She was also a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 1997 to 2012[4][5] and served as a member of the board of trustees of United Way of America.

Although she has been described by some sources as an "illegal immigrant",[7] other references contend that she was born in Lorenzo in Crosby County in West Texas and reared in Lubbock.

She divorced her first husband in 1984 and the next year married Robert Thompson, the long-time president of the Amalgamated Transit Local 694 in San Antonio.

[3][10][13][14] When a tornado struck the Lubbock area that year, she volunteered to coordinate the Texas AFL-CIO's relief efforts.

[8][10][12] Realizing that public sector organizing was what she enjoyed most, Chavez-Thompson joined the staff of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees as an International Representative in 1971.

[8][10][12][13] She was subsequently elected to the executive boards of the San Antonio Central Labor Council and the Texas AFL-CIO.

[12][17] Chavez-Thompson was elected executive vice-president of the AFL-CIO after John Sweeney ran for the presidency of the labor federation in 1995.

Sweeney subsequently offered to create the post of executive vice-president and asked Chavez-Thompson to be his running mate for that position.

[19] During the ensuing campaign, Sweeney complained that supporters of Thomas R. Donahue, unfairly criticized Chavez-Thompson's qualifications for office.

Donahue's supporters claimed that the office was created only to ensure Chavez-Thompson's election after Sweeney passed her over in favor of Trumka.

[25] At the AFL-CIO Convention in Chicago, Sweeney's delegates submitted a motion on October 23 to postpone debate on the new position until after the presidential balloting.

[26] On October 25, 1995, 34 unions representing roughly 7.2 million AFL-CIO members voted to create the office of executive vice-president.

She spent most of 1996 on the road, acting as the public face of the AFL-CIO and the Sweeney administration's primary shock trooper.

[37] President Sweeney nominated Arlene Holt Baker, an African American and Chavez-Thompson's long-time aide, to be the federation's next executive vice-president.