Gov. Bob Ferguson said the state won’t honor the labor leader on March 31. Lawmakers could recast the day to recognize farmworkers.
State lawmakers and the governor are rethinking how Washington marks the legacy of Cesar Chavez following stunning accusations of sexual abuse against the transformational leader of the farmworker movement.
In 2018, Washington passed a law recognizing “Cesar Chavez Day” on March 31, the birthday of the co-founder of the United Farm Workers union.
But top Democratic elected officials are reeling from revelations this week in The New York Times that Chavez groomed and sexually abused two girls and raped Dolores Huerta, who worked alongside Chavez for decades and carried the leadership baton for years after he died in 1993.
Continue reading this story in the Washington State Standard.