In 2012, after I published From the Jaws of Victory, a history of the UFW that also revealed much of Chavez’s complicated truth, I faced backlash within this same community. My book chronicled how, in 1977, when UFW signed a historic agreement to end years of conflict with the Teamsters, Chavez showed greater interest in building an intentional community at the union headquarters in La Paz than in advancing the gains made by farm worker advocates over the previous decade. My book also described the humiliating group therapy exercises Chavez made residents participate in, and some of the infidelity that we now know only scratched the surface of his criminal conduct.
Chavez had many enablers—some who transported him to and from locations where abuse occurred—whose blind adulation and devotion ultimately harmed the union. Because UFW founders failed to build a democratic structure that allowed for members to challenge him, Chavez’s words—no matter how profane or misguided—were taken as gospel.
I also chronicled even earlier consequences of this unchecked power. In 1973, Chavez scuttled contract extension talks with grape grower John Giumarra, Jr., citing concerns about Giumarra’s failure to stop Filipino workers from having sex with “whores in the camps.” Jerry Cohen, head of the UFW legal team, could not persuade Chavez to let the prostitution issue go; Chavez’s obsession, which weakened the union, now feels strangely telling as well.
Another turning point came in 1976, when Chavez went against the advice of Gov. Jerry Brown and many within the union by supporting a risky ballot measure rather than working within the system to extend funding for the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act. When the measure lost, Chavez blamed it on UFW volunteers, saying they betrayed his orders or did not work hard enough to win. The union descended into chaos marked by purges of innocent volunteers—alongside the grooming and violation of girls that has now come to light.
The abuse happened at a time when many women dedicated themselves to the movement only to be overlooked or driven out by this corrosive behavior. It has become common to recognize Dolores Huerta, who we now know is a survivor of Chavez’s abuse, as the co-founder of the union. But the meaningful contributions of other women, including Jessica Govea and Elaine Elinson, remain mostly hidden to the public.