California park dedicated to Filipino labor leader Larry Itliong
DELANO, Calif. - The grand opening of the Larry Itliong Unity Park in Delano drew a who's who of labor and local leaders. Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta was among them, and so was the son of Larry Itliong. They all came to the town north of Bakersfield to honor the Filipino-American trailblazer who helped spark a labor rights revolution.
"The Filipinos started the strike, and we are very proud of that piece," said Suzanne Villaruz, whose parents were among the more than 1,000 Filipino farmworkers who walked off the job in 1965 and into the history books. "We were bold enough to take the first step and walk out of the fields," she said.
Villaruz met us at the Filpino Community Cultural Center in Delano, where Filpino workers took that historic vote to strike. A week later, Cesar Chavez and his group of mostly Mexican farmworkers would vote to join them. The movement would go on to inspire more than 17 million Americans to boycott grapes. It also started the collaboration that would later become the United Farmworkers Union, with Chavez as the director and Itliong as the assistant director.
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In a statement praising Itliong, the UFW wrote in part," That history remains a model for how to build multiracial working class solidarity to make genuine change happen. The UFW honors Larry as one of our founders and is committed to continuing his work of fighting for farmworkers of all backgrounds."
"He wasn't the great leader of the Filpino people, he was Uncle Larry," Villaruz told us. She said her mother worked for Itliong, and as a teenager, so did she. She said Itliong had already been organizing Filpino farmworkers for years when he approached Cesar Chavez. Itliong knew that if Filpinos went on strike, Latino workers would be brought in to replace them.
"We realized that the walkout would mean nothing," she said. "But when we combined forces, it started to hurt and the growers realized they needed us."
Accounts of the time showed Chavez was at first reluctant, worried his organization wasn't ready for a strike, but Itliong persuaded Chavez they were stronger together, and Latino farmworkers also pushed to join them.
"He spoke with force, he spoke with logic," Villaruz said of Itliong. "He was a very intelligent man who was self-taught, she added. "He came here young, he didn't mean to be a farm laborer or farm leader, he came for the American dream and found it wasn't open to him."
Itliong immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 15 with a 6th grade education, but Villrauz said he could debate any topic and had a way with words. He was also multilingual, and inspired workers wherever he landed, from the canneries of Alaska where he once labored, to the fields of California. He had also scored labor victories in places like Coachella, but the growers in the Central Valley dug in. For five long years, Filipino and Mexican farmworkers walked the picket lines side-by-side demanding better wages and conditions.
Villaruz said farmworkers were obligated to work 12-hour days, and often lacked basics like bathrooms. She said all they were asking was for a few more cents and dignity.
Growers brought in replacement workers and even resorted to violence. Villaruz's father died before the strike ended. She said her family got by on donations. "Our family had boxes and boxes of Honeycomb cereal," she said. I couldn't look at Honeycomb cereal for years.
The movement and their sacrifices would draw support from the likes of Bobby Kennedy. Photos show Chavez and Itliong with the then senator.
Itliong died in 1977 when he was 63 years old, but his legacy is still inspiring Californians, including lawmakers. This past October 25, Itliong's birthday was declared Larry Itliong Day in the Golden State.
