Dolores Huerta Stands Strong by Marlene Targ Brill

Author:Marlene Targ Brill [Brill, Marlene Targ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2018-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

SIX

THINNING THE SHOOTS

The Fight Continues

THE EARLY 1970S saw some of the bitterest struggles for union recognition. Growers continued to hire thugs to keep union representatives from talking to workers in the fields. They threatened workers and union leaders alike. Sometimes thugs visited workers’ homes and communities to frighten them with threats of violence.

Growers also used their wealth to spread antiunion messages. Money that could have been spent on fair salaries and better living conditions for workers instead went to bribes for local politicians and law enforcement. Companies such as Gallo wine chose to spend thousands of dollars on full-page newspaper ads, urging customers to stop supporting the boycott. César shot back with words of his own: “Their millions will not buy them the truth.”1

Gallo, like other grape and lettuce growers, bussed in strikebreakers who knew little of the dangers they faced. Two farmworkers died in 1973—electrocuted on untested machinery. Dolores claimed that a union contract would have prevented companies from ordering people to use such unsafe equipment. She spread word of other accidents, including some that caused additional worker deaths. Her message about safety began to take hold within the nonfarm community.

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