FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Amid troubling allegations against its late founder, the United Farm Workers Foundation keeps fighting for labor rights.<\/p>\n
With heavy hearts, foundation leaders continued with their planned rally outside of the federal courthouse in downtown Fresno as their lawyers presented their lawsuit against the Trump administration over farmworker wage cuts.<\/p>\n
The efforts are on the same day that disturbing allegations come to light against Cesar Chavez, who is accused of abusing young women and children.<\/p>\n
“It was shocking, shocking to me, to all of us in the union here, and we respect the victims that came forward and we asked people to respect the victims and give them this phase that they need the ability to talk when they feel safe when they are ready,” says UFW President, Teresa Romero.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Live continuing coverage of allegations against Cesar Chavez<\/a><\/p>\n On Wednesday, it was reported that U.S. Civil Rights leader and UFW co-founder, Dolores Huerta, accused Chavez of sexual assault, which she says led to two pregnancies that she kept secret for decades.<\/p>\n UFW President Teresa Romero says the organization is working on creating a safe space for survivors to talk.<\/p>\n “And all we ask is that you know people give us a little time to make sure that we create that space. And I would ask everybody, do not try to justify anything that happened. It is wrong and respect for victims is the most important thing,” says Romero.<\/p>\n Despite the difficulty, foundation members are still focused on their mission of farmworker rights.<\/p>\n At the federal courthouse in Downtown Fresno on Wednesday, hundreds showed support to lawyers who were requesting a temporary court order, to reverse wage cuts until their lawsuit is finalized.<\/p>\n “We are suing the administration. Unfortunately, it continues to attack our people, it continues to attack immigrants and now he is reducing farmworkers’ salaries from 3 to 7 an hour,” explains Romero.<\/p>\n “Farmworkers, as it is, don’t make enough money and targeting them is wrong and these are the people that we need to remember to put food on our table every single day,” continues Romero.<\/p>\n Among the crowd, Jose Luis Ramirez Leon from Merced shares that the UFW recently helped local farmers get a pay bump and better working conditions.<\/p>\n “It changed my life, not only for me but for all the people that work in the company,” expresses Jose, “Now we get more respect than before.”<\/p>\n Through the hardship, the foundation says it will stay centered on its pursuit of farmworker rights.<\/p>\n For South Valley news updates, follow Kassandra Gutierrez on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n