FLOC was founded in September 1967 by Baldemar Velásquez and his father. Velásquez had been deeply influenced by the ideas of Gandhi, César Chávez and Martin Luther King Jr.. Initially, his goal was merely to organize the farmworkers so that they could cooperate with the growers to improve pay, housing, and education for the pickers. Sensing that the farmworkers would not take a 20-year-old student seriously, Velásquez relied on his father to gather the employees and get them to listen to him. He even sent volunteer organizers to Texas during the winter to talk to and organize the workers during their months away from work. But the effort largely failed, and in September 1968 Velásquez called a strike against 10 tomato growers in Ohio. Five growers signed contracts recognizing the union, agreeing to a minimum wage and limited health insurance, and promising not to discriminate against union members or union organizers. Within a few weeks, 21 other growers had agreed to contracts with FLOC as well. But in the following year, sustained anti-union opposition from the growers (backed by the American Farm Bureau Federation), the withdrawal of some growers from the tomato market, the refusal of some growers to honor their contracts, and the efforts of some growers to raise wages and improve working conditions (which led employees to abandon the union) caused Velásquez to rethink his organizing strategy.