor leader and community activist. We honor her strength and solidarity in the labor movement and a life dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights, dignity on the job, fair wages, and better working conditions for all.
Dolores Huerta was a force in the labor and civil rights movements, dedicating 70 years of her life to activism, fighting for economic and racial justice and inspiring migrant workers who had been excluded from federal labor laws to advance “La Causa” (the cause), a 1960s movement to organize Mexican and Filipino American farm workers by bringing workers and their families together through community organizing and nonviolent resistance to fight for and win collective bargaining rights.
In 1962, Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which evolved into the United Farm Workers (UFW), the largest farmworker union in the United States, and successfully negotiated the first-ever union contract between farmworkers and an agricultural enterprise. She served as the UFW vice president until 1999.
In 1972, she coined her iconic “Sí, se puede!” (“Yes, we can!”) rally call in defiance of those who thought it was impossible to fight back against a highly restrictive Arizona law that banned farmworkers from striking or boycotting during harvest seasons. It became the official UFW motto and inspired hope, resilience, and collective action for generations of workers.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Huerta led historic strikes and boycotts to unionize migrant workers, negotiate and win historic union contracts, and champion legislation that vastly improved working conditions for workers in California and across the country. In the years that followed, she began a campaign to encourage Latinas and other women to run for public office and fought to increase Latino civic engagement. In 2002, she established the Dolores Huerta Foundation to train, organize, and empower marginalized communities to advocate for social, economic, and civic justice.
Throughout her decades of activism, Huerta stood strong in the face of racism, sexism, and opposition to her political views. Through it all, she endured threats of intimidation, physical assaults, and arrests.
Dolores Huerta sadly passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at her home in Bakersfield, California, at the age of 96.
The APWU sends our condolences to Dolores Huerta’s family, friends, and all those she inspired. She will be missed as a formidable organizer and labor leader. We will carry her spirit with us in our own fights for a strong public Postal Service for years to come. Sí, se puede!
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