US labor leader who coined iconic rallying cry dies aged 96

WorldPolitics
29 Oct 2026 • 12:50 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

US labor leader who coined iconic rallying cry dies aged 96

  • Dolores Huerta, the prominent civil rights icon and labor leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers union, has died of cancer at her home at the age of 96.
  • Huerta spent decades organizing farmworkers in the United States, coining the famous slogan 'Sí, se puede!' while securing landmark collective bargaining agreements, disability insurance, and health benefits for field workers.
  • Throughout her long career of activism, Huerta was jailed 22 times for union demonstrations, survived severe injuries from a police baton during a 1988 protest, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2012.
  • Later in her life, Huerta shifted her focus to political lobbying, championing women's rights, encouraging Latinas to run for public office, and leading her Bakersfield-based foundation well into her 90s.
  • In the final year of her life, Huerta came forward with allegations that she was sexually abused in the 1960s by union co-founder César Chavez, explaining that she kept the secret for six decades to protect the progress of the farmworkers' movement.

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