June to August, 1952, 1952

[Note: the union changed its name to the National Agricultural Workers Union (NAWU) as of June.] Due to an NAWU strike threat, the Department of Labor began a crackdown on the use of "wetbacks" and "braceros" in the Imperial Valley. The letters of a joyous Ernesto Galarza provide details on the union's victory, as does an NAWU press release (June 15). The union won a partial victory in the dispute with Schenley; Bill Becker reported the details of the agreement in a June 5 letter to AFL Central Unions. The NAWU strawberry growers in Louisiana staged some kind of strike action during June, but there is almost nothing about it in the papers except for a July 1 letter from organizer Hank Hasiwar. There is an interesting exchange between Mitchell and Hasiwar during August on plans to organize Louisiana sugar cane workers (9,19,20). The union also called a successful strike of melon-pickers at Los Banos, California which resulted in the deportation of 300 wetbacks; see the letters from Galarza (Aug. 25 and n.d. [August]) and a press release (Aug. 23). Finally, there is a list of workers sent by the NAWU Mid-South office to the H.J. Heinz Co. in Salem, NJ for seasonal work (Aug. 3)