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In 1936 the third anniversary of the founding of the Filipino Labor Union Incorporated was observed at Guadalupe. This union, considered "one of the few remaining strong farm labor unions in California" was founded in Salinas. Headquarters were transferred to Guadalupe following the strike in Salinas in 1934 when the it $15,000 labor camp was burned by vigilantes and the Filipinos "subjected to a reign of terror." [2] See also the Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934.
Early Beginnings
Salinas was “the lettuce capital of the world” during the 1930s. Since the growers utilized Filipino labor and wanted cheap labor, Salinas soon became a hot spot for labor disputes.
Tensions between growers and Filipinos continued to increase when Filipinos created the Filipino Labor Union Incorporated. 4,000 Filipinos joined the FLU which was a noticeable chunk of the 30,000 Filipinos living in California at that time. Filipinos made up 40% of the total agricultural work force in Salinas Valley so they couldn’t be ignored.
In August 1933, FLU held a one-day strike to raise wages. Growers brought in more immigrants to fill the void of the Filipinos on strike. The FLU continued to expand and growers created the Filipino Labor Supply Association which was made up of Filipino contractors who opposed the FLU. The growers would replace FLU workers with Filipinos from the Filipino Labor Supply Association when the FLU went on strike. FLU strikers were also driven off by police officers who would arrest strikers and Caucasian citizens who would torment members of the FLU when they would strike. It wasn’t easy for the Filipinos to stand up for their rights but they kept at it. When the strike ended, they gained almost a 40% increase in wage (from twenty-five cents to forty cents) and the FLU was recognized as a legitimate farm workers’ union (Takaki 1989). They were the first successful farm worker union in United States history.
By September 1936, the union claimed 10 branches and had a membership of several thousand. The FLU cooperated with the independent Mexican Labor Union of field workers as well as the local branch of Vegetable Packers Association Local No. 18211. In a joint effort under the leadership of the FLU, Filipinos, Mexicans and whites participated in a strike of 3 weeks in November 1934. They were successful in winning wage increases to 30 cents per hour and other concessions. Even after ethnic groups formed their own unions, they remained cooperative with the FLU. [1]
In 1938, Filipinos organized the Filipino Agricultural Laborers Association but organizers believed that all workers should be included so they soon changed the name to Federated Agricultural Laborers Association (FALA). The FALA continued to hold various successful strikes along the California Valley.
Filipino Community Labor Center in Guadalupe
After the violent suppression of the Salinas strike, the FLU moved their headquarters to Guadalupe. The Filipino Community Labor Center in downtown Guadalupe, built by Branch No. 4 of the FLU, was the first of its kind in the U.S. According to an August 1935 article in The Philippines Mail, the $8,000 labor center was a two-story building with sleeping quarters upstairs and a meeting hall, library room, and chapel downstairs. There was also a cafeteria and a backyard for recreation. [1] and [3]The establishment of the Labor Center was perhaps possible because the region had small farms with primarily non-white labor forces. As one Santa Maria Valley grower-shipper stated, “We are isolated here and take what labor we can get.” White workers made up only 10 percent of the work force in the Santa Maria Valley and usually were higher paid shed workers.[4] Or perhaps it was because the labor center was seen primarily as a community center, for example, the home of the “Filipino Sport Club.”For Further Reading:
Starr, Kevin. Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. See page 452.
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