Dolores Huerta, Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers, Dies at 96
Dolores Huerta, the labour leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers, has died at the age of 96. Variety reported that she died on Wednesday morning, 28 October 2026, at her home, surrounded by family. A family spokesperson said the cause was cancer.
Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernández on 10 April 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. In 1962 she and Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the UFW. The union fought for the people who picked the country's food, many of them working for low pay and in poor conditions. Chavez died in 1993, and he once described Huerta as fearless.
She also helped lead the 1965 Delano grape strike in California, working alongside Filipino labour leader Larry Itliong. Her most lasting contribution may be a three-word slogan. Huerta gave the country the phrase "Sí, se puede," which translates as "Yes, we can." It became a rallying cry for movements far beyond the fields.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation, a non-profit organisation, describes her as a tireless advocate who helped secure better working conditions and fair wages for farm workers. Her daughter, Camila Chavez, is the foundation's executive director. In 2025, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proclaimed 10 April as Dolores Huerta Day to mark her 95th birthday.
Her death also touches a film that was in the works. Filmmaker Gregory Nava introduced Huerta to his wife, Barbara Martinez Jitner, and Huerta served as a witness at their wedding. Nava is known for "El Norte," which earned him an Oscar nomination for original screenplay in 1983. His films "Mi Familia" and "Selena" are also in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
Variety first reported in April 2024 that Nava and Martinez Jitner were working on a biopic of Huerta. According to the same outlet, the pair spent nearly three years preparing the first dramatic feature about her life. Nava was set to write and direct, and Martinez Jitner to co-write and produce. In the last years of her life, Huerta sat with the two of them for more than 70 hours, telling them things she had never told anyone before.
On Tuesday night, Nava and Martinez Jitner drove to Bakersfield to say goodbye. In a joint statement, they paid tribute to Huerta as a "fearless warrior for justice."
Huerta leaves a movement that still runs on her words and her organising. Her family's announcement made the loss public on Wednesday, and the tributes that followed have been about the work she did for farm workers over more than six decades.
