HR0746 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0746 LRB102 26819 LAW 37826 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, With the month of March designated as Women's History Month and with Latino Unity Day celebrated on March 23, the members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to recognize activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta, who has worked her entire life to improve social and economic conditions for farmworkers and has served as a leader in the fight against discrimination and as a defender of civil rights, equal rights, and dignity for all; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta was born Dolores Clara Fernández to Juan Fernández and Alicia Fernández in Dawson, New Mexico on April 10, 1930; she grew up in Stockton, California and attended Stockton High School, where she was active in numerous school clubs and the Girl Scouts; she received her associate teaching degree from the University of the Pacific's Delta College; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta briefly taught school in the 1950s, where she saw many hungry farm children coming to school and thought she could do more to help them by organizing farmers and farm workers; she began her career as an activist when she cofounded the Stockton chapter of the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1955, which led voter registration drives and fought for economic improvements for Latinos; alongside activist César Chávez, she founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962, which was the predecessor of the United Farm Workers' Union (UFW) formed three years later; she served as UFW vice president until 1999; and

WHEREAS, Despite facing ethnic and gender bias, Dolores Huerta was a talented negotiator, securing services for farmworkers in California in the form of Aid to Families with Dependent Children and disability insurance in 1963; she helped organize the 1965 Delano strike of 5,000 grape workers and was the lead negotiator in the workers' contract that followed; throughout her work with the UFW, she organized workers, negotiated contracts, and advocated for safer working conditions, including the elimination of harmful pesticides; she also fought for unemployment and healthcare benefits for agricultural workers; she was the driving force behind the nationwide table grape boycotts in the late 1960s that led to a successful union contract by 1970; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta led another consumer boycott of grapes in 1973 that resulted in the ground-breaking California Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975, which allowed farm workers to form unions and bargain for better wages and conditions; she worked as a lobbyist to improve workers' legislative representation throughout the 1970s and 1980s; since the 1990s and 2000s, she has worked to elect more Latinos and women to political office and has championed women's issues; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta continues to work tirelessly, developing leaders and advocating for the working poor, women, and children; as founder and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, she travels across the country in support of campaigns and legislation that work toward equality and defend civil rights; she continues to be a voice for social justice and public policy; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta has been honored for her work as a fierce advocate for farmworkers, immigrants, the working poor, and women; she has received numerous awards, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights in 1998, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government, the James Smithson Award of the Smithsonian Institution, and multiple honorary doctorates from universities throughout the United States; she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 and the California Hall of Fame in 2013; and

WHEREAS, Dolores Huerta's accomplishments and contributions should be properly memorialized within the history and culture of the United States, as she deserves proper recognition for her numerous sacrifices in the name of justice and the amelioration of severely inadequate working conditions; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize Dolores Huerta for her activism as a labor organizer, her contributions to workers' rights, and her dedication to social justice; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we additionally recognize Dolores Huerta for continuing to fight the good fight, serving as an inspiration to everyone; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Dolores Huerta as an expression of our esteem and respect.