The 1936 Salinas Lettuce Strike was a strike involving lettuce shed workers. It erupted on September 1, 1936 after negotiations for a new agreement collapsed between the Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union No. 18211 (F&VWU) and the Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Central California (GSVA). The central issues were the union's demands for preferential hiring for union members and recognizing the union as the representative of lettuce shed workers (trimmers and packers) in the Salinas-Watsonville District.

The union sought preferential hiring for union members due to the employer blacklisting lettuce shed workers who had struck during the 1935 Imperial Valley Lettuce Strike. The 1935 strike was caused by demands for better pay and working conditions, in line with terms agreed to during the Industrial Relations Board's (IRB) settlement of a labor dispute in Salinas in October 1934.

Salinas Industrial Relations Board (1934)

On March 5, 1934, the Monterey County, California Board of Supervisors, with the support of growers and shippers, adopted an anti-picketing ordinance to head off a labor strike in Salinas. There was suspicion that the proposed strike would be heavily influenced by Communists, and it would likely turn violent and endanger the public if not kept off the streets of Salinas."Unions and Owners Will Tell Views." Salinas Index-Journal, 2 Apr 1934, p. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian/182473951/."Supervisors Launch Drive Against Communist Strike Plans; Put Ban on Pickets." Salinas Morning Post, 6 Mar 1934, p. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/article/salinas-morning-post/182473145/."Legal Notices - Ordinance No. 393." Salinas Index-Journal, 12 Mar 1934, p. 7, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian/182615053/.

However, the Vegetable Packers Association (VPA) was affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). It was not a communist-led union and in reality had an ardently anti-communist stance. The Central Labor Council of Monterey County packed the Board of Supervisors' April 2, 1934 meeting to demand that the ordinance be rescinded. After hearing the arguments for and against the ordinance, the Board formed an Industrial Relations Board (IRB) to mediate disputes between labor and employers."Minutes of Board of Supervisors." Salinas Index-Journal, 19 Apr 1934, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian/182469476/.

The IRB produced its binding agreement on October 8, 1934. The agreement included several provisions to improve pay and working conditions, resolving the workers' grievances and thus effectively ending the proposed strike. It also established a mechanism for settling future labor disputes and eliminated the need for the anti-picketing ordinance."Working Conditions In Sheds Altered By Board's Award." Salinas Index-Journal, 9 Oct. 1934, p. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian/182470242/."Here's Full Report Made By Mediators." Salinas Index-Journal, 9 Oct 1934, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-californian/182470346/.

1935 Imperial Valley Lettuce Strike In 1935, 1,200 of the valley's lettuce shed workers were members of the VPA. The union asserted that it represented a majority of the workers, whose bargaining interests were controlled by the Western Growers Protective Association (WGPA). However, the growers and shippers refused to recognize the union or bargain over its terms, alleging that it was communist and led by radicals."Valley Lettuce Workers Called Out On Strike." Imperial Valley Press, 12 Feb 1935, p. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/874400553/."Both Sides Hold Firm in Lettuce Strike." Imperial Valley Press, 15 Feb 1935, pp. 1, 6, https://www.newspapers.com/image/874400745/, https://www.newspapers.com/image/874400775/.

Union members voted to strike on February 12, 1935. Five days later, with a federal conciliator on site to help mediate the dispute, deputized civilians opened fire on pickets at the lettuce shed barricade. Kenneth Hamaker and Paul Knight, two of the strikers, were killed."Heavy Guard Prevents Any Disturbances." Imperial Valley Press, 20 Feb 1935, p. 1, 6, https://www.newspapers.com/article/imperial-valley-press/123264294/, https://www.newspapers.com/image/874400911/. An estimated 500 rounds were fired from the barricade before the shooting ended minutes later."Two Men Die In Imperial Valley Lettuce Strike." The Modesto Bee, 18 Feb. 1935, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/690200570/.

Imperial Valley Strikebreakers in Salinas Lettuce workers traditionally followed the crop, meaning that when the season ended in one location, they would travel to work a crop that was in season. The lettuce growing season in Salinas was eight months long, so lettuce workers would often settle in Salinas and migrate for temporary work in places like the Salt River Valley near Phoenix and the Imperial Valley near El Centro.

When the violence of the 1935 Imperial Valley Lettuce Strike ended the season for striking workers, many returned to the Salinas Valley for the season that would begin in late April. Along with the Imperial Valley strikers, however, came Imperial Valley strikebreakers, whom the strikers considered complicit in the murder of Hamaker and Knight. The workers—both union and non-union—resented the idea of working shoulder to shoulder with the strikebreakers, particularly since Imperial Valley strikers who had worked past seasons in Salinas found themselves suddenly displaced from their jobs by the strikebreakers. The workers viewed this as retaliation for their union activity, which they considered protected. However, employers believed that shed workers were "agricultural workers" who were not covered by federal worker protections. That meant striking, particularly when violence was involved, was a disciplinary matter within their discretion as employers.

When the practice continued in the spring of 1936, protests grew, centering primarily on the Ice-Kist and J. A. Simmons lettuce packing sheds in Salinas. On May 4, 1936, workers at the Simmons shed warned that they would strike the next day unless management agreed to a list of demands. At the top of their list of demands was the dismissal of four men they called "gun-toters" and "Imperial Valley scabs," whom they accused of serving as strikebreakers during the Imperial Valley strikes in 1934 and 1935. They also objected to the company's method of calculating work hours, arguing that it violated their 1935 contract. They alleged that Simmons was splitting shifts, working several hours, taking a break, and then continuing their workday, thereby exceeding the eight-hour workday and the requirement for an eight-hour break between workdays.In the Matter of Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association of Central California and the Fruit and Vegetable Workers' Union of California, No. 18211, XV N.L.R.B. (1939).

The following morning, union financial secretary A. S. Doss arrived at the Simmons shed to deliver the workers' demands in person. When Simmons rejected them, the crew immediately walked off the job and began picketing the premises. With 30 trailers of lettuce awaiting packing, Simmons tried to avoid losses by sending the produce to other sheds. Some of it was sent to the Ice-Kist Packing Company, but the Simmons pickets followed. Doss then instructed the Ice-Kist workers to refuse to handle the lettuce. Of the 75 to 80 employees there, all but 16 to 18 joined the walkout. The lettuce was sent back to the Simmons shed. Efforts to have it packed elsewhere failed. Both sheds stayed shut for eight days.

Eventually, Simmons relented and fired six Imperial Valley strikebreakers. However, Art Sbrana, owner of the Ice-Kist shed, refused the workers' demand that he terminate six Imperial Valley strikebreakers and place another eleven on the first-to-be-laid-off list.U.S. Congress, Senate, Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, Hearings Before the Committee on Education and Labor, Part 73: Supplemental Exhibits, 76th Cong., 3rd Sess., July 1, 1940.

Finally, the GSVA proposed that the two sides air their positions at a public forum at the high school auditorium on May 14, 1936, thinking that public support for them would force the union to capitulate. The union agreed to appear at the forum. After addresses by union president Mickey Shevlin and secretary Doss, the shippers agreed to mediate the issue. Shevlin and Doss had been persuasive in describing to the public their frustration in getting GSVA to settle differences through the grievance process over the course of the previous year and suggesting that the reason the shippers were stalling resolution of the strikebreaker dispute was so they could delay the harvest and drive up the market price of lettuce at the growers' expense. Within days of the forum, Ice-Kist agreed to the union's demands.

Formation of the Citizens' Association and the Associated Farmers of Monterey County The Simmons/Ice-Kist affair showed the GSVA that public support in controversies with the union was essential. On May 28, 1936, the group decided to hire a public relations expert, Cruse Carriel, to handle its media communications. He was referred to the GSVA by the advertising firm, Lord & Thomas. At about the same time that Carriel arrived on the scene, a new organization—the Citizens' Association—was formed in close coordination with the GSVA. Several members of the GSVA were heavily involved in forming the Citizens' Association, which initially met in the GSVA offices. GSVA secretary Charles S. Brooks played a significant role in organizing the Citizens' Association. According to Brooks, the purpose of the Citizens' Association was "to have an organization that could act as a mouthpiece for the sentiment of the town people," because "many outfits were having labor trouble at that time."

In reality, the Citizens' Association was created to serve as a mouthpiece for the GSVA. In fact, the GSVA became a member of the Citizens' Association and took out individual membership on behalf of its members. Then, within two weeks of being hired by the GSVA, Cruse Carriel was appointed executive director of the Citizens' Association. The GSVA did not fill the public relations vacancy after Carriel departed. When the union later threatened to strike, the GSVA and the Citizens' Association collaborated on a unified anti-strike public relations campaign.

The GSVA also hired shipper Henry Strobel to "cement the membership" and tighten relations between the growers and the shippers. Strobel had been the founding president of the GSVA. The following day, Strobel assisted in organizing—and became president—of the Monterey County chapter of the Associated Farmers.

According to its president at the time, Colonel Walter E. Garrison, The Associated Farmers was created to help farmers organize to protect themselves against field workers organizing. Under his leadership, the Associated Farmers sought to enact legislation to limit public relief for strikers. He asked members to send him pictures of labor leaders and "radicals", and that he would "see they were handled." He said that the organization had an effective system of undercover agents working in the union and that they had been successful in helping defeat strikes elsewhere in California. At an Associated Farmers membership meeting at which Monterey County sheriff Carl H. Abbott was a guest, Strobel offered members' services to serve as deputies in the event of a labor disturbance.

Red Scare Tactics