Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 7

The Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 7 was the first Filipino-led union in the United States.^[1]

Founded in 1933 as the Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 18257 of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), it represented Alaska salmon cannery workers and farm workers. In 1937, the union became Cannery Workers and Farm Laborers Union, Local 7 of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America. In 1945, Local 7 became affiliated with the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers. In 1951 the union became Local 37 of International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and around 1987 it became Region 37 of IBU/ILWU. The membership historically was Filipino American cannery workers.

History

Founding

The Cannery Workers' and Farm Laborers' Union was organized June 19, 1933 in Seattle to represent the primarily Filipino-American laborers who worked in the Alaska salmon canneries. Filipino Alaskeros first appeared in the canneries around 1911. In the 1920s as exclusionary immigration laws went into effect, they replaced the Japanese, who had replaced the Chinese in the canneries. Workers were recruited through labor contractors who were paid to provide a work crew for the summer canning season. The contractor paid workers wages and other expenses. This system led to many abuses and harsh working conditions from which grew the movement toward unionization.

Virgil Duyungan

The CWFLU, under the leadership of its first President, Virgil Duyungan, was chartered as Local 19257 by the American Federation of Labor in 1933. On December 1, 1936 an agent of a labor contractor murdered Duyungan and Secretary Aurelio Simon. Despite this setback, the union was able to win a hiring hall and end the contract labor system in 1937. After Duyungan's death, Conrad Espe, A Norwegian American labor organizer, took the leading role in the union. Under the leadership of Duyungan and Espe, the CWFLU made numerous attempts to organize farm workers during the winter months. Farm Division organizers attempted to organize workers in Yakima, Kent, Everett, Bainbridge Island and the White River area, but were often met with harsh opposition from local officials and vigilantes.

AFL conflict

Local 18257 came into conflict with the AFL, in 1937 when the parent body, attempting to separate the union along racial lines, recognized a Japanese local organized by Clarence Arai. Local 18257 successfully retained negotiation rights and dispatched its workers in 1937 despite pickets set up by the rival group. Bitterness toward the AFL resulted from the incidents and led to a November 4 vote by the Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco locals to affiliate with the newly formed United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America-CIO (UCAPAWA). In Seattle, Local 18257 became UCAPAWA, Local 7 and in San Francisco and Portland Cannery Workers unions also joined UCAPAWA Opponents of re-affiliation, led by John Ayamo and called the "defeated candidates party," received the old 18257 charter and challenged Local 7 for the right to represent cannery workers. On May 4, 1938 the issue was settled in Local 7's favor in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election. The industry representative, Canned Salmon Industry Inc., subsequently recognized the victorious union. Ayamo later formed another AFL union, the Alaska Fish Cannery Workers, under the jurisdiction of the Seafarers International Union. In 1937 also, the CWFLU merged with a rival, the Filipino Protective Association. I.R. Cabatit was president of the union during the period of rivalry with the AFL. When he was succeeded by Trinidad Rojo in 1939, the CWFLU, Local 7 was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was discovered that officers had been selling membership cards, misappropriating funds and neglecting their duties. Rojo cut expenses and returned the union to a sound financial footing.

References

↑ Fresco, Crystal. "Cannery Workers' and Farm Laborers' Union 1933-39: Their Strength in Unity". Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.