April, 1941, 1941

The dispute over NSW continued and resulted in the decision to form a permanent "National Sharecroppers Committee" , independent of the WDL, to raise money for the STFU and other sharecropper causes. The key documents include: a report from Betton and Mitchell on their negotiations with the NSW Policy Committee (11), minutes of the NEC meeting which took up the question (19), and an exchange of correspondence between Mitchell and Harold L. Oram on setting up the new committee (22, 25, 29). The union also began a campaign to amend the Agricultural Adjustment Act to ensure a minimum wage for farm labor; see the STFU memorandum on this subject (16) and Mitchell's correspondence with AF of L officials asking for their support (28). Finally, a letter from Mitchell to Kester provides considerable information on the status of the union's organizing drive (27)