This paper surveys the history of labor unions in California from the early twentieth century to the present day. Beginning with the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association's 1903 organizing effort in Oxnard, the paper traces key developments including the New Deal's effect on petroleum and agricultural workers, the founding of the United Farm Workers by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in 1962, and contemporary teacher union activism on University of California campuses. The paper argues that California's economic and demographic diversity has made organized labor especially vital, and that unions have consistently secured better wages, safer working conditions, and greater political representation for workers across all industries.
California has given rise to some of the most significant changes in American labor relations. Throughout its history, the state has been able to provide jobs in various sectors of the economy, from agriculture to aerospace. Currently, California unions represent workers in every industry, including education, entertainment, construction, health care, petroleum refinery, clothing, and transportation. Since the nineteenth century, workers in every field have struggled to create and maintain healthy working conditions and reasonable wages. After the Industrial Revolution, the need for organized labor increased. Because poor working conditions and low wages contributed to workplace injury and poverty, workers began uniting in their common cause. Management, which had previously held the upper hand in dealing with employees, finally had to contend with the collective, collaborative, and cooperative nature of labor unions.
Early labor unions in California, such as the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association (JMLA), often had to contend with burgeoning race relations in addition to basic workers' rights. The JMLA was organized in Oxnard in 1903 and was the first union of its kind. Uniting minority farm workers against the giant agribusinesses around the turn of the century, the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association was one of the first labor union success stories in California history, paving the way for future action by such groups as the United Farm Workers. The JMLA made a significant contribution to California labor history, but the union's objectives were not fully reached. Following the death of a JMLA striker in 1903, the JMLA's voice dwindled. Agribusiness wielded its powerful influence and squelched the union's voice. The union was blamed for the striker's death, and blatant racism against the Japanese members of the union further contributed to the demise of the JMLA. Despite its failure as a specific union, the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association set an example for minority farm workers — indeed all farm workers — in California.
California labor unions benefited immensely from the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidential administration. In part because of an influx of farm workers into the state from the "dust bowl" of the Great Plains, organized labor in California became increasingly important as a means of securing rights. The National Recovery Act (NRA) and the Wagner Act, passed in the wake of the Great Depression, helped correct the injustices perpetuated by California-based businesses. These new laws affected the booming oil industry in southern California as well as the farming industry. The formation of both the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) affected California laborers because of the large number of skilled and unskilled workers in the state and the state's wide variety of industries.
California labor history shows a distinct divide between the northern and southern parts of the state because of the different industries represented in each area and also because of political representation. Southern California unions, for example, represented workers from the petroleum industry. Early petroleum workers' unions in California were formed as branches of the Oil Workers International Union. Attempts to negotiate agreements with the government and the oil companies failed in the pre-war era due to a lack of labor-friendly legislation, corporate hostility, and divisions within the American Federation of Labor. The Great Depression resulted in widespread unemployment in the petroleum industry.
Fortunately, FDR's New Deal programs created better opportunities for organized labor in the 1930s. Furthermore, after the Second World War, the petroleum industry blossomed in southern California as demands for oil production increased to meet the needs of many industries. As the industry boomed, oil companies attempted to keep wages low and conditions poor, but in 1948 a successful strike organized by oil workers' unions achieved the goals of petroleum-industry workers.
The 1960s bore witness to a boom in California labor relations. In 1962, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the National Farm Workers Association, which was to become the United Farm Workers (UFW). The UFW would soon become one of the largest and most influential labor forces in American history. Working in the fields around San Jose, Cesar Chavez grew weary of the deplorable conditions that farm workers had to endure, including long hours, racial discrimination particularly aimed at Mexican migrant workers, and poor wages. Chavez used various nonviolent tactics such as fasting and marching to publicize his cause.
By 1966, the UFW succeeded in achieving major gains for farm workers, including collective bargaining agreements and state legislation providing legal recourse for workers. Chavez and the UFW petitioned agribusiness and the state government for needed changes in working conditions, such as improved sanitation, rest periods, and limits on worker exposure to deadly chemical pesticides. Nowadays, these labor provisions seem like basic rights, which illustrates how instrumental the United Farm Workers were in California labor history. The UFW also created credit unions for farm workers and generally brought about major improvements in the lives of California farm workers.
"CFT protests and UC wage negotiations"
"Unions' lasting role in California prosperity"
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