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The keynote of Americanism, for the laborer, is the opportunity to advance—to better his condition. It is one of the cherished American ideals that each generation shall stand in advance of the preceding one, better physically, mentally, spiritually. And America demands for her workers this opportunity for development. — Manlapit
Pablo Manlapit, a self-educated lawyer, attempted to strike against American growers in the 1920s to demand fair wages and working conditions, but unfortunately both of these strikes failed which led to blacklisting Filipinos as labor union members.
THE STRIKE MAY HAVE FAILED, BUT THE SPIRIT NEVER DIED
Kerkvliet, Melinda. “Pablo Manlapit’s Fight for Justice.” Social Process in Hawaii, 33(1991): 153-168.
In the 1940s and 50s Itliong organized many workers unions such as the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the League of Workers (LoW), and the Filipino Voters League (FVL). Itliong was also able to ally the Filipinos with Mexican agricultural workers in California which forced the United States to create the United Farm Workers union (UFW).
The union that came from the cannery was the first Filipino-lead union in the United States. With this cannery, this drew a lot of Filipinos because they saw this as an opportunity to earn an education in the US, but they were taken advantage of because of their immigrant status. Due to the racial discrimination, the unsafe and unfair working conditions, and the violence and exploitation the Filipino workers faced, they had reached their breaking point in the 1930s.
A sum of $2.20 would be paid for labor on Sunday during the fish run. If the employee did not want to work overtime or on Sundays, he or she would be fined fifty cents per hour not worked. If employees decided to “strike, refuse to work, cease work, or demand higher wages,” then other labor would be substituted. The employees would lose pay to these workers and have money deducted to pay for their food and board. — Dorothy Fujita-Rony
In the social spaces of dance halls, Filipino men began to discuss the benefits of organizing, and they realized that it was essential that they form a union to protect the rights of the cannery workers. Their first goal was to dismantle the contract labor system which kept them at the mercy of their bosses who profited off of human exploitation. These contractors used various tactics to maintain control of their workers, such as a barcada, which was a network of people to recruit desperate immigrants into the system. These recruits were unaware of how exploitative their contracts where and the bosses would deny union supports employment in retaliation. The union also sought to improve workers conditions but advocating for better pay, shorter workday, overtime compensation, and adequate food and housing. Through the bargaining they aimed to secure better treatment and protections for those who have been exploited.
Fujita-Rony, Dorothy B. American Workers, Colonial Power: Philippine Seattle and the Transpacific West, 1919-1941. 1st ed. University of California Press, 2003.
Five would go to a house at a time. See, if you had ten, you had two groups that could work this thing. And it has some effect on the people that we are able to reach. It’s not all the time that we find them in their homes. Most of the time, we instruct our pickets to convince the scab workers to come out, talk to them in a nice way because we need their support when they come out instead of just—If they come out and just stay home, and then try to do their part, it’s not very effective. — Itliong
When we speak about the security on the job, we are speaking about seniority on the job. An employer always has the right to fire an employee if the employee doesn’t do his job properly. That’s certainly natural. But then again, there are employers that, even if you’re not doing anything wrong on your job, if he doesn’t like the way you comb your hair, you get fired just the same. — Itliong
Activism @ Stanford - Spotlight at Stanford. “Interview with Larry Itliong,” 2024.
Philip Vera Cruz came to the mainland United states in the 1930s, where he also worked in an Alaskan cannery before doing agricultural labor. He participated in various strikes from the 1940s and was even the president of a farm labor union in the 1950s. He was also one of the founding members of the United Farm Workers with Larry Itliong so he was a key figure in organizing strikes and negotiating for better wages and working conditions.
Socially we were segregated, we were not welcome. Then when it comes to the politics, we didn’t have any power at all, we didn’t have any votes… And in the economical part of it well were at the bottom the reason is because we were not educated and we we didn’t have any special training and even people who have been gradates of colleges and universities here, they didn’t want to give them jobs. — Vera Cruz
“Philip Vera Cruz Oral History Transcript, Interview 1.” Calisphere, 2024.
Lorraine Agtang was a prominent figure during the Delano grape strikes for the Filipino labor rights movement in the 1960s. She was an activist despite being a teenager, but her family worked in canneries and then in the fields. She advocated for the rights of Filipino farm workers, and she knew from firsthand experiences how bad the exploitation was and the harsh working conditions. She raised awareness about the struggles of the farm workers, and she also worked to unite the Filipinos with the Mexican farm workers to fight for better wages and working conditions.
The Filipinos were on strike, and the Mexicans were breaking the strike. I had some friends actually, some Mexicans who went on strike when the Filipinos went on strike. But the majority of them were still working. So, Larry [Itliong] and the leaders of AWOC knew there was no way to win the strike if the Mexicans were breaking the strike, so that’s when they went to see Cesar. So they joined forces at that point. People followed them because they were all community leaders. So, when the strike began, all the Filipinos were on strike. When they go on strike, everyone went on strike, I’m sure. — Agtang
I was always around the Manongs, so it was always clear to me that they started the strike. When anyone who came to 40 Acres had exposure, everybody knew. People who were close in the movement, they all knew the Filipinos started the strike. Maybe historically, after Larry left, Cesar was always the leader of the union. — Agtang
welgadigitalarchive.omeka.net. “Welga Archive - Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies | Agtang (Lorraine) Oral History Interview,” March 17, 2014.
