Cesar Chavez Allegations Jolt California’s Labor Movement

California’s Latino leaders were stunned Tuesday by reports that the late Cesar Chavez, a civil-rights and labor icon, had been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with young women and minors.

The United Farm Workers, the national union which he co-founded, called the allegations of abuse “shocking,” “disturbing,” “crushing” and “indefensible,” and said it would cancel all Cesar Chavez Day events, while not sharing details.

The top two Democrats in the state Legislature, Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — who grew up in a farmworker family on the Central Coast — extended sympathies for “the victims and everyone carrying this pain.”

“The serious allegations involving Cesar Chavez are devastating,” Límon and Rivas said in a statement. “The Legislature will always stand with survivors, whose courage in coming forward demands our support and unwavering commitment to justice with dignity.”

The UFW’s statement followed the previously unexplained cancellation of Chavez festivities in several cities across the country.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said his office would “provide comment once information is shared or reported,” while noting that Cesar Chavez Day is a state holiday codified in law. Barring any legislative action, March 31 will remain a paid day off for state employees, when the Legislature and many state, county and city offices are closed.

Sacramento’s annual Chavez march was still on as of late Tuesday, though organizers said they were discussing a possible “rebrand.” In Fresno, however, the school district said that students and staff would not participate in a planned Chavez celebration today.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation, the successor to the National Farm Workers Service Center founded by Chavez, said it’s working with the UFW to create a “safe and confidential process” for potential victims to share their experiences.

But some prominent leaders avoided weighing in about the still-unspecified allegations against Chavez, who died in 1993. UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta, one of Chavez’s closest confidants, could not be reached for comment and recently canceled plans to attend the Chavez march in Corpus Christi.

Rudy Gonzalez, head of the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council, summed up the painful soul-searching by those who’ve spent their careers idolizing Chavez.

“As a Mexican American labor leader, I was raised on the story of the farm worker movement — on sacrifice, on faith, on the belief that working people deserve dignity,” Gonzalez wrote in a social media post.

He added, “But let me be clear: our movement has never been about one man … If harm was done, then we owe the truth to those who were harmed. No exceptions. No excuses.”

Lindsey Holden contributed to this report.

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