Imperial Valley press., 1920-06-14
CANTALOUPES
Continued from Page u

i The workers in turn see no sane
reason why they should get left in
the procession.
The labor Situation is tense Some
thing is liable to break loose any day.
All hands are kept guessing The
distributors naturally are standing pat
but everyone is nervous. No one has
solution of the problem nor rene
dy. All concede it cannot stay this
way for long.
The Imperial Valley provides 4
striking illustration of the 1920 Cali
fornia labor situation. Cantaloupe
packers command 10 per cent 4 crate
They pack in the field sheds just as
they did last year and the years be-
fore. The grading can hardly be said
to be any stricter nor is the packer
delayed in his work. Yet he makes
$50 a day for several weeks as n
rapid packer puts up 500 crates 4 day.
The overhead for The 1920 crop eX-
ceeds that of any preceding year by
fully 50 per cent. This increased cost
logically must be reflected in the
selling price With the increased
freight added along with other in
creased costs the "laod" this year has
reached q point where it will be the
final test OF the Imperial Valley can
talounc deal.
NORhHl;S ARE ORGANIZED
Tie ei1udtlon IS abnormal. Last
weeks the streets of Brawley were
crowded with idle men. There is every
prospect that the same condition will
rule all season. Considerable friction
is already developing. The white
packers have u union which holds Il
charter from the American Federation
Of Labor. 1t is called the American
Fruit Workers Union. 1t takes in all
classes Of labor in the cantaloupe deal.
1t is but logical that the car loader
who trucks from platform to car
hardly feels that he is getting a
square deal at $5 or even $40 per day
when he sees packer paid $50 for
what appears to be no more strenu-
Gus labor. The cantaloupe inspector
who draws SO day naturally has
the same feeling. 1t extends all
down the line even to the office men
who have no soft snap during the
rush of the shipping season.
Under the union rules if there isl
friction with the packers or the
leaders the others will lay off until
the trouble is settled. The box maker
must be union, the packer mast be
union, and the loader the same. The
box maker is making record wages
but not so much as the packer. The
union thus far has not been able to
furnish sufficient men in each line to
keep all of the sheds unionlZed. II
is only logical that the labor LEADERS
are making strenuous efforts to get
all hands into the union.
The distributors have to supply the
necessary labor. With their large ad
vances to the growers the distributors
have to make concessions here anG
there at shipping time depending
upon placing the final cost upon the
grower. If there is a profit, the dis
trihutor adds this to his other costs.
GROWING STRONGER
Deficits from one season are not
carried over into another season as in
the old days-there are too many new
distributors ready to get into the
deal and willing to take their chances
to permit the old time rule being ap-
piled. 1t was in this sharp competi-
ton last fall that the growers were
able to stimulate the planting of over
$4,000 acres this year. The grower
from long practice sees to it that if
there should be a deficit he had got
his advances to the limit long before
the crop moves SO that the distributor
holds the bag.
The situation is not at all encourage