Known as the “Pioneer of Latino Rights in the Workforce,” Emilio Berrios, 99, will serve as the grand marshal of the 47th Aurora Puerto Rican Heritage Parade at noon Sunday, July 28 in downtown Aurora.
Born in 1920 in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, Berrios arrived in Chicago in June 1951 with just three dollars. He paid 50¢ for a taxi to Aurora to join the small Puerto Rican community of just 13 individuals. A month later, Berrios began working at Aurora Paperboard.
After a year of unfair and unjust working conditions, Berrios and a team of co-workers, including Ramon Aguirre, Angel Lara and Leopoldo Torres, took a stand and complained to the Department of Labor. Under the guidance of the United Mine Workers of America, Berrios circulated a petition to the Company’s 150 employees that sought equality for Latino employees. He received support from 132 of his co-workers and began a new labor movement fighting for parity and equity for Latino workers in Aurora. Berrios later was elected president of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America.
In 1964, Berrios attended the National United Mine Workers of America convention in Washington D.C. and was the only Latino representative in attendance. Inspired to continue fighting for equal rights in the workforce back home, Berrios joined forces with fellow Aurora civil rights leader Marie Wilkinson to negotiate with Caterpillar and Western Electric. Based on those negotiations, both companies agreed to hire more Latinos. In 1970, Berrios resigned from Aurora Paperboard and began a career at Nabisco, where he worked until his retirement in 1987, to conclude a career that brought substantive changes for the working class in Aurora.
Berrios is the father of 12 children and resides on Aurora’s East Side.
—City government of Aurora