AQ and the Filipino workforce

The ILWU was aware that automation and mechanization would pose problems for their members. It would mean that machines would replace workers and the union needed to negotiate severance pay and new pay scales. Many retired workers or those who lost jobs because of automation and mechanization wanted to return to their countries of origin.

This was particularly true among the Filipino workforce. Unlike Japanese workers, who were permitted to have families, the Filipino immigrants were mostly single men without family support.

AQ’s training in social work equipped her with skills particularly valuable with this community.