Labor leaders across San Francisco are standing with Dolores Huerta after the shattering revelation of her allegations of sexual abuse by Cesar Chavez.
Olga Miranda, president of SEIU Local 87, which represents janitors, counts Huerta as an ally and a sister of the labor movement. Miranda said they’ve fought for workers alongside each other, broken bread, and danced together.
“It’s heart-wrenching to know this happened to someone I admire,” Miranda said. “I was raised in my household to know her name and attach a tremendous amount of respect next to it. It pains me, just like it pains every woman I know in labor.”
SEIU Local 87 President Olga Miranda says she was devastated by the allegations. | Source: Michaela Vatcheva for The Standard
A years-long New York Times investigation (opens in new tab) published Wednesday revealed sexual abuse allegations against Chavez, the farmworkers’ movement leader who died in 1993. Two women told the newspaper that Chavez had molested or raped them as teenagers and groomed them from the age of 8 or 9.
Huerta, a 95-year-old titan of the labor movement who founded the National Farm Workers Association with Chavez, alleged that he raped her in 1966, leading to a pregnancy she kept secret for decades.
“Unfortunately, he used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children — it’s really awful,” Huerta told The New York Times.
In a statement released Wednesday, Huerta said, “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.”
Labor leader Dolores Huerta says Cesar Chavez raped her in 1966. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
Huerta’s name is on a school and parade in San Francisco, and she remains a figurehead in the modern labor movement. In January, she stood with LiUNA! Local 261 street cleaning workers on the steps of City Hall to fight for fair wages. Last year, she advocated for Proposition 50, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting measure.
Like Miranda, many local labor leaders grew up idolizing Huerta and know her personally.
When asked about women’s safety in the labor movement, Miranda said, “It’s a good question: Do women feel safe at work? It’s not just the labor movement … there’s assholes everywhere. There’s also women who will stand up and speak out and say, ‘I’m not gonna take your shit.’ Watch out for that force.”
Miranda reflected on her own career leading a labor group and defending her union members from threats and exploitation.
“I have the privilege of having chosen the kind of job where the strength of my personality and the veracity of my voice carries to make company supervisors, business owners, regret the moment they fuck with any of our janitors in this industry,” she said. “Not a lot of people get to say they get to fight back.”
Other labor leaders who know Huerta sounded off in support.
“I stand with Dolores Huerta and every other survivor who endured years of pain in silence or who came forward and were dismissed, doubted, or not believed,” Joshua Arce, president of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and a leader with the Northern California District Council of Laborers, wrote Wednesday on Facebook. (opens in new tab)
Labor leaders were adamant that the movement to bring fair wages and rights to farmworkers was — and is — championed chiefly by the workers themselves.
Mike Casey, president of the San Francisco Labor Council, which represents most unions in the city, said the news is “profoundly sad and disappointing” but “also a stark reminder that we are a movement. We are not about one man, or person.”
The allegations against Chavez were revealed amid a backdrop of intense labor action in San Francisco, including the first teachers strike in 47 years. | Source: Manuel Orbegozo for The Standard
Casey has spent decades as a San Francisco labor leader. In 1983, he was a young organizer with the UFW’s sister organization, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, (opens in new tab) in the Midwest, working on a boycott of Campbell’s Soup hand-in-hand with farmworkers.
“There was huge attention and focus brought that inspired a generation to fight against unjust working and social conditions,” he added. “That whole movement, you should gauge it in the fact that farmworkers have healthcare now, they have retirement benefits now, that farmworkers have the basic necessities of decency, protections against pesticides, because of the United Farm Workers.”
Miranda is concerned about attendance at the annual San Francisco breakfast and parade (opens in new tab) held in Chavez’s name, scheduled for March 31 and April 11, respectively. Both may soon be renamed.
“I strongly encourage people to please attend the breakfast. Please attend the parade,” Miranda said. “It’s about the farmworkers. We cannot abandon this movement. There is so much to do.”