Gov. on Sunday issued a proclamation declaring Oct. 25, 2026, as "Larry Itliong Day," marking the 113th anniversary of the labor leader's birth during Filipino American Heritage Month.
Itliong was born in the Philippines and came to the United States as a teenager, the proclamation says. As a migrant laborer in Alaska's fisheries and canneries, he helped found the Alaska Cannery Workers Union, which pushed for better conditions including an eight-hour workday with overtime.
After serving in World War II, Itliong settled in Stockton. There he helped organize the Asparagus Strike of 1948, which the proclamation calls the first major agricultural strike after the war, and in 1956 he founded the Filipino Farm Labor Union. He, Philip Vera Cruz and other leaders also helped create the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee.
Itliong allied with grape workers in the Coachella Valley in their fight for better wages. In 1965 he and fellow Manongs, whom the proclamation describes as respected elders in the Filipino American community, organized against grape growers in Delano. They soon joined forces with the National Farmworkers Association, and the groups later combined to create the United Farm Workers of America, beginning a nationwide grape boycott that led to the first farmworker union contracts.
"Mr. Itliong had an incredible impact on our state and advocacy for those without a voice," the proclamation says. It closes with the Manongs' message of "Isang Bagsak!": "we are all connected, and we rise and fall together."
The proclamation is ceremonial and was attested by Secretary of State .
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 2 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
State
Shirley N. Weber
Secretary of State · Democrat
Named once in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
Sources & methodology
This report was written from the primary materials below. Links open at the original publisher.
Office of the Governor of CaliforniaSee something we should correct? Read our corrections policy.