Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom quickly signed into a law proclaiming Tuesday, March 31, Farmworkers Day. The move came following allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation of women dedicated to the farmworkers’ rights movement by one of its most prominent and celebrated leaders: César Chávez. 

“We stand with Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas, Dolores Huerta, and all the other survivors. We grieve that they felt they had to keep what had happened to them a secret for so long to protect the farmworkers’ movement and the progress it had made,” said SEIU 1021 President Theresa Rutherford in a statement. “Unfortunately, women have historically been expected by society to tolerate and normalize abuse and to protect their abusers for the ‘greater good’. This must stop. Women’s rights are human rights.

‘We will not tolerate this behavior in the labor movement, Congress, the White House, in any workplace, or anywhere in our communities, and demand full accountability for those who commit such acts.

“Our movement has never been and never will be about any one person. By its very definition, the labor movement is about building collective power through collective action. While these allegations tarnish Chavez’s name, we will not allow one man’s horrific behavior to define or denigrate the values or legacy of the labor movement.”