Why Is Cesar Chavez Called The Highlight Of Filipino Agricultural Workers?

Like many workers of color Filipino American Agricultural workers throughout the United States from the plantations in Hawaii to the fields of California to the canneries of Alaska have all experienced decades of abusive and unfair labor conditions prior to 1965. Many strikes were led and organize over the years but it wasn’t always successful. In fact whenever the Filipino would strike the growers, or wealthy land owning bosses would bring in Mexican farm workers. For example, before the Delano Grape strike, Filipino activists picketed in Coachella where they demanded and increase to a dollar and ten cents an hour along with better living conditions. After ten days of picketing Filipino farmworkers finally accomplished what they were aiming
The strike was started by Filipino American workers on September 8, 1965. And it was organizing through the AFWOC or Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee. Cesar Chavez did make a lot of contributions to farmworkers and labor right but the people who started taking this kind of action were Filipino American Labor leaders like the militant Larry Itliong, Phillip Ver Cruz, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco. They were the one that walked off the farms of the area table grape growers and demanded that they get equal to federal minimum
Almost everyone who was involved with Filipinos during this time it was apparent that Mexican and Filipinos were divided and when the Filipinos were preparing to strike Itliong reached out to Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Gil Padilla. A strike wasn’t a priority for them at the time but Itliong was able to give in Chavez and others to strike with them. And two weeks later a larger number of Mexican workers joined the strike. There was not only a cultural barrier but a language barrier as well. Mexican farmworkers spoke Spanish and the Filipino farmworkers spoke Tagalog. Both cultures’ were able to coexist off the field but on the field there was another