"Equality and freedom should belong to all."

Philip Vera Cruz (December 25, 1904 – June 12, 1994) was a farmworker and a labor union leader.  He was most known for founding the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) and for his efforts in fighting for Filipino-American farmworkers’ rights.  Under the leadership of Vera Cruz, Filipino-American farmworkers throughout California went on strike in order to protest sub-living wages and brutal working conditions.  The most notable event was on September 8, 1965, when AWOC called a strike on grape growers in Delano, California.  This strike incited the National Farm Workers of America, led by Cesar Chavez, to merge with AWOC and form the United Farm Workers (UFW) in August 1966.  The UFW continued to be a forerunner in the farmworkers rights movement for another four years. 

In 1977, Vera Cruz resigned as Vice-President from the UFW.  He spent the rest of his life in San Joaquin Valley, where he stayed involved in labor union and social justice issues.  In an interview in East Wind Magazine in 1982, when asked to reflect on his career in organizing farmworkers, Vera Cruz gave a few words of advice: “Pilipinos need organization and unity. You need to know your principles so that when you get together with other groups, you are not left out and can build stronger unity.”