On this day in 1934, lettuce cutters went on strike in Salinas Valley, California, demanding official union recognition and a wage increase, leading to the creation of one of the first Filipino unions in the United States.

Of the approximately 7,000 workers who became involved in the strike, almost half were Filipinos. The Filipino Labor Union (FLU) was the main organizing force behind the labor action.

In response to picketing workers, Filipinos were targeted and attacked by anti-strike vigilantes and the police. After Rufo Canete was appointed president of the FLU and formed a new strike committee, a large mob of vigilantes burned down Canete's labor camp, an organizational center for the FLU and home to hundreds of Filipino workers, and drove hundreds of Filipinos out of Salinas Valley at gunpoint.

The strike ended on September 24th, 1934, with workers winning official FLU recognition and a wage increase.