The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-04-09
BY JOHN L. SPIvAK

FRESNO, Cal.-Though
the increased wage scales
which Communist led strikes
brought are still abysmally
low, they are nevertheless
from so to 100 per cent higher than
what the workers were getting be-
fore the strike. Since a strike in
evitably produces an argument
which might last anywhere from a
few minutes to a few weeks. dur
ing which time a crop might be
ruined, farmers have voluntarily
raised wages in a number Of cases
to the wage scale demands Of the
Cannerv and Agricultural Union as
soon as they heard a red agitatOr"
was around. The crop must be
picked and they had no alternative.
Hence most of the activities by
farmers and politicians (Which in
cludes the law is directed now to
curbing Communist organizers be-
fore they get a start. This in turn
has produced an exceedingly large
growth Of fsscist-like committees
organized to fight Communist in
roads.
Editors Note: Because Of the ex-
tent and growth of fssciSm In the
areas where Communists are max
ing Roadway, Spivak is doing sep
arate series of articles on this. The
series will follow this One.1
In Tulare County. for instance.
where last year, after considerable
violence, a strike by cotton pickers
resulted in a raise of Is cents
hundred pounds being won. the dis
trict attorney, at this writing, drew
up a local ordinance to prohibit two
or more automobiles from congre-
eating anywhere in the county at
the same time This is to keep
workers from attending meetings
OF course the ordinance is obviously
unconstitutional, but by the time it
gets to the Supreme Court. what
with all the delays possible, a great
many crops will have been picked.
I'm not q radical" C. E. Dowd,
president of the Fresno Labor
Council told me. But I don't know
what those poor devils would do
without the Communists. They're
the only ones trying to do anything
for them"
Since Dowd has been and is an
exceedingly conservative A. F. Of l..
leader, think this statement has q
great deal of significance. The A.
F. of L. workers themselves are far
more vigorous in their expressions
of sympathy.
UNCONVENTIONAL activity
" among migratory workers can be
traced directly to the depression.
Before the depression. when labor
was scarce, the farmers used to i'm
port Mexicans chiefly, as well as
Filipinos, Hindus flor rice fields)
and other classes of low-paid labor
The wages paid them seemed salts
factory and since native white
Americans were very few among
them, no one ever paid much at
tention to them except the sporadic
interest the I.WW. showed during
and shortly after the war days. But
when the depression deepened and
native American labor was thrown
on the market in competition, wages
dropped to incredible levels
This condition continued with no
one paying the slightest attention
to the migratory workers, despite
the fact that by this time a great
proportion was native white. Many
Of them had come from the skilled
trades; others were ruined small
farmers. The A. F. Of L. always
kept away from this type of worker
because their wages were so low
that they could not pay dues as a
rule and because they were not q
craft"
Then Communist organizers en-
tered the area. 1t seems that the
most fertile field for Communist
organizational work is among those
who can see no hope. Here organ
iSation was received with compare