Portal:Hispanic and Latino Americans/Featured article/18

FLOC supporters march to Camden New Jersey to pressure Campbells Soup headquartes and Philadelphia National Bank.

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) , AFL–CIO, is a labor union representing migrant farm workers in the Midwestern United States and North Carolina.

FLOC was founded in Toledo, Ohio, in 1967 by Baldemar Velasquez. A migrant worker who had worked in the fields since he was six years old, Velasquez led his first strike at the age of 12. By the time he was 20 years old and a college student, Velasquez had already faced numerous beatings and arrests. But in 1967, with the help of his father and others, Velasquez organized FLOC among migrant field workers picking tomatoes in Ohio.

FLOC's initial organizing strategy was to focus on workers, as most unions did. FLOC organizers followed migrant workers year-round, moving south to Texas and Florida every winter to build an organizing base. By 1977, however, FLOC had only 700 members. (more...)