Strike: National Florist Workers VS. Kitayama

by Dr. Priscilla Falcon, Illustrated by Maci Welch

Brighton, Colorado in 1968-69 was the center of a strike led by five women against one of the largest flower growers in the country— Kitayama Carnation & Rose Firm. The five women with half of the working force of the greenhouses struck with broad community support and saw working conditions improve for those still employed. The workers, Guadalupe “Lupe” Briseno, Mary Sailes, Rachel Sandoval, Martha del Real and Mary Padilla, walked the picket lines for 122 days before the Sheriff’s department violently attacked them. Forty people were arrested in Denver at the Capitol voicing their concern for farmworker rights. Dr. Priscilla Falcon, professor emerita of the University of Northern Colorado, a veteran many protests, narrates the story told by Lupe Briseno from developing national representation for the National Florist Workers Organization to planning strategies and support for the strikers.

12 pages

Published January 1, 2023