[5][7][8] The strike lasted for five years and was characterized by its grassroots efforts—consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing and nonviolent resistance—which gained the movement national attention.

[14][15] Because the majority of strikers were over 50 years old and did not have families of their own due to anti-miscegenation laws (first overthrown in 1949), they were willing to risk what little they had to fight for higher wages.

[15][20][21] The Filipino farm workers who came up from Coachella were led by Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Benjamin Gines, and Elasco under the AWOC.

[23] This pushed Itliong, who was the leader of the AWOC, to organize Filipino farm workers and pressure growers into granting them higher wages and better working conditions.

[11] On September 8, 1965, Itliong, Vera Cruz, Gines, Imutan, and more than 1,000 Filipino farm workers walked off of vineyards and began their strike against Delano table grape growers.

[13] To prevent the strike from ending in failure, Itliong sought out Cesar Chavez, who was the leader of the newly established NFWA.

However, because NFWA members expressed a desire to support the Filipinos' efforts, Chavez decided to hold an emergency conference at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) on September 16 to allow NFWA members to decide for themselves whether or not to join the struggle at Delano.

[27][28][29] A crowd of more than twelve hundred supporters attended the meeting and overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining the strike, with members repeatedly chanting, "Huelga!"

[32] After a record harvest in the fall of 1965, thousands of California farm workers went on strike and demanded union representation elections.

The UFW sent two workers and a student activist to follow a grape shipment from one of the picketed growers to the end destination at the Oakland docks.

The group was successful in its course of action, and this resulted in the spoilage of a thousand ten-ton cases of grapes which were left to rot on the docks.

This event sparked the decision to use the protest tactic of boycotting as the means through which the labor movement would win the struggle against the Delano grape growers.

[29] The increased pressure from supporters in the business sector led to the farm workers’ victory and acquisition of union contracts that immediately raised wages and established hiring halls in Delano, Coachella, and Lamont.

[33] The large corporations affected by the strikes led by Chavez employed fear tactics in order to protect profits.

The documentary The Wrath of Grapes mentions that the Delano-based company, M Caratan Inc., hired criminals to break up farm workers voting to unionize.

[35] The DiGiorgio Corporation was finally pressured into holding an election among its workers allowing them to choose the union they wanted to represent them on August 30, 1967.

With their products not on the shelves of retailers as a result of the boycott, the DiGiorgio Corporation was pressured to answer to the demands of the farm workers.

[40] Despite many barriers and discouragement from growers, Filipino farmworkers did not give up and kept the movement strong until they could strengthen it when they aligned with Cesar Chavez.

[41] Itliong made the decision to align with Cesar Chavez as he believed the strike would be stronger if Filipino and Mexican farmworkers united.

[42] Itliong viewed the alliance with Cesar Chavez as important as there was no unity between the Mexican and Filipino farm workers, creating great conflict between the two.

Filipino farmworkers were able to support one another during the strike in these halls, creating unity and solidarity, which was key to keeping the integrity of the movement strong.

In December, union representatives traveled from California to New York, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, Detroit, and other large cities to encourage a boycott of grapes grown at ranches without UFW contracts.

[49] In June 1975, California passed a law allowing for secret ballot union representation elections for farm workers.

[50] The hiring hall system was established with the intent of ending farm workers' migration cycle, which the UFW believed would make for more organized and efficient harvesting.

[52] Due to the changes in immigration policies and new economic opportunities, Filipino involvement in farm labor began to decline.