Figures in Asian American Labor History
by CLARA WANG
Asian Americans first began immigrating to the United States in the late 19th century, primarily to Hawaii and the West Coast. The first wave included mostly people from the Philippines, Japan, China, and Korea. Later on, the immigration demographic shifted to include a substantial amount of people from South Asia as well. During most of the late 1800s and early 1900s, Asian Americans worked as laborers on farms and railroads. Much of the anti-Asian sentiment present in America at this time was a result of economic and financial circumstances.
Asian workers were typically viewed as a threat to the local communities trying to find employment which led to the exclusion of and prejudice against Asian communities in America. It was not until the 1950s that the economic status of Asian Americans began to improve. With the growing population of Asian Americans today, it’s important to understand the history behind the increase in political and economic power of Asian Americans.
Here are some key figures and organizations in Asian American labor.
Philip Vera Cruz began working on a farm in California in 1943. Later, as a leader and co-founder of the Agricultural Worker Organizing Committee, he played an important role in the organizing Delano grape strike, demanding federal minimum wage for workers. Other than Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong also played a part in calling the strike. With more than 2000 workers participating, the strike pressured grape growers to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the farm workers. It also led to the merging of the Agricultural Worker Organizing Committee and the National Farm Workers of America into the United Farm Workers, which still exists today.
May Chen was another successful reformer. She organized one of the largest Asian American strikes was in Chinatown New York in 1982 with more than 20,000 workers. She also participated in the founding of the AFL-CIO’s Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance was a non-profit founded in 1990, the first and only national organization dedicated towards Asian Pacific American union members. The organization works to educate workers about the Asian American labor history as well as the exploitation of workers in industries with high numbers of Asian Americans. Recently, it has also participated in immigration reform and voter registration.
Another notable Asian American advocate was Velma Veloria. In the 1950s, she became a labor activist and was an organizer for several organizations such as the Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), ILWU Local 37 (cannery workers), and in Service Employees’ International Union (SEIU). In 1992, she became the first Asian American to be elected into state legislature, and she served until 2004 for Seattle, Washington’s 11th District.
While Veloria was successful later in her career, two other labor activists, Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, were killed during their reform efforts. The two men, both part of the Local 37 of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, worked on addressing the discrimination towards Filipino workers in the Alaskan seafood industry. The Alaska Cannery Workers’ Association, founded by Domingo and Viernes, filed a lawsuit against several Alaskan companies in 1973 and won. However, in 1981, while attempting to end bribery and corruption in the Local 37 of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union, both were fatally shot.
Ai-Jen Poo is a more recent labor activist, beginning her career in 1996 with CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities. The organization she founded later, Domestic Workers United, played a crucial part in the passing of the Domestic Workers Bill in 2010 which guarantees basic protections to domestic workers.
All these labor movement icons and more contributed to the effort to provide fair working conditions and equal pay in America.
This article has been published as part of a series of weekly writings by OCA Greater Phoenix’s student leaders for AAPI Heritage Month 2019.
Sources
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/asian-americans-and-moments-in-peoples-history/#Jung_Sai_Strike- “Asian Americans and Moments in People’s History”
https://www.pnwhistorians.org/guild/index.php/public-screening-and-talk-one-generations-time-the-legacy-of-silme-domingo-and-gene-viernes/ — Pacific Nothwest Historian’s Guild, “Public Screening and Talk: One Generation’s Time: The Legacy of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes”
https://aflcio.org/2018/5/3/7-labor-activists-you-should-know-about-asian-pacific-american-heritage-month- Kenneth Quinnell, “7 Labor Activists You Should Know About for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silme_Domingo-Wikipedia, “Silme Doming”
https://www.apalanet.org/ — Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
