Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has signed a proclamation changing the city’s Cesar Chavez Day holiday to “Farm Workers Day,” amid sexual assault allegations against the late labor leader.
City Proclamation Details
The mayor confirmed she consulted Chavez’s family, who support the change. The holiday falls on the last Monday in March, which this year lands on March 30.
“I grew up admiring the farm worker movement,” Bass stated. “My family boycotted grapes, so I thought I’d never eat them again. I once met Cesar Chavez, an opportunity of a lifetime. When Dolores Huerta, whom I greatly admire, shared her painful experience, my heart broke.”
“The farm workers’ struggles and victories inspired us all,” she added.
Bass signed the proclamation following a City Hall news conference, joined by Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez, Monica Rodriguez, and Imelda Padilla.
“This fight was about more than one man,” Rodriguez emphasized. “It centered on communities seeking the respect they deserve.”
County-Level Actions
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis plans to introduce a motion exploring a rename of the county’s Chavez holiday. The process will involve labor and community groups, mirroring the original collective bargaining that established it.
Supervisor Janice Hahn proposed “Farmworker Day” in a statement. “For those who grew up admiring the farmworker movement, this news is heartbreaking,” she said. “Men were only half the story in civil rights movements. One man’s abuses cannot diminish the women’s sacrifices and legacy. It’s time to honor them first.”
Street Renaming Push
The activist group California Rising held a news conference urging the rename of Cesar Chavez Avenue—a six-mile stretch through downtown Los Angeles, Monterey Park, and East Los Angeles—to Dolores Huerta Avenue, honoring the United Farm Workers co-founder.
Raul Claros, founder of the 2016 nonprofit, voiced his commitment, citing his 10-year-old daughter. “In the Latino community, such abuse has been tolerated for generations,” he said. “Our culture often demands silence. That ends now.”
