With a political and labor movement built by Cesar Chavez stunned by allegations of sexual abuse against him, labor leaders and Democratic politicians scrambled Wednesday to balance their fear with their reverence for the movement he led.
The bombshell revelations – including two women who said Chávez sexually abused them as children and labor icon Dolores Huerta alleging he raped her during the height of the farmworker labor union movement in the 1960s and 1970s – reverberated throughout California and the western United States.
As the allegations immediately rewrote the civil rights icon’s legacy, officials condemned Chávez’s alleged actions, The New York TimesReported by","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/cesar-chavez-sexy-abuse-allegations-ufw.html","_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Reported by The New York TimesEmphasizing that his efforts to empower workers went beyond a statistic.
“These revelations are a blow to me and many people who believe deeply in social justice,” former Los Angeles mayor and gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement. He further said, “The struggle of the farmers, and the sacrifices of countless organizers, families and workers remains a just cause. Nothing can erase the courage of those who marched, organized and fought for basic human rights.”
Within hours, elected leaders were facing practical considerations such as an abundance of streets, plazas and other landmarks named after Chávez, as well as the possibility of a March holiday in his honor on the late leader’s birthday. Chávez died in 1993.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he was in preliminary talks with the California Legislature about changing the March 31 state holiday to commemorate Cesar Chavez. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs of Arizona and GOP Governor Greg Abbott of Texas said their states would no longer recognize the day, while Senator Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico called on social media to remove Chávez’s name from “significant sites, institutions and honors” because he “betrays the values that Latino leaders have championed for generations.”
Some officials called for renaming the sites in honor of Huerta, a longtime ally of Chávez in the movement who told the Times about his sexual assault – which he had never publicly disclosed – resulting in two children whom he sent to be raised by other families. Huerta, who coined the motto “Si, Se Puede”, remains active in California politics as he nears his 96th birthday.
“I am almost 96 years old and for the past 60 years I have kept a secret because I believed that revealing the truth would harm the farmer movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta said in a lengthy statement released Wednesday.
Chávez was a towering figure both in the national civil rights movement and in California, where he led a campaign to organize workers who toiled under brutal conditions in vast areas of the Central Valley.
This legacy is inescapable in the corridors of power of this deeply Democratic and overwhelmingly Latino state where organized labor wields significant influence. California has its own farm labor regulator, largely due to the relationship Chávez built with the then-governor. Jerry Brown. After the two marched together, Chávez placed Brown’s name in the presidential nomination.
Decades after Chávez’s death, the movement he founded continues to growa historical law","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article98703612.html","_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a historical law Offered overtime pay to farm workers and forced Newsom","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/28/newsom-signs-biden-backed-union-bill-00056562","_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-0319-da45-a7dd-175d37460005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Newsom’s hand was forced On an organizing bill. Union leaders on Wednesday grappled with the revelations that the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor described as “deeply disturbing and painful, especially for those who have long looked to the history of the labor movement for inspiration and strength.”
Speaking to reporters at a high school library during an unrelated event on Wednesday, Newsom said his family is close to Huerta and that on the walls of his home hangs a framed photo of Chávez and his close aide Robert F. Kennedy, Newsom’s idol. A book highlighting Chávez and farmworker organizing was displayed on shelves a short distance from where the governor spoke.
“How many days have I marched, how many times have I talked to students about the movement, how many photos have I had in my house,” Newsom said. “It’s been hard to absorb.”
California Senator Alex Padilla, who led efforts to create a national historical park in Chávez’s honor, will rework legislation to honor farm workers, according to his office. Padilla is the first Latino senator in modern California history and emerged through a resurgence of Latino activism in the 1990s.
“Facing painful truths and ensuring accountability is essential to honoring the values for which the greater farm worker movement stands – values rooted in dignity and justice for all,” Padilla said in a statement.
The fallout may extend beyond the label. California Representative Norma Torres called for a law enforcement investigation, saying in a statement that “the pain (Chávez) caused these survivors remains urgent.”
The Times reported that some of Chávez’s relatives, along with former UFW leaders, had known about sexual misconduct allegations against him for years, but he did not fully investigate or acknowledge the victims – and several women said they were discouraged from speaking out to protect their image.
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the union said, “No one in today’s UFW leadership had any prior knowledge of these shocking and devastating allegations” and that the group only recently learned of them. The union announced this on Tuesday It will not participate in the annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration Amid disturbing allegations about Chávez’s behavior, he said he had received no direct reports of abuse.
In downtown Los Angeles, where Sunset Boulevard turns into Cesar Chavez Avenue, a small group of activists stood in 95-degree heat to demand the street be renamed. Some want it to go back to its old name Brooklyn Avenue, others to Dolores Huerta Avenue.
“I have a 10-year-old little girl who lives in that building by Cesar Chavez,” said Raul Claros, founder of the mutual aid organization California Rising. “Today, after school, I have to sit down at the dinner table and explain to him why we are doing this here.”
Rachel Bluth and Lindsay Holden contributed to this report.
