Allegations of abuse that appear to be part of a larger pattern of sexual misconduct by late labor leader Cesar Chávez were revealed Wednesday in a new investigation by the New York Times.
The newspaper found that Chávez, a California icon, used many of the women who worked and volunteered in his labor rights movement for his own sexual gratification.
Two women — Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas — told the newspaper the labor rights leader sexually abused them for years in the 1970s, beginning when they were 12 or 13 and he was in his 40s.
Chávez’s most prominent female ally in the civil rights movement, Dolores Huerta, also told reporters that he sexually assaulted her, a disclosure she has never before made publicly, the New York Times article said.
The revelations come one day after the United Farm Workers — the union that Chávez founded — distanced itself from annual celebrations in his honor, days ahead of his March 31 birthday when most events are set to take place. In a statement Tuesday, the group urged people around the country to participate in immigration justice events or acts of service rather than those meant to honor Chávez’s legacy.
“The United Farm Workers will not be taking part in any César Chávez Day activities,” the statement said.
The UFW called the allegations against its founder “deeply troubling and profoundly shocking,” while other organizations outright canceled upcoming celebrations in his name.
Union officials on Tuesday, along with representatives from the Cesar Chávez Foundation, acknowledged accusations of abuse against young women and minors, but gave no additional details at the time.
Several Cesar Chávez celebrations in San Francisco, Texas and Chávez’s home state of Arizona have since been canceled at the request of the foundation.
Both the UFW and the Chávez foundation said they will work to establish ways for anyone who allege harm to share experiences confidentially.
“These allegations have been profoundly shocking,” the union statement said. “We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it.”
California became the first state to establish March 31 as a day commemorating the labor leader, a decision signed into law in 1994 by former Gov. Pete Wilson. Other states followed. In 2014, President Barack Obama proclaimed March 31 as national Cesar Chávez Day, urging Americans to honor his legacy.
Chávez is known nationally for his early organizing in the fields, a hunger strike, a grape boycott and eventual victory in getting growers to negotiate with farmworkers for better wages and working conditions.
In 1962, Chávez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which became the United Farm Workers of America. Chávez served as UFW president until his death.
Chávez protested against poor pay and often-miserable work conditions for farmworkers in California, which grows nearly half the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables. There were no toilets in the fields for workers, and they often worked with short-handled hoes that forced them to bend over for hours at a time.
Many of the workers were Spanish-speakers who were in the country temporarily or illegally and had little political or legal clout to prevent abuses. That was when Chávez stepped in to represent them.
In a 1992 appearance in Coachella, Chávez led a caravan that culminated in him comparing the work of those not in the fields with the hard labor of the people for whom he advocated.
“When they come out here and taste the sweat running into their mouths, then they’ll get it,” he told the crowd. “But until that day comes, we’ll have to keep pushing them, until they give in — just like ranchers all across the state have already begun to do.”
Streets, schools and parks in San Diego, elsewhere in California and across the nation bear Chávez’s name. Born in Yuma, Arizona, he grew up in a Mexican American family that traveled around California picking lettuce, grapes, cotton and other seasonal crops. He died in California in 1993 at age 66.
Times of San Diego staff writer Jennifer Vigil and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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