The birthplace of labor rights becomes a historic landmark
DELANO – On February 21, President’s Day, Secretary for the Interior, Ken Salazar, delivered the keynote address at an event attended by over 1,000 to celebrate the designation of 40 Acres/Agbayani Village as a National Historic Landmark. Agbayani Village and the adjoining property known as “40 Acres” among United Farm Workers (UFW) members, has come to symbolize the struggles of Filipino American and Mexican American farmworkers to improve their working conditions, unionize and gain protection under the labor laws of the United States. In receiving a National Historic Landmark designation, the struggles of these farmworkers are finally being recognized as having “national significance” in the history of the United States.
When the Filipino farmworkers went on strike in Delano on September 8, 1965, taking a series of actions that would later be viewed as national historic significance was probably something that they did not envision. Although they were members of a nascent union, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), the strike vote was made without the support of the AWOC director ( Al Green ) and the AFL-CIO leadership. That decision, as it turned out, was an important one, because it ignited a movement that would lead to the formation of the UFW, and the passage of labor laws in California, that provided protections for farmworkers which paralleled the protections given to industrial and urban workers. In voting to strike, Filipinos were invoking their ultimate weapon against powerful grape growers. “The Filipinos had to be united in order to pull the strike off. [Fortunately] we had strong labor consciousness,” notes Philip Vera Cruz, in his memoir about the farmworker movement. UCLA Labor Center and Asian American Studies Center, 1992.
In celebrating the designation of 40 Acres/Agbayani Village as a National Historic Landmark, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar paid homage to Cesar Chavez and the Farmworker Movement that thrived under his leadership. Congressman Jim Costas likewise reminded the audience of the contributions of Filipino farmworkers to this movement, under the leadership of Larry Itliong. Both Salazar and Costas noted that the farmworker strike and the subsequent nationwide grape boycott, became the precursor of a wider range of civil rights and social reform movements that helped define twentieth century American history.
Richard Chavez, younger brother of Cesar Chavez, told the story of how the UFW, while looking for facilities to house the offices of the UFW, learned of the availability of 40 acres of desert land west of Delano, at a giveaway price of $2,500. The UFW was able to buy the property and when Cesar Chavez finally saw the property, he began to envision it as the site for UFW office headquarters and a union hall. In addition, according to Richard Chavez, his brother also began to think of setting aside a portion of the land as a retirement village for Filipino farmworkers.
Filipino farmworkers with the UFW, had mostly immigrated from the Philippines during the 1920s and 1930s, having been recruited by growers in Hawaii and California. They were young men then, but due to racial discrimination in the form of anti-miscegenation laws, they were unable to marry and establish families. The establishment of a retirement village for them, would at least insure that they would have a place to call home, in their twilight years.
The construction of Agbayani Village, over a period of two years (1972-1974), became a community effort where students, professionals, and grassroots supporters of the UFW from all over California and even adjoining states, came to volunteer their labor to help build 60 apartment units then, now 58, that would house retired Filipino farmworkers. It was named Agbayani Retirement Village in honor of Paulo Agbayani, a Filipino farm worker who died in the picket lines during the strike.
Ken Salazar declared giants have walked in Forty Acres and just like the prayer of St. Francis de Assisi, “in giving, Chavez received more to become an inspiration for the future generations.” He asked folks to keep working with their legislators on the Dream Act and to see to it that the bill is passed, as it brings 12 million out of the shadows of their fears.
Here also, Congressman Jim Costas delivered a speech which gave due recognition to the efforts of labor leader and civil rights activist César Chavez and Larry Itliong — a Filipino grape farmer and lesser-known originator of the modern-day farm labor movement.
Dolores Huerta recognized many workers and donors to their cause
While Chavez and Dolores Huerta, founders of the Mexican-American organization, National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), went down in history for their endeavors in promoting farm workers’ rights, little is known about the Filipino farm workers and those who spearheaded the grape boycott. Fortunately, in the wonderful worldwide web, there are academics, historians and family archivists who partially filled the void and somehow managed to dig out some facts about this important piece of history.
The Delano Grape Strike
On September 8, 1965, Larry Itliong, along with 1,500 Filipino farm workers, walked out of their stations in the grape-growing farms of Delano to demand fair wages and benefits. Itliong was the head of The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), an organization comprised mostly of Filipino agricultural workers in Delano, CA. This came to be known as the historical Delano Grape Strike, which led to a nationwide boycott that lasted until 1970.
The move forged a merger between AWOC and NFWA. On August 22, 1966, the union of the two groups led to the inception of what is now known as the United Farm Workers of America (UFW). NFWA joined AWOC in the picket lines on Sept. 16, 1965 –Mexican Independence Day.
For eight days, Filipino farmworkers were united in their demands to get $0.15 more per hour in wages, toilets, and better working conditions. What precipitated the strike was Filipinos were required to report to work two to three days in advance for ‘training’, unpaid, and on top of that, charged $0.75 a day for food by the growers. Their conditions were deemed worse than working as slaves who got free food and housing for their labor. Because of this, Larry Itliong and his union boldly called for a strike in Delano.
Larry Itliong: The Pinoy behind the grape boycott
Larry Dulay Itliong was born in the Philippines in 1913. He immigrated to America in 1929 and worked in Alaska. A year after, Itliong joined the striking lettuce pickers in Washington. He also helped establish the Alaska Cannery Workers Union in the 1930s, and became the vice-president of the Cannery Workers in Seattle in 1953.
He was also one of the initiators of an asparagus strike in Stockton. In 1956, he led and organized the Filipino Farm Labor Union, then, affiliated with the AFL-CIO. He led a Filipino strike of Coachella Valley grape growers that resulted in higher pay of $1.40 per hour, from a prior $1.25 per hour. The salary increase inspired the farm workers of Delano – where most of the grapes are grown – to follow suit.
“Larry’s greatest contribution was to reach across racial barriers and asked Cesar Chavez to join the Delano strike. At first, Cesar said no, he was not ready. Itliong asked him again and after a union meeting and a vote, on Sept. 16, 1965, Chavez’ union members joined Itliong’s union members. In December 1965, United Auto Workers President Walter Reuther called for a national boycott against the Delano grape products and gave the strikers $5,000 a month, a stipend of $5/ week per striker. Clergy backed the boycott. The strike led to a boycott which lasted five years and a Harris poll showed that 17 million people stopped buying table grapes.”(Source: Larry Itliong Family’s personal files and archives)
Beyond the picket lines, the NFWA also organized a march from Delano to Sacramento to bring visibility to their issue, statewide. Hundreds to thousands of folks joined in, until their boycott gained momentum and caught national and international attention.
Agbayani Village was born
Out of concern for the aging single Filipino farmworkers who could no longer work in the farms, Cesar Chavez agreed to build a 60-unit retirement village for them. Agbayani Village was built by solidarity, unity, and volunteer labor that came from all over the US. It also included volunteers from Canada, England, Switzerland, Germany, France, Japan and the Philippines. Over 2,000 Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and African – Americans and Caucasians participated, according to Philip Vera Cruz, although only 700 names were listed in a marker inside the village.
Inside the village, photos of the manongs and the volunteers are displayed, clearly communicating that this retirement village was built on the backs of these single manongs, our farmworkers who came before us, isuda ti imuna and over 2,000 volunteers who helped make this village a reality. Today, their efforts gained national visibility, albeit somewhat, as we dig deeper for their true stories in the historical archives.