#grape boycott

Today is Larry Itliong Day! Itliong was a Filipino-American labor organizer who is remembered as one of the “fathers of the West Coast labor movement.”

Itliong is best known for co-founding the United Farm Workers Union with fellow activist Cesar Chavez in 1967. He was also key in launching the 1965–1966 grape strike and boycott in California, which led to increased workers’ pay and protections.

On 8 September 1965, the AFL-CIO’s Agriculture Workers Organizing Committee, headed by Larry Itliong, voted to strike against grape growers in Delano, CA. The strike held due to the fact that for the first time Mexican workers did not cross the picket lines, due to the leadership of Cesar Chavez.

On 16 September, Chavez’s National Farm Workers Association joined the AWOC on the picket lines, ultimately merging to form the United Farm Workers.

I'm sure that most people have not heard of this man, because I didn't know about him until today. Cesar Chavez was one of the most famous Mexican-American civil rights leaders in US history. He organized one of the first major labor unions for immigrant agricultural workers back in 1965. When he and his union told all of America about the low wages and disgustingly unfit working conditions on California farms, millions of Americans joined a grape boycott that forced the growers to meet the demands. Migrant farm workers, paid less than $1.50 an hour along with no benefits or job security, were exposed to toxic pesticides and arbitrary pay cuts. The grape boycott was hugely successful- 17 MILLION Americans helped.

This is a man that not many non-Latin-Americans celebrate, but I hope that he will be knows to you guys. There are more civil rights leaders than MLK Jr, as important and honorable as he was. I hope you will take something away from this. =)