Dolores Huerta is the most prominent Chicana (Mexican American woman) labor leader in the United States.
In 1962 along with Ceasar Chavez, Dolores Huerta co-founded what would become the United Farm Workers Union (UFW).
In the 1980s she helped found KUFW--Radio Campesina, the union's radio station in California.
She has been arrested more than 20 times. In 1988, during a demonstration in San Francisco against the policies of presidential candidate George Bush, Huerta was severely injured by baton-swinging police officers. She suffered two broken ribs and a ruptured spleen. In order to save her life, she had to undergo emergency surgery. This incident outraged the public and caused the San Francisco police department to change its rules regarding crowd control and discipline.
Dolores Huerta, left, received the CPUSA’s “Red Flame Award” for outstanding progressive leadership. The award’s name is based on the nickname of Anne Burlak Timpson, an outstanding labor organizer and leader of the CPUSA. (From the Peoples Weekly World.)