Each year, on the first Monday of September, our country celebrates Labor Day – a federal holiday honoring the struggles and strides made by working people. Beyond the parades, picnics, and long weekend lies a legacy of ordinary workers who came together to demand dignity, fair wages, and safe working conditions. Much of that history was written by Latino, Filipino, Black, and other immigrant workers who joined forces in courageous and extraordinary ways, creating a movement that didn’t just transform their own lives but also reshaped the rights of workers across our country.

In the 1960s, California’s agricultural fields were filled with men and women who endured long hours, backbreaking labor, and dangerous conditions for wages that barely sustained their families. Many of these workers were Mexican or Filipino, communities whose contributions were vital to feeding the nation, yet whose voices were often silenced. It was within these fields that a powerful coalition began to form. Leaders like Dolores Huerta and César Chávez, alongside Filipino leader Modesto “Larry” Dulay Itliong, understood that workers could not win this fight alone. They built unity across language, race, and culture, and together co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW), giving agricultural workers a collective voice.

This unity led to one of the most defining moments in American labor history: the 1965 Delano Grape Strike. What began as Filipino farmworkers walking out of vineyards spread into a movement that united thousands of Mexican and Chicano workers. For over five years, farmworkers held the line, demanding higher pay, humane working conditions, and access to basic health care. Their courage sparked a nationwide boycott of grapes, and eventually lettuce, urging families across America to stand in solidarity by refusing to purchase the very crops that came from exploitative labor. The strike eventually secured landmark contracts that improved the wages and conditions, proving that dignity and justice could be won when workers stood together.

The tactics used in this movement, like boycotting, protests, and community organizing, were as innovative as they were powerful. They reflected the inspiring resilience of these marginalized groups who refused to be divided and instead turned their diversity into their strength. Filipino, Latino, Black, and other minority workers championed solidarity as the most effective tool for change, and in doing so, they inspired broader labor activism that extended far beyond California’s fields. Their victories showed the nation that racial and cultural unity was not only possible but essential in building a labor movement capable of shifting power and protecting working families.

This Labor Day, as we take time to rest and reflect, we honor the courage of those who came before us. The sacrifices of farmworkers in the vineyards of California, and the leadership of visionaries like Huerta, Chávez, and Itliong, remind us that many of the protections we benefit from today, such as the right to organize, safer workplaces, fairer wages, abolishing child labor, and access to health care, were not freely given. They were fought for, won, and secured through worker solidarity.

At Family Connections, we carry this legacy forward by creating spaces where families are truly supported, voices are uplifted, and communities can come together across differences. Just as farmworkers found strength in solidarity, we strive to ensure families have access to resources that empower their own self-advocacy. Rather than stifling voices, we help families understand and exercise their rights. We believe in meeting working families where they are, fostering resilience, celebrating diverse cultures, and building stronger families – together.

1. Larry Itliong with the United Farm Workers Union. United Farm Workers (UFW), ufw.org.
2. Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University, https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/8608
3.  FCC staff and community at a Family Services Alliance (FSA) Rally,  fccenters.org.