January and February, 1955, 1955

The Supreme Court of Louisiana handed down a decision in the Godchaux Sugars injunction case, which grew out of the 1953 NAWU sugar strike; the papers include a copy of the court decision (Jan. 13) and two letters from lawyer Daniel H. Pollitt to Paul Barker on appealing the case to the US Supreme Court (Jan 19; Feb 9). There are two particularly interesting exchanges of correspondence between Galarza and Mitchell, one on the conflict with the UPWA in California and Louisiana (Feb 2, 4) and one on the implications of the AFL-CIO merger for the NAWU (Feb 10, 21, 25). There are two letters from AFL organizer A.S. Reile in Hawaii on the organization of sugar and pineapple workers on the island of Oahu (Jan. 6; Feb. 8), and a memorandum by Mitchell proposing the establishment of an Agricultural Workers Benefit Fund as an organizing device (Feb 7)