Farm Labor in the 1930s - 0 views
-
California newspapers alternated between ignoring the strike or printing the growers' side until several strikers were killed by growers at a Pixley, California rally. The reporters and photographers who rushed to cover the strike generally reported that it was growers, not strikers, who were breaking labor and other laws.
-
In Fall 1931, migrants were arriving in the state at the rate of 1,200 to 1,500 a day, an annual rate of almost 500,000 (p109).
-
State and local actions aimed to keep needy migrants out of the state. The vagrancy laws of 1933 and 1937, under which many migrants were arrested and sometimes "lent" to farmers to work off their fines, were finally repealed in 1941 as unconstitutional (Edwards vs California). Similarly, the Los Angeles police operated 16 checkpoints on the California-Arizona border to turn back migrants "with no visible means of support" in February-March 1936 until the checkpoints were ruled unconstitutional. (Loftis, p126).
- ...1 more annotation...
-
States the effects of the Grapes of Wrath and gives concrete information on the masses of migrant workers and their treatment in 1930s America. Shows legal actions taken as well as position of the press during the time period
- ...2 more comments...
-
"a four-week strike in October 1933 that involved 12,000 to 18,000 workers. Workers refused to pick the 1933 crop for the $0.60 per hundred pounds offered by growers" This quote describes the workers banding together in a strike attempting to do away with the poor treatment they are receiving from the large farm owners.
-
About the migration of "Okies" and "Arkies" to California, their efforts to survive in the face of abuse by Californians, and writers' attempts to make public the migrant workers' plight.