Founded by labor rights activist César Chávez & Dolores Huerta, LUPE builds stronger, healthier communities where colonia residents use the power of civic engagement for social change. From fighting deportations, to providing social services and English classes, to organizing for streetlights and drainage, LUPE responds to the needs of the community, and takes action that creates a chance for a better life. LUPE’s strength derives from our 8,000+ members throughout the Rio Grande Valley.
César Chávez & Dolores Huerta founded LUPE, a community union rooted in the belief that members of the low-income community have the responsibility and the obligation to organize themselves. Through their association, they begin to advocate and articulate for the issues and factors that impact their lives. Further, César Chávez believed that for people to have ownership of this endeavor, they have to invest of themselves, their efforts and resources, to sustain it. The membership, and the responsibility that comes with it, form the base that is the power of the organization.
Our History

Dolores Huerta, Co-founder of LUPE
César Chávez & Dolores Huerta founded LUPE in 1989. LUPE was founded on the belief that when people work together, they can impact change. César & Dolores realized that workers had needs outside the work place. They envisioned LUPE as the entity to help workers and their families by applying the same principles and strategies that he used to build the UFW.
In 2003, LUPE was established in the Rio Grande Valley by Executive Director Juanita Valdez-Cox, then UFW State Director for South Texas. Juanita brought the LUPE model after farmworker leaders recognized the need for a community organizing model to advance the objectives of farmworkers and colonia residents.
Our Strategies
The LUPE strategy of change has evolved over the last three decades and now rest on four pillars.
Responding to the social and economic needs of low-income people in their struggle to overcome the barriers and challenges their face in their daily lives.
Investing in the development of the members and community at large. This self-help program is designed to develop and enable the capacity of low-income families.
Transforming is the element of LUPE that results from the people’s participation in addressing their social and economic needs, developing their human capacity, and advocating for themselves.
Building a Community of Conscience that bridges economic and social differences across the entire community.
Movement Victories
The events marked by the striped circle icons represent the victories during United Farm Workers under the leadership of Rebecca Flores, state director of South Texas. The ones marked by the full circles represent those during LUPE under the leadership of Juanita Valdez-Cox, executive director.
Legislation passed; Growers subsequently began requiring workers to use a knife for weeding seedlings. In Texas Dept. of Health adopted field sanitation rules rather than face a national boycott of In light of a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court, a special session of the Texas Department of Agriculture adopted a set of rules requiring farmers to warn neighbors (when Following the same argument as the Workers Comp law, the Supreme Court forced the Legislature The Legislature raised the state minimum wage from $1.70 to $3.35 per hour. Later revision Under threat of another discrimination lawsuit, the Legislature wrote a law which established requirements that We worked with county officials and state legislators to pass HB 3002, a bill that In conjunction with Texas Riogrande Legal Aid, LUPE filed a lawsuit against FEMA in the Defeated over 100 anti-immigration bills in Texas legislature as part of statewide “Texas Can do After an 8 year campaign, LUPE and ARISE members won the installation of streetlights in The Texas Legislature passed a bill removing the requirement that applicants present a Social Security Through the organizing efforts of a broad coalition, the legislature passed a bill permitting all In 2005, the Legislature authorized counties to expend a portion of their CDBG funds to In conjunction with South Texas Civil Rights Project and other non-profit groups, LUPE filed a LUPE member delegations met with police chiefs in nine Valley cities to discuss the harmful LUPE leaders and staff testified during the Board of Education’s public hearing to ensure that On behalf of LUPE and community members, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid filed a lawsuit against Without the proper infrastructure, Colonia residents face persistent flooding, some tolerating standing water for weeks Working with the Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE) initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, With the RGV Equal Voice Network, helped stop the City of McAllen from constructing 1000-bed
1981: Ban of Cortito
1983: Clean Toilets & Drinking Water in the fields
1984: Inclusion under Workers Compensation law
1984: Pesticide Controls
1985: Unemployment Compensation for farmworkers
1985: Minimum Wage improvement
1987: Pesticide Controls
2015: Colonia Streetlights
2009: FEMA Lawsuit Re: Hurricane Dolly
2011: Anti-Immigrant Legislation
2012: Colonia Streetlights
2001-2007: Driver’s License for Immigrants
2001: Resident Tuition for Undocumented Students
2005-2007: Colonia Streetlights
2008: DHS Lawsuit
2008: Delegations to Valley Police Chiefs Re: 287g
2010: Testifying before State Board of Education
2010: Food Stamps & Assistance
2011: Drainage & Housing Improvements
2012: Parks & Walking Trails
2013: Immigrant Private Prison
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