Philip Vera Cruz: Filipino American labor leader, advocate for labor rights

Illustration and Article by Samantha Mandujano, Chief Illustrator

       Samantha Mandujano

Philip Vera Cruz, born Dec. 25, 1904, was a Filipino American labor leader who led numerous social justice initiatives for agricultural workers in order to advocate for labor rights.

Growing up, Vera Cruz laboriously picked many crops in California, after immigrating to America from the Philippines in 1926. The exhausting workload and conditions ultimately motivated him to join the Agricultural Worker Organizing Committee (AWOC), where he then became a leader in farm workers’ rights. 

In hopes of increasing the pay of workers, Vera Cruz, along with others, led the Delano Grape Strike in 1965. The event ended up winning the support of the National Farm Workers of America, which eventually merged the AWOC to create a new group known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). 

Vera Cruz was very active within his community and would go on to make other accomplishments that aided farm workers until his death on June 12, 1994.