Imperial Valley press., 1934-02-06
COMMISSION
HEARS STORY
Of FLIP mos
Valley Workers Give Testimony
To Federal Board lnvestigat-
ing Labor Conditions.
GROWERS ALSO SUMMONED
Report Of Hearings To Be Filed
With Chairman OF United
States Labor Board.

Uniformity of wages in Imperial
Valley irrespective of race, fair
wages, better living quarters and
conditions and the possibility of
agreements between workers and
employers is the summary of a res
olution presented to the federal la
Dor commission this morning by a
committee representing Filipino
workers in the county. Those who
represented the Filipinos were
George Almarez, president of the
Filipino Association of Imperial
Valley, Geronimo Pascua and Joe
Romaro.
The three men who had come be-
fore the commission to tell the story
of their countrymen in the valley
especially during the recent labor
unrest and strike movement among
lettuce field workers related many
details of working conditions and
other facts which the commission
felt it should know.
1t was said that they are repre-
sentatives of the Filipino Union, an
organization which is now in the
! process of being formed and devel-
| oped. This, they said, is the first
! real Filipino labor union ever to be
! started in the valley. There have
been other organizations in which
groups of these workers banded to-
gether for brief time but this new
/ movement is in the nature of reg
| ular union.
The commission was told that
| fear drove a number of the Filipino
| workers into the strikers ranks, es-
pecially of bodily harm should they
| keep out cf the movement and also
| fear of future reprisals. They relat-
ed that in their opinion the trouble
was caused by Communist agitatorS
who had come into the valley and
visited the different Filipino camps
where the workers congregated,
speaking to them and urging them
to join in with those who had left
the fields and had taken to active
| picketing and other strike activities.
In proportion to their numbers, it
was said, but very few of the Fill
| plllOo JOlllCO al IllC Stllkc.
| Ask Better Conditions
They impressed upon the commits
sion the need for a standardized
wage scale for all workers and all
work. Living expenses have been ris-
ing, they said, and in view of that
fact it was felt necessary that a
correspondingly higher wage should
be paid the workers.
! AT the conclusion of the confer
ence the delegates were thanked by
| the commission and were told that
| what had been said by them would
be taken into consideration by the
! board. This afternoon a committee
of Brawley growers consisting of A.
N. Jacks, George SWink, M. C. Will
kinson and L. G. Seibert will meet
with the commission at the court
| house.
DR.. j. L. Leonard, chairman of
the commission stated this morn
, ing that it is difficult for him to
say when the present hearings will
be concluded. 1t is the hope of the
board that they may be able to
leave the valley tomorrow night, but
should further Investigations be ne
cessary, they will remain here until
| the whole ground has been gone
over as thoroughly as possible.
After leaving here they will pro-
ceed to San Diego and Los Angeles
where further Investigations will be
made for the purpose of checking
up on certain activities in those
quarters and it may possibly hap
pen that trained statistician will
be sent back into the valley later on
for specialized studies of costs both
of living and production in the VAL
ley.
Upon the completion of the COM
missions investigations here and in
Los Angeles, the result of their find
ings will be transmitted to Senator
Robert F.. Wagner, chairman of the
national labor board in Washington,
D. C.