Chicanas in the United Farm Workers
Dolores Huerta was a notorious leader in the Chicana movement, especially in the labor union of the United Farm Workers (UFW). In 1962, she co-founded the organization with one of the main leaders of the Chicano movement, César Chávez (R. Garcia 57). The UFW fought for the installation of blue-collar worker rights in agriculture to be applicable to Mexican-American workers (Rivera). She was the head leader in the New York City effort of the grape boycott in 1968, where she appealed to the Central Labor Council, the Meatcutter’s Union, and the Seafarer’s Union to create a total blockade of Californian grapes in markets (M. Garcia 149). Her pursuit for justice came with a price in her life. She also shifted to consumer action in boycotting the grapes by picketing stores though New York City (M. Garcia 149). Her strong leadership resulted in public criticism due to her independence that led to the perceived notion that she neglected personal duties as a wife and mother (R. Garcia 65). She found that to fight for the rights of others meant sacrificing her own life plans (R. Garcia 65). She is one of the few prominent figures to go against the boundaries set in place within her own community by taking on a more egalitarianist model.
Helen Chávez is the wife of the UFW president César Chávez, and she represents the majority of women that played big roles behind the scenes of there Latino male counterparts. Compared to Huerta, she was not as assimilated and dealt with poverty and had a lack of education, which was the typical immigrant farm worker experience (Rose, “Patterns of Activism” 27). She took on a more traditional model of action with domestic responsibilities (Rose, “Patterns of Activism” 26). She competed against demands of family life, and the sexual division of labor (Rose, “Patterns of Activism” 26). She and including most women, whether workers, staff, or supporters of the UFW, accepted traditional perspectives on women or relegated their feminist sensibility to a secondary position (Rose, “Woman Power” 15). Within the Chicana movement, patterns in Latina activism in both Dolores Huerta and Helen Chávez presents the struggles of gender.
