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Labor leader Cesar Chavez speaks about a potential grape strike in Lodi on July 22, 1973.<\/p>\n
SKIP SHUMAN<\/p>\n
Sacramento Bee file<\/p>\n
The California political establishment reacted with outrage and sadness to a report from The New York Times Wednesday detailing how Cesar Chavez<\/a>, one of the nation\u2019s most storied labor leaders and a civil rights icon, sexually abused women and girls for years.<\/p>\n The Times interviewed 60 people who corroborated the findings that Chavez groomed and sexually assaulted women, including minors and Dolores Huerta, Chavez\u2019s partner and co-founder of the United Farm Workers labor union. Two of the women interviewed said Chavez assaulted them when they were prepubescent girls and young teenagers in the 1960s and 1970s as he became a revered Latino leader by organizing farmworkers in California, later expanding to other states. Huerta, a renowned Latino activist herself, told The Times that Chavez had sexually assaulted her \u2014 a disclosure she has never made publicly.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters at a Wednesday press conference in San Lorenzo that he and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were shocked by the allegations, particularly about Chavez\u2019s abuse of Huerta, with whom they said they share a \u201cclose\u201d relationship. Newsom said he had photos in his home of Chavez with former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, his political idol.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was never any indication in all these years, particularly have spent so much time with Dolores…it was just a lot to process,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the movement. It\u2019s about farm workers. It\u2019s about labor. It\u2019s about social justice, economic justice. All things that the movement has inspired, and we should all be celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor said that he\u2019d be open to changing the March 31 state holiday honoring Chavez\u2019s birthday. He estimated that roughly three dozen schools in California use the name of the labor leader. Newsom did not offer a timeline for a potential change, saying he would have conversations with legislative leaders and staff.<\/p>\n \u201cI traveled to 14 states last week, I think I was in 14 Cesar Chavez streets, in every part of this country,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cWe\u2019re just going to have to reflect on all of that and reflect on a farm workers movement and labor movement that was much bigger than one man and celebrate that.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom said he saw the allegations as indicative of a larger culture that allowed abusers like the disgraced pedophile Jeffrey Epstein to escape consequences. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how lazy we are, that we\u2019re not getting under the hood and dealing with the real structural issues,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about power, it\u2019s about dominance, aggression. It\u2019s not about empathy, care and compassion.\u201d<\/p>\n The findings have led to far-reaching consequences, with many cities, leaders and communities already cutting ties or distancing themselves from Chavez, who has dozens of parks, schools, streets, marches and days named after him.<\/p>\n UFW announced it would cancel its annual celebrations honoring Chavez, one day before the Times published its investigation. Organizers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other states such as Texas and Arizona canceled their Chavez celebrations or refused to honor his birthday<\/a>. Some called for organizers to deemphasize Chavez\u2019s role and remember the labor movement is a collective effort.<\/p>\n The allegations against Chavez prompted statements from other leaders across the state.<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla said in a written statement there would be \u201czero tolerance for abuse, exploitation, and the silencing of victims.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cConfronting painful truths and ensuring accountability is essential to honoring the very values the greater farm worker movement stands for \u2014 values rooted in dignity and justice for all,\u201d Padilla said.<\/p>\n Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Hollister Democrat, grew up the grandson of a farmworker from Mexico. He cited his grandfather\u2019s role in the movement<\/a> under Chavez and Huerta as inspiring his decision to enter public service.<\/p>\n \u201cFor survivors and their families, the weight of their pain is real and ongoing. The first priority is to listen to them with humility and compassion,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThe farmworker movement has never been about one man; it is bigger than any one person, and its values of dignity and justice are more important now than ever. To those who have found the courage to come forward, my heart is with you.\u201d<\/p>\n Senate President pro Tem Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, called the survivors\u2019 accounts \u201cdevastating and painful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you to the victims who found the courage and strength to share their experiences. The survivors have held onto this pain for decades, and we owe it to them to hear their voices and to honor their truth,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cFor decades, the heart of the movement has been about farmworkers, families, and allies \u2014 not one single person. That truth remains today.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear what action the revelations might prompt from lawmakers in Sacramento, where Chavez is honored with a namesake plaza, a state holiday, and an annual march, which is still scheduled to take place March 28<\/a>.<\/p>\n One woman who spoke to the Times said Chavez repeatedly abused her for four years, starting when she was 13 and he was 45. The other woman said Chavez fondled her breasts when she was 12 and raped her in a hotel room when she was 15. Chavez fathered four children with three women outside of his marriage, whom he never acknowledged, and \u201calso used many of the women who worked and volunteered in his movement for his own sexual gratification,\u201d the Times reported.<\/p>\n Huerta said Chavez, who died in 1993, pressured her into two sexual encounters in 1960 and 1966, leading to the birth of two children whom she gave to other families to raise. Huerta said she never told anyone about Chavez\u2019s abuse, including her family, until a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cI carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life\u2019s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn\u2019t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cesar Chavez Foundation said it was \u201cdeeply shocked and saddened\u201d and was partnering with UFW to establish a process for victims to come forward and voluntarily \u201cparticipate in efforts toward repair and reconciliation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a women-led organization that exists to empower communities, the allegations about abusive behavior by Cesar Chavez go against everything that we stand for,\u201d UFW Foundation said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThese disturbing allegations involve inappropriate behavior by Cesar Chavez with young women and minors, they are shocking, indefensible and something we are taking seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese allegations are serious. If harm was done, then we owe the truth to those who were harmed. No exceptions. No excuses,\u201d San Francisco Labor Council Executive Director Rudy Gonzalez said<\/a>. \u201cAt the same time, we are not going to let this moment erase the movement or the people who built it. We don\u2019t tear down the cause because of one leader\u2019s failures. We double down on our values.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Gov. Jerry Brown, who shared a close friendship with Chavez, signed the landmark Labor Agricultural Rights Act of 1975 that codified farmworkers\u2019 collective bargaining rights into law. But after he reentered the governor\u2019s mansion in 2011, he more often sided with agriculture than labor<\/a>, reflecting the union\u2019s waning power against opposing business interests.<\/p>\n He did not respond to a request for comment via email or through a spokesperson.<\/p>\n The Times reported that UFW members had known about Chavez\u2019s abuse as early as the 1980s. Members told his son, Paul Chavez, about the abuse in the early 2000s, which he told the Times was \u201cunimaginable to me, just hard to process. You\u2019re talking about my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 2:13 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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