October to December, 1949, 1949

The House Education and Labor Committee held hearings on the Di Giorgio strike in Bakersfield, California from November 12 to 14; the papers include an exchange between Mitchell and Alexander Schullman on the hearings (Oct 24,26), the NFLU brief, a nine-page report on the strike, a statement by Schullman, and an anti-union statement by Hank L. Strobel, a Monterey County grower (all filed at Nov. 12). The Di Giorgio Fruit Corporation filed a $2 million libel suit against the NFLU based on the film, "Poverty in the Valley of Plenty". On the libel suit, see the Complaint filed by the company (Oct 28), and a detailed letter from Schullman (Nov. 18). There are also two letters from Schullman on the union's victory in the Di Giorgio injunction case (Dec 27, 30). In mid-December, Mitchell succeeded in convincing the Advisory Council of the Bureau of Employment Security to go on record as opposed to the importation of foreign nationals for farm work; his lengthy statement to the Council appears in the papers (Dec. 14)