#bracero program

[sickassf0o]

Riverside Art Museum

exhibition by Tamara Cedré

To Rise Above Ruins: Archives, Industry, and the American Century

[todaysdocument]

Draft of letter from the Dept. of Labor to the Imperial Valley Farmers Association, 12/18/1962. 

The Bracero Program recruited Mexican men to work as farm laborers in the U.S. Wages were higher than in Mexico, but braceros faced exploitation and abuse.

Record Group 174: General Records of the Department of Labor

Series: Records Relating to the Mexican Labor ("Bracero") Program

File Unit: R.T. Englund Co. (El Centro) Elizabeth A. Longebohn charges

Transcription:

Imperial Valley Farmers Association

P.O. Box 616

El Centro, California

and

Mr. R. T. Englund and

Mrs. R.T "Constance" Englund,

individually and doing business as

The R.T. Englund Company

P.O. Box 517

Salinas, California

Gentlemen:

Pursuant to paragraph a) (4) of Article 30 of the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951, as amended, a statement of alleged violations was transmitted to you under date of October 11, 1962 alleging, among other violations of the Agreement and the Standard Work Contract, there was a violation of Article 19 of the Standard Work Contract through the maintenance of inaccurate and inadequate records of employment of Mexican Nationals in lettuce harvest activity in that such records showed in at least seventeen instances a greater number of hours worked than is in fact were worked by such Mexican National workers. The response of the R.T Englund Company, transmitted on November 29, 1962 by George C. Lyon of the law firm of Moss, Lyon and Dunn, attempts to explain the seventeen instances of alleged discrepancies between the time of arrival of the last loaded lettuce truck at the cooler and the indicated final employment of the crew in the field by the practice of your company in utilizing the crew after the lettuce was picked in picking up leaves from furrows and placing them on top of the lettuce bed, The affidavit of R.T. Englund submitted with your response includes sworn testimony that such picking up of leaves takes anywhere from fifteen minutes on up to three hours."

[page 2]

The response of the company with respect to the picking up of leaves as an explanation of the field slips covering the employment of Mexican National workers in the lettuce harvest requires a consideration of whether or not this alleged activity may itself constitute a violation of Article 4 of the Standard Work Contract and Article 19 of the Migrant Labor Agreement is that such activity may have been performed without any compensation being provided therefor. The existing Article 30 proceeding initiated through the Article 30 a) (4) letter of October 11, 1962, described above, is therefore suspended until a response is given by you to the allegations of indicated violations concerning the picking up of leaves following completion of the loading activity in the field. Your response should be directed to the following specific points:

1. Describe with particularity the different occasions when leaf picking activity occurred after the final loaded truck left the field for the cooler. Specify the particular dates when this activity occurred.

2. Particularize as to the amount of time required for the leaf-picking activity on each of the days when the activity occurred.

3. Identify the number of members of the crew engaged in this activity, with particular explanation of whether such activity was performed by Mexican National workers only or both Mexican National workers and domestic workers comprising Crew No. 1.

4. Give further explanation as to the specific authorization of the leaf-picking activity under the DE-3401 authorization issued by the California Department of Employment local offices at El Centro, California.

The evidence now available to me indicates that the leaf-picking activity,

[page 3]

when performed after the final packing and loading activities of the crew have been performed for the day, is not considered as a part of the lettuce harvest authorized activity included in the lettuce ground harvest activity described in the Form ES-366 as "lettuce, cut, trim, pack, spread cartons, spray, pad, close, carry and windrow" or "lettuce, load, stack." The requirement that such work be performed by the harvest crew, with the compensation therefor to be included within the piece rate of twenty-four cents per carton for the authorized lettuce harvest activity, would therefore constitute a violation of Article 4 of the Standard Work Contract and Article 10 of the Migrant Labor Agreement.

You have ten days from the data of receipt of this supplemental notice to respond to the allegation set forth in this letter,. Please direct your response to the undersigned.

Sincerely yours,

John Murray

Representative of the Secretary of Labor

[reginaspektatortot]

Hi! For my birthday (7/4) I have created a google document with readings and resources for parts of Mexican-American history that I feel are swept under the rug and not represented or taught in schools as they should be. In the google doc are phrases that can be searched but I have also attached articles under the phrases for quicker access. At the bottom of the document I have also included a list of resources for undocumented folks. If for my birthday you could reblog this post and/or pick a phrase you haven’t heard of or want to learn more about, then read the articles or article attached that would be absolutely amazing! I am trying to get as much exposure to these readings and resources as possible. I have posted across all of my social media apps and wanted to include tumblr. Thank you, I appreciate you all!

Readings and Resources

Mexican American Repatriation https://www.history.com/news/great-depression-repatriation-drives-mexico-deportation Forced Sterilization

[historybizarre]

How Migrant Labor Policies Shaped a Latino Identity | JSTOR Daily

When Puerto Rican and Mexican workers came to the U.S. in large numbers, they faced similar discrimination and bigotry.

In the mid-twentieth century, [Historian Lilia Fernández ] writes, both Mexicans and Puerto Ricans came to the mainland United States as part of a “simultaneous state-sponsored labor migration…that brought into relief their shared racial subordination.”

Beginning in the early 1940s, Mexican farm and railroad laborers signed millions of short-term contracts in bracero programs. (“Bracero” comes from the Spanish brazo, “arm.”) These efforts aimed to combat World War II’s labor shortage, as demanded by agricultural and railroad industry lobbyists. The railroad program ended in 1945, after having employed some 100,000 Mexican citizens to keep U.S. trains running. The farm worker program lasted until 1964. Under the bracero agreements, Mexican women were excluded from legal work opportunities—a clear message, Fernández notes, that families and residency weren’t welcome.

[riversidearchives]

Shift Farm Safety into High Gear

In the United States, the third week of September marks the start of National Farm Safety and Health Week (NFSHW).  Begun by Presidential Proclamation in 1944, NFSHW acknowledges the dangers associated with agriculture work, and highlights safety precautions and trainings that can reduce workplace accidents and deaths.  

Each year, the National Education Center for Ag Safety (NECAS) provides farmers with programs and materials to promote farmer safety and health.  This year’s theme is “Shift Farm Safety into High Gear” and today’s focus is on tractor safety and rural roadway safety.  

In April 1945, William Anglim, Chief of Operations for the Office of Labor’s Mexican National Worker Program (Bracero Program), wrote that 54% of the 200 deaths reported during 1942, 1943, 1944, and early 1945 were “caused by all accidents, representing 108 workers, many of whom could have been saved by a better understanding and adoption of simple principles of accident prevention.”

Both Arizona and California have strong farming histories, and many records in the National Archives at Riverside relate to those histories.  In honor of the farmworkers risking injury each day, we’ve pulled together a few highlights from our materials. 

Series: Administrative Files, 1943-1948. Record Group 145, Records of the Farm Service Agency, 1904-1983. (National Archives Identifier: 33753365).

Series: Photographs, 1936-1942. Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1999. (National Archives Identifier: 561578).

Click here for more information on National Farm Safety and Health Week.  

[pinkyoungk]

Long-Lost Photos Reveal Life of Mexican Migrant Workers in 1950s America

1.  Portrait of Mexican farm laborer, Rafael Tamayo, employed in the United States under the Bracero Program to harvest crops on Californian farms, 1957. 

2.  Mexican farm workers, on a farm in California, 1957.

3.  Mexican laborers show their 'permission to work' papers in California, 1957.

4.  Mexican laborers in line at a reception depot for processing and assignment in El Centro, Calif., 1957.

5.  After the various medical examinations, the men are dusted with DDT.

6.  A Mexican farm laborer climbs a ladder under a date palm tree, California, 1957.

7.  Tamayo and his fellow workers take a break for food during their work day on a ranch in California, 1957.

8.  Tamayo relaxes with a fellow worker inside the temporary living quarters, California, 1957.

[pinkyoungk]

Long-Lost Photos Reveal Life of Mexican Migrant Workers in 1950s America

Some of the images haven't been seen since they were published in the Saturday Evening Post

World War II affected the U.S. labor market in countless ways, but in the farms of the South and West, the impact was perhaps most visible when harvest time arrived. With American workers off fighting and therefore hard to come by, Mexican farm workers were brought to the U.S. as legal guest workers known as braceros.

The program continued after the war ended, as workers continued to cross the border in search of work. That was the world documented in 1957, when the photographer Sid Avery was assigned by the Saturday Evening Post to do a story on the Bracero program.

Avery was best known for his work with celebrities, but this assignment sent him in a different direction. The accompanying article, by Fred Eldridge, explained how each year more than 400,000 legal Mexican laborers filled the role of "modern agricultural mercenary" helping make the U.S. farming industry work.

"I came to America," Rafael Tamayo, the main subject of the story, told The Saturday Evening Post, "because my family and I are very poor. I am a campesino [farm worker]. I earn seven pesos a day."

At that rate — seven pesos was the equivalent of 56 American cents — Tamayo had decided it was worth the risks and the social stigma to enter the program. If he wound up with an undesirable contract he would be out his expenses, but a good job could help him move up in the world. The generally rosy view presented by Avery and Eldridge was not a complete picture of the Bracero program. For example, activists on both sides worried about exploitation of and discrimination against Mexican labor, and the broader effects on the economy of bringing workers from one market to another.

But when the program was allowed to expire at the end of 1964, farmers protested that they could not find or afford enough American workers to harvest their crops — and undocumented immigration soared.

More recently, as the subject of undocumented immigration from Mexico has continued to make news, some officials on both sides of the border have come together to suggest a return to something like the Bracero Program. "With proper design," they wrote, "bilateral regulation can bring prosperity shared by both countries, secure workers’ rights in both countries, cripple unlawful activity in both countries, and serve as a model around the world."

[garyconkling]

Immigrants Created America, Not Destroyed It

Celebrate Immigration as Key Part of National Birthday Party Immigration is intimately linked to American history. Thomas Jefferson listed obstruction of immigration among the grievances in the Declaration of Independence. Immigration was essential to populating the country. Despite that, arguing over immigration isn’t new. Americans have argued over it for 250 years. The argument is unlikely…

Immigrants Created America, Not Destroyed It