OPEIU Local 8

From Seattle to Los Angeles, Local 8 members are standing strong and celebrating the power of workers everywhere. Union Solidarity forever!

Local 8 members are in Washington, D.C. this week attending our International Union’s Education Conference, which kicked off today with a powerful panel of speakers addressing the urgent challenges facing the labor movement: declining union density, political division, attacks on workers through AI, and threats targeting immigrant workers.

The future of labor depends on our ability to organize, adapt, fight back against attacks on workers, and build solidarity across every workplace and community!

Local 8 members were proud to attend today’s Labor and Immigration Summit in Tacoma, where workers, leaders, and community allies came together in solidarity. We heard powerful messages from April Sims, Nathe Lawyer, and Sharlett Mena. Throughout the day, we learned, connected, and recommitted ourselves to extending solidarity across borders, languages, and race. When we build bridges across communities, we build real worker power!

Special recognition to all of the hardworking employees (and members of Local 8) of the Washington State Labor Council who organized and staffed this impactful event!

The 2026 Shop Steward & Leadership Conference was a success!

We made new connections and expanded upon our skills as leaders and workplace advocates. We even managed to raise a whopping $2,136 for the Hardship Fund, which goes directly to our Union siblings when they need it the most.

Thank you for leading Local 8 💙

Local 8 members at the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA) are preparing for upcoming contract negotiations with a clear goal: build on the gains we made in our last contract and keep moving forward!

Throwing it back to ‘89 in honor of this weekend’s Shop Steward & Leadership Conference.

You can still join! Register ➡️ bit.ly/LEAD411

Union members are grappling with how we stand together in the face of violent, inhuman immigration enforcement in workplaces across the country.

The 2026 WSLC Labor & Immigration Summit: The Fight for Solidarity Across Every Border is a space to learn your rights, build practical tools, and stand together. Join us 4/18 to learn, strategize, and grow community.

Register now—scan the QR code or click the link below:
https://ow.ly/U3QS50YCJ4c

Calling all Local 8 leaders ☎️

We hope to see you at the Shop Steward & Leadership Conference! No experience necessary, just a desire to step up in the union and workplace.
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Saturday, April 11
10 am - 4 pm
5030 1st Ave S, Seattle

Local 8's North Regional Meeting was a success. When members come together to share ideas, support each other, and organize, we build the kind of power that wins!

A third-generation union member, OPEIU Local 8 member Kyra Williams supports the members of IBEW Local 483 in and around Tacoma, Washington.

"To me, being in a union means having a voice, having each other’s backs and continuing a legacy of fighting for better conditions not just for myself, but for everyone who comes after me,” she said.

In this moment we are holding space for Dolores Huerta and for all survivors of abuse. Our Union is grounded in the belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to fostering a labor movement that not only fights for workers’ rights, but also centers safety, accountability, and care for one another. We stand in solidarity.

March 18, 2026

Today, civil rights leader Dolores Huerta issued the following statement:

“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for.

I have encouraged people to always use their voice. Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into s*xual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences.

As a young mother in the 1960s, I experienced two separate s*xual encounters with Cesar. The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having s*x with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to. The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.

I had experienced abuse and s*xual violence before, and I convinced myself these were incidents that I had to endure alone and in secret. Both s*xual encounters with Cesar led to pregnancies. I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to develop a deep relationship with these children, who are now close to my other children, their siblings. But even then, no one knew the full truth about how they were conceived until just a few weeks ago.

I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work. The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way. I channeled everything I had into advocating on behalf of millions of farmworkers and others who were suffering and deserved equal rights.

I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of s*xual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control.

I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others. Women are coming forward, sharing that they were s*xually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.

The knowledge that he hurt young girls sickens me. My heart aches for everyone who suffered alone and in silence for years. There are no words strong enough to condemn those deplorable actions that he did. Cesar’s actions do not reflect the values of our community and our movement.

The farmworker movement has always been bigger and far more important than any one individual. Cesar’s actions do not diminish the permanent improvements achieved for farmworkers with the help of thousands of people. We must continue to engage and support our community, which needs advocacy and activism now more than ever.

I will continue my commitments to workers, as well as my commitment to women’s rights, to make sure we have a voice and that our communities are treated with dignity and given the equity that they have so long been denied.

I have kept this secret long enough. My silence ends here."

If you are a survivor or if you have been impacted by any type of s*xual violence, please visit the Dolores Huerta Foundation website, where you will find a list of resources for support. https://doloreshuerta.org/s*xual_assault_resources/

Read the full statement and Spanish-language version here: https://medium.com/p/e74c20430555?postPublishedType=initial

MEDIA CONTACT

Fenton Chief of Issue Advocacy & Crisis Management Lead Erik Olvera | [email protected] | 415-994-3242

Lara Berthold | [email protected]