Delano Grape Strike Begins (1965)
Wed Sep 08, 1965
Image: Pickets gathering at edge of a grape field urging workers to join strike. The word "Huelga" is Spanish for strike. From the Bettmann Archive.
On this day in 1965, the Delano Grape Strike began, lasting an astonishing five years before finally succeeding in 1970. During the strike, labor groups involved merged to form the landmark United Farm Workers (UFW).
The Delano Grape Strike was organized by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a predominantly Filipino and AFL-CIO-sponsored labor organization, against table grape growers in Delano, California to fight against the exploitation of farm workers.
The strike began on September 8th, 1965 and was soon joined by the National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). The labor action lasted for an astonishing five years and was characterized by its grassroots tactics - consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance - which achieved national attention.
Filipino strike leader Andy Imutan noted that growers used race as a means to divide workers, writing: "The struggle became a lot harder when Mexican workers started crossing our picket lines. There was no unity between the Mexicans and the Filipinos. The growers were very successful in dividing us and creating conflict between the two races...So Larry Itliong and I decided to take action by seeing Cesar Chavez, the leader of the National Farm Workers Association...It took several discussions and a lot of faith, but finally the Filipinos and Mexicans joined as one on September 16th to picket the Delano growers."
In July 1970, strikers finally achieved a collective bargaining agreement with major table grape growers, affecting more than 10,000 farm workers. In August 1966, the AWOC and the NFWA merged to create the United Farm Workers (UFW) Organizing Committee.
The Delano Grape Strike is notable for the effective implementation and adaptation of boycotts, the unprecedented partnership between Filipino and Mexican farm workers to unionize farm labor, and the creation of the UFW labor union, all of which revolutionized the farm labor movement in America.
- Date: 1965-09-08
- Learn More: ufw.org, ufw.org, en.wikipedia.org.
- Tags: #Labor.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
