Andrew “Andy” Imutan

Andrew “Andy” Imutan

Andy Imutan sitting at a desk, Delano, 1966. Photo by Emmon Clarke.

Andy Imutan was born in Manila, the Philippines in 1926. His father had been mayor of Pulupandan, in the Negros Occidental province, but he died when Andy was 13. Andy studied business after the Second World War, and had several managerial jobs before deciding to migrate to the U.S. In 1965, he migrated to Delano where his wife had family, and 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, he joined the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), AFL-CIO as a volunteer organizer and fundraiser. 

Imutan and Itliong decided to join the march during the pilgrimage organized by Chávez and the NFWA in April 1966. After AWOC and NFWA merged, he was part of the National Executive Board of the newly formed United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), together with Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz. He became an organizer and picket in the fields. He was sent to Baltimore in 1967 to organize the boycott, and he went later to New York City, where Ethel Kennedy organized a fundraiser in South Hampton for the union. He organized asparagus workers in Stockton and later became director of the Delano office. In 1977, Imutan organized and led César Chávez’s tour to the Philippines, where they were the guests of Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos.

Andy Imutan sitting at a desk, Delano, 1966. Photo by Emmon Clarke.

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