anti picketing ordinance parenthesis that every trade association in Los Angeles wire before Friday of this week a resolution asking the mayor to sign the ordinance now before him Stop May I urgently solicit your cooperation in this matter FRANK PARTRIDGE, Secretary, Southern Californians, Inc., Room 1001, Title Guaranty. As representative of the vegetable shipping industry of California and Arizona with large interests in Los Angeles this Association has probably had more experience with regulatory ordinances covering picketing than any other group in the State. In the Imperial Valley Salinas and other vegetable producing territories of the State where both county and city regulatory ordinances have been put into effect movements of radical and racketeering labor groups have been completely stopped and at present we have industrial peace in all these districts. We are not opposed to collective bargaining or the unionization of labor used in our industry in fact have in many instances encouraged this. However we are strongly opposed to present methods used by selfseeking labor leaders in primary and secondary picketing activities. We therefore of our knowledge urge that you consider favorably the ordinance recently passed by your council and sign same in order that we may be assured of a little more industrial peace in this community. Charge WGPA Day letter C. B. MOORE, Managing Secretary, Western Growers Protective Association. Santa Maria, Calif. Attention Mr. Mahoney and Mr. O'Brien.) DEAR SIR: Acting upon the instruction of the Guadalupe Branch, No. 4, of the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., of California, we are sending you herewith a copy of the resolution adopted by that body August 11, 1934, petitioning the Vegetable Growers Association, Inc., of Santa Maria Valley, to increase the present hourly wage rate paid to Filipino agricultural workers of Santa Maria Valley and vicinities to 35 cents an hour. The resolution asks for a corresponding pay increase on all types of contract work and for the recognition of Guadalupe Branch of the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., of California. The inclosed resolution was adopted unanimously by over 600 Filipino agricultural workers in Santa Maria Valley at a special meeting held by Union Branch No. 4 last Saturday evening, August 11, 1934. A committee, to act as the laborers' representatives of their own choice to bargain collectively for them in accordance with Section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act, was created. This committee was instructed to confer and discuss with your committee on matters pertaining to wages and Union recognition not later than Thursday, Aug. 16, 1934. The Filipino Labor Union, Inc., of California, with a branch located in Guadalupe, is a bona fide organization of Filipino agricultural workers whose members pay regular entrance fees and monthly dues. It is not affiliated with any radical, "red" or communistic organization. It was organized primarily to avoid any radical group from organizing Filipino agricultural workers and, secondly, to take care of Filipino labor disputes with the view of improving conditions of employment. We believe that much good can be accomplished by both elements of capital and labor in keeping the wheels of industry going, stimulating buying and consumption, if these two forces will work harmoniously and discuss the problems of labor in an intelligent, dispassionate and friendly manner. A close check-up of the average earnings of Filipino workers reveals that under the present rate of pay a Filipino laborer's income rarely exceeds $250 per year. At the present high prices of commodities his yearly expenses, for bare necessities of life, reach $360. The low rate of earning is because the worker does not have employment the year round; nor does he always have full days during the harvesting season. The prices of commodities, in their continuous upward trend, have reached a high point where it is now practically impossible for Filipino agricultural workers to live decently at the current rate of pay. The Guadalupe Branch No. 4 of the Filipino Labor Union Inc., will hold again a general meeting in Guadalupe next Thursday evening, August 16, at which time results of the conference between our committee and your committee will be seriously discussed. In view of this, we desire to be advised at once by your organization of the date, time and place your committee could meet with our committee to discuss our demand. The meeting should take place on or before Thursday, August 16, 1934. Very truly yours, NICK LOSADA, President. ALBERT L. REYES, Secretary, [Attached to above letter] BRANCH NO. 4 FILIPINO LABOR UNION, INC. P. O. B. 412, Guadalupe, Calif. RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY BRANCH NO. 4, OF THE FILIPINO LABOR UNION, INC., GUADALUPE, CALIFORNIA, PETITIONING THE VEGETALLE GROWERS ASSOCIATION, INC., OF SANTA MARIA VALLEY, TO INCREASE THE PRESENT RATE OF PAY TO 35 CENTS AN HOUR, AND DEMANDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE FILIPINO LABOR UNION, INC. WHEREAS, the present high cost of living conditions has reached a point where Filipino agricultural workers in Santa Maria Valley and vicinities cannot live decently at the current rate of pay of 25 cents per hour; and WHEREAS, the Filipino agricultural workers in Santa Maria Valley and vicinities have become indispensably efficient factor in the development of the vegetable industry in this valley, thus enabling vegetable growers in the past to reduce their cost of production to the minimum; and WHEREAS, the Filipino agricultural workers, during the period of the late depression, have unquestionably remained loyal to their employers by contributing their share through willingly accepting a series of wage-cuts; and WHEREAS, this loyalty of Filipino agricultural workers to their employers has kept going, rain or shine, Sundays or holidays, the wheels of agricultural industry in Santa Maria Valley and vicinities without interruption; now, therefore, be it Resolved, by Branch No. 4, Filipino Labor Union, Inc., of California, in its special general meeting held in Guadalupe, California, on August 11th, 1934, that we petition and do hereby petition the Vegetable Growers Association, Inc., of Santa Maria Valley to increase the present wage scale for day work of agricultural workers to 35 cents per hour and a corresponding increase on all types of contract work to become effective August 16, 1934; and be it further Resolved, That the Guadalupe Branch No. 4 of the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., of California, be recognized by the Vegetable Growers Association, Inc., of Santa Maria Valley, as a legitimate organization of Filipino agricultural workers in this valley; and be it furthermore Resolved, That the Executive Officers of Branch No. 4, Filipino Labor Union, Inc., be unanimously elected official representatives of Union Branch No. 4 with powers to exercise the collective bargaining rights of laborers as provided in Sec. 7A of the N. I. R. A. and that they be directed and are hereby instructed to send copies of this resolution to the President of the Vegetable Growers Association, Inc., of Santa Maria Valley and the Japanese Growers Association for immediate consideration; and be it furthermore Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Director of the Regional Labor Board, Federal Building, Los Angeles, California, for information. RESOLUTION UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED AT A GENERAL MASS MEETING OF THE FILIPINO LABOR UNION, INC., GUADALUPE, CALIF., Nov. 14, 1934, PROTESTING AGAINST THE DECISION OF THE GROWERS AND SHIPPERS OF SANTA MARIA VALLEY OF CUTTING THE WAGES EFFECTIVE NOV. 15, 1934 WHEREAS, the wage cut to take effect tomorrow is a gross breach of an agreement honestly and fairly entered into by the Filipino Labor Union, Inc. and the Growers and Shippers of Santa Maria Valley on September 6, 1934; and WHEREAS, it will have the effect of destroying the confidence of the Filipino workers in any future agreements with their employers; and WHEREAS, the wage scale of 25¢ per hour will reduce the Filipino laborer to a condition of serfdom as it gives him only sufficient to barely exist; and WHEREAS, the wage cut is contrary to the national recovery policy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, thus establishing a bad precedent of lowering wages; and WHEREAS, the prices of commodities and the necessities of life which all Filipino laborers are of necessity compelled to buy are higher at the present time than they had been for the past two years; and WHEREAS, the prices of vegetables for the last three months have been at a fair level; be it therefore Resolved, that the members of the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., assembled at the general meeting held in Guadalupe, California, Nov. 14, 1934, protest and do hereby protest against the wage reduction of the prevailing wage scale; be it furthermore Resolved, that before the strike vote be taken by the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., on Thursday night, Nov. 15, 1934, a meeting of the Labor Conciliation Committee be held at 3 o'clock P. M. Nov. 15, 1934, at a place to be designated by the Chairman of the said Labor Conciliation Committee in order to present the field workers' reasons why wages should not be cut and in order to eliminate causes of future misunderstandings between employers and employees; and be it further Resolved, that copies of this resolution be sent to Mr. William Hopkins, Acting Chairman of the Labor Conciliation Committee, Santa Maria, California; Dr. Towne Nylander, Director, Los Angeles Regional Labor Board, Los Angeles, Calif., and Mr. E. P. Marsh, U. S. Commissioner of Conciliation, San Francisco, California, for action. FILIPINO MEMBERS OF THE LABOR CONCILIATION COMMITTEE, /s/ DEAR SIR: We wish to inform the Labor Conciliation Committee that a general walkout of Filipino field workers in Santa Maria Valley was formally declared last night at the general meeting of Branch No. 4, Filipino Labor Union, Inc., Gaudalupe, Cal. The strike, a protest against the wage-cut, takes effect today, November 16. Yours very truly, FILIPINO MEMBERS OF THE LABOR CONCILIATION COMMITTEE, ALBERT L. REYES. EXHIBIT 12958-D Hon. FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary of Labor, Washington, D. C. DECEMBER 10, 1934. MY DEAR MADAM SECRETARY: Through the efforts of your Conciliator, Mr. Fitzgerald, the recent strike among both field and shed workers in the vegetable industry of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties has been admitted to arbitration. Mr. Fitzgerald of your Department was very helpful in the handling of this matter and has appointed a representative to sit as a member of the committee representing the United States Department of Labor. We wish to thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter. CBM: M EXHIBIT 12958-E C. B. MOORE, Managing Secretary. Board of Supervisors: C. L. Preisker, Chairman, Santa Maria, Calif. SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Santa Maria, Calif., January 12, 1935. PACIFIC PRODUCE COMPANY, Santa Maria, California. GENTLEMEN: I have been informed that your Company is discriminating against local labor. My information may be incorrect, and I hope that it is. In this connection, I would like to state a few facts of recent occurrence. About two months ago, Santa Maria Valley faced a strike with nearly onefourth of its population milling around, threatening seriously to disturb the entire community. We were faced with a situation such as happened in San Francisco, Imperial Valley, Kern County, and Salinas Valley, brought about by stubbornness on both sides. The County authorities very aggressively stepped into the breach, and a peaceable settlement with no expense to the County and very few disturbances was worked out. So far as we can see, the laboring men have lived up to the letter and the spirit of the settlement worked out. There are some intimations that some of the shippers are not conducting themselves as fairly as labor is. Your Company may be here today and out tomorrow, and may not be concerned with the general welfare of this community, but we hope that you are at least fair minded in this matter. In these times of trouble, all of us should lend our best efforts to avoid difficulties, and we are asking you to study the award made in our recent labor dispute and comply with it in every particular. There is no machinery set up to enforce the award, and likewise the County authorities had no legal backing when they stepped into the breach two months ago. We can therefore only urge you to comply. Public opinion ultimately settles all of these situations, and that is the force that we have behind us and which we will place behind all those who deal fairly. You may need our help, and if we can feel that you are co-operating, you will surely get it. Chief Counsel, Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, Washington, D. C. DEAR SIR: A copy of your letter of the 17th Inst to Mr. John F. Adam, former head of the Santa Maria Valley Farm Center was handed me by Mr. W. L. Hopkins, formerly manager of Rosemary Packing Company, and 1935 member of an Arbitration Board to adjust differences between Employers and Employees in the vegetable industry here as represented by Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union affiliated with A. F. of L. and a Filipino and Mexican union. My position is that I have been Chairman of the Employers Committee for the past three years negotiations. Inasmuch as your letter indicates a lack of familiarity with the conditions which brought about the use of an Arbitration Board, perhaps a better picture may be presented through a relation of the procedure followed in our collective bargaining between Employer and Employe. The Unions made demands in 1935 and 1936 that the Employers could not grant. After many meetings between the Committees representing both sides, every demand that could be agreed upon was made which represented at least 75% of the controversy. Only after a complete deadlock between the committees prevented further successful negotiation, did the Employers ask to submit the controversial demands to an arbitration Board, the names of which you have. The same procedure was followed the following year when another arbitration board consisting of three members only, all neutral, adjusted those demands that could not be agreed upon between the committees. Since that time, the original Committees representing Employers and Employees have been able to agree on all points and there has been no necessity for further use of an Arbitration Board. Please always keep in mind that this board was set up by mutual agreement and not by any process of law. Speaking for the Employers, should there come a time in the future that agreement can not be reached between the committees, they will recommend another board to settle the controversy. Yours very truly, HETabb /s/ H. E. TABB. |