In 1934 led a successful and peaceful strike was launched by the Filipino workers in order to increase wages and working conditions.
Banding together the Filipino lettuce workers organized the Filipino Labor Union and peacefully achieved their goals.
Banding together the Filipino lettuce workers organized the Filipino Labor Union and peacefully achieved their goals.
The second Salinas Strike in 1936. This was not as peaceful. Lettuce owners hired 3000 vigilantes to beat the laborers when they refused to work under the owner's poor conditions and contract.
"Organized vigilante gangs were burning down Filipino labor camps, driving Filipino organizers from the valley and bringing in scabs to break the field strike" (Farmworkers.org)
Although the striking Filipinos ended up brutally mauled from the protest, the Salinas Lettuce Strike was a major influence on labor movements that followed. The strike served as a pivotal moment for Filipino activism and organization regarding racial justice and equality.