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Labor Leader Dolores Huerta Among 8 Arrested at Protest Demanding Raise for Home Care Workers

HeadlineAug 23, 2019

In Fresno, California, the legendary union organizer and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta was arrested along with seven other union members Tuesday as they demanded better pay for 500 home healthcare workers who haven’t had a raise in over a decade. Huerta, who is 89 years old, joined members of the Service Employees International Union as they chanted and rang cowbells outside the doors of a closed session of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. She was led away in handcuffs after refusing a police order to disperse. The supervisors have offered to increase the workers’ pay by 10 cents an hour. They currently earn California’s minimum wage, just $12 an hour. Union members are demanding a dollar-an-hour raise. Huerta later told reporters, “All of these supervisors make over $100,000 a year, while these people have gone without a wage increase for 11 years, and it’s time.”

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