poor living and working conditions

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"Before the grape strike, some of them [Filipino farm workers] were already too old to work and were pushed out of the labor camps. They moved to cheap rooms or apartments they could afford. They were dumped out, unwanted, and not cared for after having given the best part of their productive years to agriculture. Their loyalty, trust, and dependence on their employers brought them miseries and tragedies to their future. Often times, they got too sick without a doctor or medication. Their neighbors find them dead after a day or two. In their room, no sign of appreciation or gratitude for the farm workers invaluable services rendered to the most affluent society in the world can be found."

                         - Philip Vera Cruz
                         


Farmworkers had low wages and lived in  labor camps. They worked under the scorching sun with 
    few breaks and had no toilets in the fields.                             
Farmworkers elsewhere were paid $ 1.40 per hour but the Delano farmworkers were only 
paid $ 1.10 per hour. This unfair treatment triggered the 
Delano Grape Strike. 
The working conditions in the fields were life-threatening.
Source: "The Delano Manongs" Documentary
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"I joined AWOC, AFL-CIO as a volunteer organizer and fundraiser after hearing Larry Itliong speak about the low wages, bad housing facilities, lack of protection from labor laws, antiquated working conditions, unsanitary working facilities (drinking water and lack of toilets in the field), and a union contract. I could not believe what I was hearing because I thought such poor treatment of workers could not happen in America. But speaker after speaker echoed what Larry said. The more I heard, the angrier and more upset I became.Most of those who attended the meeting at Filipino Community Hall (filled beyond its legal capacity) were men in their 50s and 60s. Some were old enough to be “retired,” had they worked in a different industry—one that provided pensions and benefits. The farmworkers were not protected under Social Security, minimum wage requirements, or any existing labor laws, which other workers have taken for granted for a long, long time. That meeting was in early August of 1965."
                                                            
                            - Andy Imutan