An FWA member is beaten up while distributing leaflets. Hundreds of workers leave the fields and join the cause of the unions. It soon becomes evident that the growers plan a campaign of violence and intimidation as they buzz our pickets in their cars and pick-ups, nearly hitting some union members. Many guns and security guards are in evidence. The California Council of Churches, the Student Non-Violent coordinating Committee, the Congress of Racial Equality, and many other organizations pledge support to the strike and send volunteer personnel.
Workers continue to leave the fields.
Police begin taking thousands of photographs of pickets. Many workers come out of the fields, including Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Arabic, African Americans and Anglos. A picket is knocked down by a grower's car, others are threatened by growers and foremens wielding guns. Pickets puzzled by growers' cars are discouraged by police when they attempt to file complaints, the unions stress policy of non-violence. Bonafide labor disputes have been certified by the State Department of Employment at over a dozen ranches.