Celebration of the 50th anniversary of Delano grape strike this Labor Day weekend.

Filipino/American labor leader Larry Itliong, left, and Cesar Chavez, right, joined forces.

THE MOMENTOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE Grape Strike of 1965 cannot be underestimated. It is important not only in the annals of Filipino American history, but in the history of the United States. Appropriately, the event will be observed and celebrated this Labor Day Weekend in Delano, California, where the strike began.

The newly formed Delano chapter and its parent organization, the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), will host a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike with a series of events this Sept. 5 and 6, in Delano with most of the activities centering around the Filipino Community Hall where the historic vote to strike and launch the grape boycott took place.

Dubbed “Bold Step,” the weekend will focus on that momentous decision to strike, and celebrate the strike’s legacy in the Filipino American community in Delano and across the nation. 

The weekend’s events will kick off on Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Filipino Community Hall, the historic building where the strike vote was taken and the headquarters of the first years of the Grape Strike. The program will include presentations by strike veterans, scholars, community activists, and local community leaders. A highlight of the weekend will be a screening of the Emmy-award winning documentary, Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers. New York-based filmmaker Marissa Aroy, whose family roots are in Delano, will be present. The weekend will also include bus tours of local historic sites.

Click here for a complete schedule of events marking this anniversary.

The Delano Grape Strike began on September 8, 1965, when thousands of mostly Filipino American grape workers walked off of the vineyards in Delano, California. According to the AmerAsia Journal, it was a pivotal moment in which Filipino/Americans made their largest and most significant imprint on the American labor history. That bold step taken by these Filipino workers — most of whom were senior citizens in the twilight of their lives — inspired labor movements and movements for civil rights and social justice amongst Filipino Americans and Americans of all backgrounds.

The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee union (AWOC, AFL-CIO), led by labor leaders such as Larry Itliong, Pete Velasco, Andy Imutan and Philip Vera Cruz, forced the larger union made up mostly of Mexican American workers and led by Cesar Chavez, to join the boycott. The merger of the two unions led to the formation of the one of the most significant social justice movements in American history. From the strike came the multiethnic farm laborer’s union, the United Farm Workers.

In 1965, Filipino/American farm workers took the bold step to strike and launch a boycott of table grapes.

###