(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The National AFL-CIO released the following statement on the late United Farm Workers (UFW) Labor Leader Dolores Huerta, who has passed away at the age of 96:

Dolores Huerta will forever be a shining example of the best of the Labor Movement, embodying the fighting spirit of our Unions and Workers for generations. 

Her super-power was sparking Workers to achieve what was thought to be unachievable.

She was a catalyst for one of the greatest Organizing efforts over the past century, catapulting the Farm Worker Movement and ultimately winning huge victories that improved the lives of generations of Working People.

As Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers, she sat across from corporate agricultural growers and out-negotiated them to win historic agreements at a time when Women of Color were shut out of bargaining rooms.

When fighting against an unjust, Anti-Worker Bill in Arizona in 1972, Dolores responded simply “Sí, se puede.”

This became a rallying cry for the Labor Movement then - and remains so today. 

At her core, Dolores was always an Organizer.

Whether in the fields of California’s Central Valley or the halls of Congress, she spent every waking hour organizing for Social and Economic Justice to build power for Workers - someone who stood up in the face of violent anti-Mexican racism and deep-seated misogyny, who endured and overcame death threats, arrests and brutal physical violence, to give those with the least a fair shot at a better life. 

In her later years, she continued to be a champion for Human Rights, traveling all over the country to rally for Women’s health, Immigrant justice, Labor Rights and much more.

Until the very end, she used her influence and powerful voice to continue fighting for those who were most vulnerable to exploitation and greed. 

Every time Dolores was at an event or rally or picket line, she was surrounded by droves of young people, many of them Women and Immigrants, who looked to her as their hero.

Dolores looked to them as the future.

This next generation inspired her every bit as much as she inspired them.

Generations of young Organizers got their start in this movement because of Dolores.

It was, without a doubt, her biggest source of pride.

Those young Organizers are her legacy. 

Dolores will forever be missed, but her spirit lives on in all of us.

She was, undeniably, one of the greatest Organizers to ever live.

The National AFL-CIO sends our condolences to her family, friends and the millions of Working People she inspired with her activism.

Rest in power, Sister Huerta. 

To Directly Access This Labor Statement, Go To: AFL-CIO Honors Labor Icon Dolores Huerta | AFL-CIO

National AFL-CIO Photo.