1 Delores Huerta: The Delano Grape Strike (1965-1970)

Introduction

Dolores Huerta (1930-) has led a life of intense political activity. Most famously, she was instrumental in organizing farm workers and creating the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. Mexican Americans, Filipino Americans, and African Americans were the largest demographic segments of Farm workers, so that farm worker rights were inseparable from the larger Civil Rights Movement.

Huerta has later been active in pushing for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration reform, and has been active in mainstream politics more generally. Among her many honorary degrees and awards, Huerta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the “highest civilian award,” in 2012. Huerta is widely credited with the popularity of the phrase “Si, se puede!” in English, “Yes, we can!” More about her background will be found in the first of the following selections.

The Delano Grape Strike organized by the UFW began in September of 1965 and lasted five years. The effort involved marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance. Perhaps the most successful tactic was the boycott, where supporters of farm workers’ rights would forgo buying grapes from companies who refused to engage in collective bargaining with the union. In 1970, a collective bargaining agreement was finally reached with major table grape growers, helping to secure working conditions and wages for 10,000 farm workers.

For the interview with WBAI radio in New York City in 1968, notice that there is also the option to listen to the audio.

Cesar Chavez, an important labor leader who co-founded with Huerta and Gilbert Padilla the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) and was the first president of the UFW, is mentioned in the following selections. In March of 2026, Huerta made a statement in the New York Times relative to an investigation into allegations of Chavez engaging in sexual assault. She told of being twice raped by Chavez. The statement read, in part:

“I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control.

I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others. Women are coming forward, sharing that they were sexually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.

The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.

The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.” New York Times, March 18, 2026

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

• In what differing ways does the issue of the rights of American farm workers relate to the issue of immigration?
• Why do you think the boycott proved to be the most effective tool of the UFW?
• Do boycotts still work today? Why or why not?
• What does the issue of farm workers’ rights have in common with other issues involving the American values of equality and liberty?
• Do you think the role of slavery in our history plays any role in contemporary labor issues?

Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers – Delores Huerta

• Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers (1969)
• Farmworkers Association Rally (1966)
• Radio Interview (1968) (audio file available at the end of the article)

Sources:

• Delano Grape Workers. (1969, May 10). Proclamation of the Delano Grape Workers. Digital History. https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=613
• Huerta, D. (1966, April 10). NFWA march and rally [Speech transcript]. Archives of Women’s Political Communication, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University. https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/communication/nfwa-march-and-rally-april-10-1966
• Huerta, D. (1968, February 23). Interview with Maria Huffman (M. Huffman, Interviewer) [Radio interview transcript]. Archives of Women’s Political Communication, Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University. https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/communication/interview-maria-huffman-feb-23-1968