Araw ng Kagitingan: Pagpupugay sa mga Bayani ng mga OFWs >The Delano Manongs of California: Greatest Filipino Overseas Labor Leaders Ever Told! (Larry Dulay Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Sixto Dulay, Catalino Taclibon, Andy Imutan, Pete Velasco and Others casted in the Film – Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW-United Farm Workers) Larry Dulay Itliong (25 October 1913 – 8 February 1977), also known as Seven Fingers, was a Filipino American labor organizer. He organized West Coast agricultural workers starting in the 1930s, and rose to national prominence in 1965, when he, Philip Vera Cruz, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco, walked off the farms of area table-grape growers, demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage, that became known as the Delano grape strike. He has been described as one of the fathers of the West Coast labor movement.” Itliong was a native of Pangasinan Province. Philip Vera Cruz (December 25, 1904 – June 12, 1994) was a Filipino American labor leader, farmworker, and leader in the Asian American civil rights movement. He was a co-founder of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, which later merged with the National Farm Workers Association to become the United Farm Workers. As the unions long-time vice president, he worked to improve the working conditions for migrant workers. Vera Cruz was born in Saoag, Ilocos Sur, the Philippines on December 25, 1904. Catalino Taclibon (May 15, 1901 – January 1988) – was born either in Badoc, Ilocos Norte or Moncada, Tarlac was one of the major personalities in the 1965 Delano Grape Farmworkers’ Strike and in the Earlimart Huelga of 1972. Catalino Taclibon was listed as AWOC – Agricultural Workers Organizing Committe Member in the FARMWORKER MOVEMENT ROSTER Q Z - University of California, San Diego. His last known address in the US was at 93216 Delano, Kern County, California Sixto Dulay - was also one of the major personalities in the 1965 Delano Grape Farmworkers’ Strike and in the Earlimart Huelga of 1972. According to the film, “Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the United Farm Workers,” Filipino migrant workers had been union organizing since the 1920’s. However, the event that can be seen as the catalyst for the Filipino labor movement and ultimately, for the development of the UFW, was the Filipino-led Delano Grape Strike of 1965. The creators of the film describe how Larry Itliong, “a five foot five cigar-chomping union veteran,” organized 1500 Filipinos (AWOC) to strike against the grape companies of Delano, California. After eight days of striking alone, AWOC was joined by the National Farm Workers Association, founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, according to the Cesar Chavez foundation. “It was the strike that eventually made the UFW, the farmworkers movement, and Cesar Chavez famous worldwide and lasted until 1970 when we finally won our workers’ contracts with the growers,” said Vera Cruz, in his personal historical account. UFW could not have been so successful without this coalition of Filipino and Chicano workers, but Vera Cruz explained that as a minority within a minority, Filipinos were “used and pulled back by the UFW, the Teamsters and the growers for many years.” In his account, Vera Cruz explains how many Filipinos like Itliong quit their positions in the UFW because they felt they had “no real power within the union.” He said to a certain extent, Chavez and the union did not “conduct themselves in a truly democratic manner” and that criticism of Cesar was not allowed. Volunteers were kicked out by Cesar and Huerta “without a word of explanation.” The event that angered Vera Cruz the most and cemented his decision to leave the union was when Chavez accepted an invitation by Filipino dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, to visit him in the Philippines. Outwardly Marcos would pretend to support farm workers, but jailed them in his own country and tortured his political prisoners. Vera Cruz objected to this visit, but Chavez did not listen and went to the Philippines anyway. Vera Cruz does not deny the great things Chavez has done for the movement of labor workers. He cited Chavez’s “wonderful charismatic personality, integrity and honesty that caused people to want to support him and his causes.” He noted Chavez’s hunger strikes and recognized that he “put his life on the line” and would “never ask a worker to do something that he himself wouldn’t do.” However, Vera Cruz saw that “the movement must go beyond its leaders,” and that a movement is different from a union. Even if Chavez was not there, the “conditions would have created the necessary leadership.” This Cesar Chavez day, remember the hundreds of Filipinos who helped give Chavez the strength to lead. Sundial, March 27, 2012, Hansook Oh As the co- founder of the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) César Chávez is just one of the many civil rights activists discussed by Salomon in his book. Yes, Chávez was special in many of the ways he committed and promoted his work but the United Farm Workers Union was not the first successful farm worker union in the United States history. In fact the Filipino farm workers were the first to establish a militant farm labor agenda. Two of the most important figures for this group were Filipino immigrants by the names of Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Dulay Itliong, Catalino Taclibon and Sixto Dulay. They were the originators of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and later helped with the UFW. After being declined by the mainstream American Federation of Labor (AFL) unions, the Filipino workers attempted unionization with groups like the Sons of the Farm but were ineffective. But one thing that they did do from all the effort is to eliminate any rumors of the Asian labor force being docile. They also became the dominant work force is a lot of the commodity agriculture crops. After feeling the effects of the Filipinos, the local white civic organizations started violent riots towards the Filipinos. The riots were so violent that some workers were even killed. This put fear into the heads of the Filipino workers like the whites hoped, but most continued to work throughout the season. The Filipinos challenge to authority even after the beatings that they received showed that they were persistent to reduce the racial tension and social inequality. The disruption the workers created definitely got the attention that they wanted but the racism only continued to grow. They were discriminated and stereotyped as criminals and “jungle savages” from primitive cultures. The “race riots” continued but they stood their ground and did not give into the intimidation of the white hatred. The Filipinos had organized marches of large groups and organized for justice against both exploitation and violent racist attacks. After their wages were cut in half one of the biggest steps for the workers came. Carol Schoenbrunn Lambiase Deposition (Sixto Dulay and Catalino Taclibon mentioned) About 10 of the Manongs also lived at Schenley Camp. “Manong” is a term of respect for an elder in Pilipino society, and as original strikers and founders of the UFW, the union Manongs were due this respect. The more I came to know the Manongs and appreciate the collective way they divided up tasks and dealt with problems, the more I felt not just respect but awe. Although exhausted, frail, and weakened by a lifetime of farm labor, they ran the camp themselves, and each had his own particular job according to his skills and abilities. Tony Armington cooked (and fabulously, too). Another Manong did all the dishes. Another (perhaps Sixto Dulai) got the mail. Another watered the trees. Candido Feliciano did guard duty. Sebastion Sahagun took photographs. Catalino Taclibon helped in any way he could. And as problems arose, the extended Pilipino community arrived at the camp and discussed matters until they had a plan. The richness of their spirit of survival and warmth toward us was in sharp contrast to the sparseness of the camp itself. Earlimart Huelga (Sixto Dulay and Catalino Taclibon mentioned as picket-line organizers and front-liners) EARLIMART, California—Farmworkers in the Delano-Earlimart area celebrated the second anniversary of the signing of the Grape Union Contracts with a Strike against two of the most notorious antiunion growers in the area, Lamanuzzi Panteleo and Vignolo Vineyards. Every morning at 5:00 a. m., Strikers, Union organizers, Union volunteers formed the Forty Acres and La Paz have joined the picket lines. In Solidarity with the Strike effort, the doctors from the Union Clinic, Dan Murphy, Peter Rudd, and Peter Cummings joined in the Struggle, along with Margaret Murphy, Clinic Administrator, and other Clinic staff. At one picketline, several of La Causas original Strikers joined in the shouts of HUELGA: Julio Hernandez, Union Vice~President, Epifanio Camacho, Severino Manglio, Sixto Dulay, Sebastian Sahagun, Catalino Taclibon, Candido Feliciano, Benito Ramolete, Fausto V. Guzman, and Francisco Bodillo. With each Union Contract we win we sound the death knell for this corrupt system of labour contractors that take advantage of our people. Union Contracts establish Hiring Halls that give us job security without bribes and shady deals. For only $3.50 in Union dues per month we receive benefits and guarantees in writing. At press time, we heard that the growers might be able to obtain an injunction to prohibit the Strike. BUT EVEN IF THEY ARE ABLE TO MOMENTARILY STOP THE STRIKE, THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP THE ULTIMATE VICTORY OF FARMWORKERS OVER INJUSTICE! VIVA LA HUELGA! EL Marciado – The Official Voice of the United Farmworkers Volume V, Number 7, August 18, 1972 Research: Dr. Delmar Topinio Taclibon, Bt., DKR, KRSS, BSCE, MBA, Ph.D.D.A., August 25, 2014 References: FARMWORKER MOVEMENT ROSTER Q Z - University of California, San Diego, Catalino Taclibon was listed as AWOC Member Carol Schoenbrunn Lambiase Deposition, 1973–1979 (Sixto Dulay and Catalino Taclibon mention) EL Marciado – The Official Voice of the United Farmworkers Volume V, Number 7, August 18, 1972 >Earlimart, California Huelga (Sixto Dulay and Catalino Taclibon mentioned as picket-line organizers and front-liners) GrantMakers in Film + Electronic Media, Media Database Sundial, March 27, 2012, Hansook Oh Filipino Labor Leaders. Labor Archives and Research Center (San Francisco State University) (17): 1. 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2013 UFW, ALRB, Unions. Rural Migration News. University of California, Davis. January 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013 Social Ices 440, September 29, 2011 Wikipedia The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW highlights the life of Larry Itliong, assistant director of the UFW and the union leader of the Filipino farmworkers who started the Great Grape Strike of 1965. In the Image: Mural depicting Larry Dulay Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz in San Diego, California-
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 10:40:04 +0000
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