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| The late labor leader Larry Itliong's birthday is Oct. 25. |
California is still the only state that marks the birth of Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong.
Governor Jerry Brown first signed the law creating Larry Itliong Day in 2015 and every year since, the state has officially recognized the day. Wednesday, Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis signed the proclamation since Gov. Gavin Newsom was on a trade mission in China.
The proclamation read, in part:
While working as a laborer in the fisheries and canneries of Alaska, Itliong helped found the Alaska Cannery Workers Union. His efforts helped secure a contract that gave workers an eight-hour workday with overtime. Following his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Itliong settled in Stockton, California.
Itliong continued his work in the labor movement, emerging as a leader in the Filipino-American community of respected elders known as Manongs. He was involved in organizing the asparagus strike of 1948 – the first major agricultural strike after World War II – and in 1956, Itliong founded the Filipino Farm Labor Union in Stockton. Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, and Manong leaders helped create the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee.
RELATED: Why all states should honor Larry Itliong
In the Spring of 1965, Itliong allied with grape workers in the Coachella Valley, fighting for increased pay. Following that victory, the Manongs voted in September 1965 to organize against grape growers in Delano who were exploiting workers toiling in their fields. The Manongs joined César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and the National Farmworkers Association to launch a nationwide boycott of grapes, ultimately delivering the first farmworker union contracts.
The UFW recognized the significance of Itliong and other Filipino American labor leaders in the formation of a union that joined Mexican and Filipino farmworkers.
"Both Larry Itliong and Cesar Chavez knew growers had defeated unions for 100 years by using one race to break the strikes of another. So from the outset of the walkouts, they insisted both Filipino and Latino strikers share the same picket lines and union hall, and eat in the same strike kitchen. The two unions merged in 1966, to form what today is the United Farm Workers of America. Solidarity between the races helped produce the first union contracts with table grape growers in 1970, and was a key factor in establishing the first enduring farm workers union in American history," read the UFW statement.
"Tough and courageous, Larry Itliong joined other Filipino American leaders such as Peter Velasco and Philip Vera Cruz who built the UFW alongside Cesar Chavez and his Latino colleagues such as Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla," the statement concluded.
The historic five-year long Delano Grape Strike ended successfully with farmworkers receiving fair wages, benefits and better working conditions.
In 2014, the overpass over Route 54, also known as the Filipino American Highway, in the City of San Diego was renamed the "Itliong-Vera Cruz Memorial Bridge.
In the Spring of 1965, Itliong allied with grape workers in the Coachella Valley, fighting for increased pay. Following that victory, the Manongs voted in September 1965 to organize against grape growers in Delano who were exploiting workers toiling in their fields. The Manongs joined César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and the National Farmworkers Association to launch a nationwide boycott of grapes, ultimately delivering the first farmworker union contracts.
The UFW recognized the significance of Itliong and other Filipino American labor leaders in the formation of a union that joined Mexican and Filipino farmworkers.
"Both Larry Itliong and Cesar Chavez knew growers had defeated unions for 100 years by using one race to break the strikes of another. So from the outset of the walkouts, they insisted both Filipino and Latino strikers share the same picket lines and union hall, and eat in the same strike kitchen. The two unions merged in 1966, to form what today is the United Farm Workers of America. Solidarity between the races helped produce the first union contracts with table grape growers in 1970, and was a key factor in establishing the first enduring farm workers union in American history," read the UFW statement.
"Tough and courageous, Larry Itliong joined other Filipino American leaders such as Peter Velasco and Philip Vera Cruz who built the UFW alongside Cesar Chavez and his Latino colleagues such as Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla," the statement concluded.
The historic five-year long Delano Grape Strike ended successfully with farmworkers receiving fair wages, benefits and better working conditions.
In 2014, the overpass over Route 54, also known as the Filipino American Highway, in the City of San Diego was renamed the "Itliong-Vera Cruz Memorial Bridge.
In 2015 the Alvarado Middle School in Union City, California was officially renamed the Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School, after Itliong and his friend and fellow Filipino American labor leader, Philip Vera Cruz.
Itliong passed away on February 8, 1977 at the age of 63. He was survived by his wife and seven children.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.
