Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers organization, to speak March 10

 

Speaker: Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers organization
Date: Monday, March 10
Events:
10 a.m., Convocation – “Social Activism in the 21^st Century,” Church-Chapel;
7 p.m., Community Dialogue meeting – “Community Activism: Remembering the past and looking towards the future,” College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall
Cost: Free and open to the public
Event sponsor: Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning of Goshen College
Web site: www.doloreshuerta.org

GOSHEN, Ind. – Prior to the organizing work Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez did as the co-founders of the United Farm Workers organization, farm laborers in this country were primarily anonymous and seen as expendable. Huerta continues to speak out on justice issues and is coming to Goshen College on Monday, March 10 to address the issues of immigration and human rights, at the invitation of the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning at Goshen College.

Huerta will speak at 10 a.m. in the Church-Chapel during the college’s convocation on “Social Activism in the 21^st Century,” and will join the Community Dialogue meeting at 7 p.m. in the College Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall to speak on “Community Activism: Remembering the past and looking towards the future” and then to answer questions. Receptions will follow both events.

Huerta grew up in the San Joaquin Valley in California with a mother committed to community activism. She was the first of her family to receive a higher education. In 1955, she became a founding member of the Stockton Chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO), a grass roots organization through which she met Chavez. The CSO battled segregation, police brutality, led voter registration drives, pushed for improved public services in Latino communities throughout California and fought to enact new legislation. The CSO played a leading role in electing the first Latino in over 100 years to the Los Angeles City Council.

While working with the CSO, both Chavez and Huerta realized the immediate need to organize farm workers because of their dire conditions. They began the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), the predecessor to the United Farm Workers Union (UFW).

 

In 1965, they led a strike by farm workers against grape growers with demands for higher wages. Over 5,000 grape workers walked off their jobs and the strike lasted five years. Huerta successfully negotiated contracts for farm workers, set up hiring halls, administrated the contracts and conducted over 100 grievance and arbitration procedures on behalf of the workers. These contracts established the first medical and pension benefits for farm workers and safety plans in the history of agriculture. She also spoke out early against toxic pesticides that threaten farm workers, consumers and the environment. Huerta directed the East Coast boycott of grapes, lettuce and Gallo wines. The boycott resulted in the enactment of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, the first law of its kind that grants farm workers the right to collectively organize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.

 

In 1985 Huerta lobbied against federal guest worker programs and spearheaded legislation granting amnesty for farm workers that had lived, worked and paid taxes in the United States for many years but were unable to enjoy the privileges of citizenship. This resulted in the Immigration Act of 1985 in which 1,400,000 farm workers received amnesty.

 

Huerta worked with Chavez for over 30 years, until his death in 1993. At age 75, Huerta still serves as president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, leading the development of the organization and community organizing.

 

Begun in late 2006, the Center for Intercultural Teaching and Learning aims to show how small liberal arts colleges can best serve the rapidly growing Latino population in the United States.

 The center focuses on research, educational access and transforming the learning community at Goshen College.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.