UFW advocates for farmworkers, but represents fewer now than during Chavez’s era

Most farmworkers in the United States today aren’t represented by labor unions, but United Farm Workers is known by many as their voice.

“FILE - United Farm Workers members march along River Road from Walnut Grove, Calif”

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Roughly 60 years after its founding by César Chavez and other activists, the UFW remains a political force in California and beyond, though observers debate the extent to which it has improved conditions for farmworkers.

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The organization is now publicly grappling with allegations that Chavez sexually abused girls and Dolores Huerta, one of the movement’s cofounders, during the union’s heyday.

Here’s what to know about the union’s history and work today.

UFW advocates broadly for the rights and fair working conditions for those hired to help grow the country’s food.

The union represents about 10,000 workers in four states — California, New York, Washington and Oregon, said Antonio De Loera-Brust, a UFW spokesman.

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That’s a much smaller footprint than the 70,000 growers represented in Chavez’s time, and only a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of farmworkers in California alone, where much of the country’s fresh produce is harvested.

Most farmworkers aren’t represented by labor unions.

“FILE - United Farm Workers members march along River Road from Walnut Grove, Calif”

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While the right to organize is protected under federal law for most workers, it is not for agricultural laborers.

But UFW has been a much bigger voice for farmworkers on issues of social and labor justice and immigration reform, said Armando Ibarra, professor at the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The union also has a sister organization that advocates for immigrant rights, among other things.

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