January and February, 1951, 1951

Negotiations between the United States and Mexico on the renewal of the International Executive Agreement on Migratory Labor began on January 26; on this subject, see the detailed reports from Ernesto Galarza in Mexico City (Jan. 27 to Feb. 12) and two NFLU press releases (Jan 26; Feb. 7). A massive NFLU organizing drive began in the Imperial Valley of California; see especially an exchange between Mitchell and Galarza on strategy (Jan 10, 17), and letters from organizer Hank Hasiwar to the Department of Labor on violations of the Mexican Agreement by Imperial Valley growers (Feb 5, 8). There is a report from F.T. Riley on a non-NFLU strike of 5,000 Florida fruit pickers (Feb. 2; note: newspaper clippings pasted to the report have been blocked out), and two letters from Hasiwar on his temporary assignment re-organizing the Louisiana Fruit and Vegetable Producers Union (Feb. 21, 28)