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Early in December 19 61/200 people gathered in Strathmore, a southern San Joaquin Valley town to discuss the farm labor problem in California. Such conferences are held often in States with enough farm workers to warrant attention. They are usually attended by public health officials, social workers and

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representatives of service organizations and organized labor. They search for greater understanding of the problems of agricultural workers, housing, health education, unsteady employment. They pass resolutions in support of farm labor legislation. They issue press releases, calling on the public to heed the plight of the migrant and

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then they go home with rare exceptions. They ignore the views of the group most intimately acquainted with the problems of farm labor. The agricultural workers themselves. The Strathmore conference was different. Perhaps its greatest significance lies in the fact that it was organized by agricultural workers and

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that over 3/4 of those attending were agricultural workers. People who came together because they recognized the necessity of joint action to solve their own problems. They did not discuss health housing or education but centered their interest on one topic. The organization of a union of agricultural

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workers, a measure which they feel would be the key to solving their many specific problems. Six months earlier, it had appeared that the issue of unionization of California's and ultimately the nation's agricultural workers was a closed topic. The agricultural workers organizing committee, a woc or AO

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had conducted the biggest campaign for new workers ever seen under the merged A FL CIO. Yet in June 1961 the A FL CIO Executive council withdrew financial support for the drive. George Meany announced that it had been a failure. Growers spoke of the marauders as having

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been driven off and newspaper editorials took the action as proof that agricultural labor could not be unionized. However, a fairly large group of a woc members did not believe this and continued their union activities. In spite of the withdrawal of support, many members continued to pay

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dues and come to meetings. Local councils were formed to provide a structure and when the funds for staff salaries began to dry up, many organizers continued working without pay. At first, there was hope that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters or even an international union within a

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FL CIO would assume financial support of a woc. This did not happen. It became more and more apparent that whatever the source of money, the primary impetus to organization would have to come from within the farm labor force. It was out of this realization that the

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two day agricultural workers organizing conference at Strathmore developed one of the stated purposes of the conference was to review earlier organizing attempts in agriculture. The first day was devoted to talks by a valley labor leader, a farm labor organizer, representatives of two service groups and a

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Catholic priest, all of whom covered some aspects of earlier organization. Drives William o'rear, Secretary of the Fresno Madea Central Labor Council, and a delegate to the last agricultural Workers conference in 1936 was the first speaker to give you an idea of what can be done. I'm

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going to use the dried fruit packing house workers. And I was asked to explain this cotton seed and vegetable oil workers, cannery workers, winery workers. The same group, our groups were saying the same thing about the group I mentioned some 20 or 25 years ago as

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they're saying about the farm workers now. And I'll give you an example back several years ago. It was a practice of the Central Labor Council in Fresno to invite a speaker from the outside. And I mean, from the outside of the labor movement, what was supposed

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to be smarter than we were? And at that time, uh we thought that but since then, we've learned otherwise. So one night, we had invited a well known attorney to come before our group and explain to us how the labor movement should operate. He had read

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some books on it and was a member of a union shop organization. However, we had that much in common, the bar association and one of his favorite speeches on other nights and on this night that I'm telling you about, why is that you're wasting your time

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to try to bring organization to the dried fruit workers in the area. It is seasonal work. The people aren't interested in bettering their conditions. They don't know any better. They've never had any better than they have now. And it's all that you're going to do it

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by helping them organize is to make them more dissatisfied with their present lot in life. And I'm not exaggerating. That was just about his speech. That was from a well trained educated person advising a group of union delegates to a council on what to do. Well,

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we ignored everything that he said and I started to organize and I think, you know, the results of the organization. Now, this next statement along the line has some meaning that I've thought all thought over it for these years. I'm not certain just what the meaning

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is.