Gene Viernes

Gene Allen Viernes (August 16, 1951 – June 1, 1981) was a Seattle-based Filipino American labor activist best known for his efforts to reform Local 37, the Seattle chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU),[1] and for having been murdered in 1981, in retaliation for organizing against Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos.

On June 1, 1981, Viernes and Domingo were shot by two gunmen in their office at the Local 37 hall in Pioneer Square.

Viernes died instantly, but Domingo was able to chase the attackers out of the hall and named them to a firefighter.

Family and friends established the Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes and fought a ten-year legal battle, in which they successfully proved that the murders had been arranged by Local 37 president Tony Baruso on behalf of the Marcos regime.

[5][6] Viernes and Domingo were among the 14 Marcos Martial Law era martyrs to be honored at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial wall on November 30, 2011.

The Local 37 office in Pioneer Square where Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes were shot in 1981