The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1936-08-14
The Beet Workers Situation, Past
and Present, in the Montana Area

ed on 7OrBdulldlAO4lS III -O40S1 "
solve a tough problem. Beet
workers marched into grocery
store in April and began to fill
sacks and bags with food to the
amount of $19.66 and fully in
tended to take it home to feed the
families. The groceryman inter
ferred by calling the sheriff.
Twelve were arrested and thrown
into Jail.
The workers remained In jail %
days. The organization head
quarters in Billings sent food to
their families and released them
without expense to the workers.
It took al this procedure to get
them back on relief again by May
"a.
In November, after harvest, we
again staged another battle IN
order to get the beet workers on
the WPA projecs. We had to
battle the sugar companies and
county and state officials. Every
one knows the sugar companies
only interest is to see the beet
workers penniless so they can
easilv be forced into the beet
fields for the sole benefit Of these
companis. We batled to the end
and the result is, the workers are
on projects today.
Entering into 1886.
And beginning the year a new
manager for the Great Western
Sugar Company was transferred
toBillings. from Ft. Collins, Colo
RADIO. Mr.. James r. Mason, the
crueiest man they could find to-
ward laborers.
The first thing he did in Mon
tana was to hold meetings to
teach farmers how to raise beets.
Which means more expense to the
farmers and one third additional
work for laborers without addi-
tional pay, but big profit for the
sugar companies. After all he
taught the farmer with his pencil
from the desk we are going to
see the shortest beet crop we
have seen for many years.
The farmers believed Mr.. Mason.
The poor farmrs held meetings
with professors and, after all, they
forgot labor. We still contended
that beets will not grow, mature
and yield big crops without labor
So we laborers got busy as bees
and during the winter we discuss
the problems and based them up
on the sugar production at ouI
regular weekly meetings.
Then we drafted our own de-
mands-$30.00 per acre on basis
of IL tons and 70 cents per ton
above IL, which is low according
to the production
On March 18th we joined com
mittees- workers and growers
The growers rejected our demands
/ and walked out after three hour
Iconference in Billings, Montana
which is headquarters for five fac
tory districts, namely: Billing
and Sidney, Montana; Lowell
Sheridan and Worland, Wyoming.
When the growers committe
walked out, the president, Mr.. +
E. Huddleston, was asked
there could be further conference
in order to come to some agree
ment. The staunch answer wa
"no! there's no use, because W
are not going to raise beets."
A very few days after the cor
ference, the beet growers, direct
ors and sugar company official
issud call to the farmers to rus
in to the factory and get bee
seed and three times more aereag
was planted in 1886 than 1891
And they knew they could not 81
cure local labor on starvatio
wages as easily as before, an
therefore shipped in train loads 8
well as automobile and truck load
of scab labor on the same bi
false promises they had shippe
labor in on heretofore.
1928 men and women on til
unemployment list in Montaa, bI
Goveror Holt allowed the immigrs
tion gates to be thrown open an
Montana flooded with Scabs witt
out physical examination as ii
state law ordinarily require
Cheap labor is no bene fl
to farmers nor the con
munity. 1t only means ches
beetS and more profit fl
. companies even controlled I'll
WPA administration to this Q,