United Farmworkers movement as Filipino American and Mexican American solidarity

This piece has been edited and reprinted from CSUMB's Diverse Perspectives series

By Nick Alesandro

César Chávez and Dolores Huerta are names many know due to how influential they were in the United Farm Workers of America Movement, but other lesser-known names have made equally large contributions. Larry Itliong was a Filipino American labor organizer who stood in solidarity with the farm workers by organizing strikes such as the Delano Grape Strike. Working together with César Chávez and Dolores Huerta strengthened their influence and led to better rights for workers.

A Smithsonian article explains this cooperation by saying, “Itliong soon contacted Cesar Chavez and asked Mexican farmworkers to join the strike. He understood that all workers had to stand together in their fight for justice. Chavez didn’t think his people were ready to go on strike. But he took Itliong’s request back to the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), and along with Dolores Huerta spoke to the nearly one thousand NFWA members. In a unanimous vote, the Mexicans joined the Filipinos. A year later, AWOC (Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee) and NFWA merged to become the United Farm Workers (UFW).”

This one example reveals how Filipino Americans and Mexican Americans have stood together in the struggle for equal rights and fair treatment. For that reason, I believe that the Latinx community should be in solidarity with the Filipino American community because they have been mistreated in similar ways by exploitative working conditions.

There are many ways to stand in solidarity, the most notable being forming groups and unions to fight against oppressors. This can range from forming worker unions to making a club at school to discuss issues plaguing the community and taking steps to fix them.

Nick Alesandro is a third-year biology major at Cal State Monterey Bay. He was born and raised in San Francisco and from an early age the United Farm Workers movement was a core component of his academic interests. Later in life, he realized that there were many names who haven’t gotten the recognition they deserved, which inspired him to write this article.