Here are 5 of the Latino-led labor movements in California history that championed workers
Latinos activists have been instrumental in pushing forward labor reform in California and across the country. In recognition of Labor Day, here are five of the most well-known labor milestones in the last 120 years led or co-led by Latinos to make workplaces safer.
“Some of the most important icons in terms of labor, especially in California, are Latinos,” said Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, project director for the UCLA Labor Center. “So, I think there’s a lot to celebrate for Latinos this Labor Day.
Oxnard strikes
One of the earliest strikes in California was co-organized by Latinos, when Japanese and Mexican farm laborers banded together in 1903 to form the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association and organize a strike at the height of sugar beet season.
The workers were protesting low wages and a requirement to buy goods in overpriced company-owned stores. The association became known as the first major agricultural union in California to unite workers of different minority groups.
“That was a really early example of how you build a multiracial union, how you build solidarity on the most marginalized workers,” Rivera-Salgado said.
Agricultural strikes of 1933
Although not the first strike of that time, El Monte Berry Strike of 1933 was the one to gain public recognition and attention. Workers used it to address stagnating wages during the Great Depression of the 1930s and declining working conditions. The labor struggle also showcased the area’s unique relationship between Mexican agricultural workers, Japanese growers and white landowners.
“There was a huge agricultural boom that took place in the 1920s and 1930s, completely consolidating the dependency of immigrant labor, especially in California agriculture,” Rivera-Salgado said.
The Spanish-Speaking People’s Congress
On Dec. 4, 1938, El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española (The Spanish-Speaking Peoples Congress) held its first conference in Los Angeles. Luisa Moreno, who was born in Guatemala, spearheaded the conference, which was a national effort to bring together Latino immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds.
It was attended by delegates from over 100 organizations, representing a combined membership of over 70,000 people, and drew attention to the working conditions in sweatshops, canneries and agricultural fields.
“At this time, immigrants were not thought of as strong leadership or resistance,” Rivera-Salgado said. “Luisa Moreno came and changed that.”
The Delano Grape Strike
Perhaps, the most famous labor movement in California is the Delano Grape Strike which began in 1965. The strike was first begun by Filipino American organizer Larry Itliong and more than 2,000 farmworkers refused to go to work picking grapes because of poor pay and working conditions. They set in motion a chain of events that would last five years and bring forward now-iconic individuals such as Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. It also led to the creation of the United Farm Workers of America.
“The labor movement does a much better job of being inclusive and organizing workers from communities of color, those that are most disadvantaged, like immigrant and low wage workers, in part because of the innovative strategies that were developed with the farm worker movement in the 60s and 70s under Chavez and Huerta,” said Ed Flores, a a professor of sociology and faculty director of the UC Merced Community and Labor Center.
Justice for Janitors Campaign
This Latino-led national campaign focused on organizing janitors in the 1990s, in response to the low wages and minimal health-care coverage that they received. It stemmed from individuals who were part of the farmworker movement and left the Central Valley to organize in bigger cities.
The push for janitors came at a time when low-income workers faced challenges from anti-immigrant legislation including Proposition 187, which sought to deny undocumented immigrants access to public education and health care.
“These were the first cases where a labor union had successfully organized a population that was largely undocumented,” Flores said.
This story was originally published September 4, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Here are 5 of the Latino-led labor movements in California history that championed workers."
