has to happen. There are hundreds of governmental agencies, it seems that are arraigned against the farm worker and Mexican-American The question is what is going to happen if this does not-these pro grams

Mr. CORONA. Well, I would say this, that we will have a lot of strikes. We will have your great rise in the militancy of these workers They will organize faster and faster into unions such as the union of Cesar Chevez. This is what I foresee. We are seeing it in the lower Rio Grande Valley. We have many areas where our members whe are members of his union are telling us why do you guys not move and why do you not strike? It is a question of resources and timing and so forth? We are seeing this every day. I see unlessMr. RESNICK. You do not have to be taught to strike.

Mr. CORONA. No.

Mr. RESNICK. The other day Congressman Mathias suggested you were using OEO funds to teach your members how to strike and picket Mr. CORONA. No. You do not have to.

Mr. RESNICK. You do not have to use OEO funds for that.

Mr. CORONA. No. Absolutely not. And, I would say since there does not appear to be on the horizon any rapid or any urgency on the part of Federal agencies to intervene massively, I would come to the most important recommendation that I have to make before this committee and that is that it recommends to the Congress that it enact a farme worker legislation in the area of labor relations, that it enact a provision that farmworkers should be blanketed in under the NLRA Wagner Act, that it enact unemployment insurance for farmworkers so that these people who will be fighting to get out of poverty and fighting to get into the mainstream of American life, to become contenders and adversaries and so-called participants in this concensus society which we are supposed to be having, that these dynamics can be channeled through peaceful and legal means, because one of the reasons for the violence in the fields is the fact that the only weapon that farmworkers have to enforce bringing about of a peaceful elections is to strike. So if you are going to have to strike just to even get an election and to get recognition, you can see what is in store for us in rural America.

This is why I believe that the best thing that this Congress can do is to extend and bring up to date the inadequacies of the Wagner Act in terms of the farmworker needs.

We should extend the full coverage of social security, unemployment insurance and fair labor standard protective legislation to women and children.

Mr. ZwACH. Is part of the problem here like it is in the rural area of my country, the farmers do not get adequate income to properly compensate workers? Do they need a structure of their own to get fair prices so they can adequately compensate the workers?

Mr. CORONA. No, Congressman Zwach. In California, farming-and this is documented by the USDA figures-farming is a very, very lucrative operation. We do not have family farms in California. Mr. RESNICK. This is mostly irrigation type

Mr. CORONA. No.

Mrs. RESNICK. Corporation?

Mr. CORONA. Corporation farms. Thousands of acres, hundreds and hundreds of workers.

Mr. ZwACH. It is not family-type structure?

Mr. CORONA. No. The family farm in California is really more or sa-it is a little spot where people who live in the city and work the city have to, have a larger swimming pool, run a few horses, d you know, have a little bit more space.

Mr. RESNICK. Most of the agriculture also is contract farming. In her words, you have all these canners and

Mr. CORONA. Yes. Heinz and

Mr. ZWACH. Do you think they have the ability to pay more? Mr. CORONA. Absolutely. They were reviewed in the Wall Street ournal and all the reports brought out last year that last year, 1966, in ite of the strikes in California, it was one of the best years for Calornia growers in their history. It was certainly one of the largest sh crop years and the net profit to California farms was higher an in the last, any of the last 10 years. Wages went up about 20 ents on the average. Nevertheless, they made larger profits. It is ot a question of their ability to pay. It is a question of their unwillingess to bring up, to bring into the 20th century their labor and ecoomic relations with their employees that is the root of the problem. Mr. ZWACH. Do you think this could be done without raising prices consumers?

Mr. CORONA. Yes; because the cost of labor in terms of the cost of ood is insignificant. I think that Secretary of Labor Wirtz answered he growers last year when he denied the use of braceros for the lettuce rops and the growers raised the price of lettuce as high as 10 cents head and he said, if you boys want to play that game, he said, I can lay the other game and I can tell the American housewife that the ost of picking lettuce is less than one-tenth of a cent per head, the cost f picking 1 head of lettuce. So we are talking about semimechanized perations. We are talking about mass production. We are talking bout precision farming.

You see, we are talking of really what Cary McWilliams said 25 ears ago, we are talking about factories in the fields. We are now talkng about the family farmer who has to count pennies and who has got o peddle the cabbage, load it up in a truck and take it out hoping hat he will get a decent price.

Mr. RESNICK. Well, I want to thank you. We would like to hear from Mr. Pinon. We are running out of time. I would like to thank you for very fine, provocative statement.

(The attachments to the statement of Mr. Corona follow :)

LABORERS STAGE PROTEST ON HOUSING

SACRAMENTO.-"We put the food on your table—or at least the vegetables," the farm worker, declared "We deserve something, too."

This was the explanation Thursday night from Homer Lewings of Sacramento of why he and 200 other men marched on Sacramento City Hall in protest of their living conditions.

Lewings and the others, largely from minority groups, organized in the wake of their scheduled eviction next Monday from a dormitory donated for their use by the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

The city health officer told them they could not stay because there are too many-140 men-using the building, with only three toilets and one shower. The officer said it was unsanitary.

The church donated use of the building after the men became stranded without homes, jobs or money because rain delayed the crops they usually harvest.

But the men, calling themselves the "Southside Single Men Self Help Group," say they want more-namely, a permanent large dormitory or home, where they can stay at night while working the crops.

"When we stay out in the fields they're supposed to give us $1.60 an hour-but we only get $1.40 an hour," Lewings asserted. "And they charge us $3 a day for broken down housing and meals. We want a place of our own to stay."

The men, who marched silently past the Capitol to nearby City Hall, said that their intention was to let officials know "that the problem hasn't gone awaythat we're still here."

The men distributed a leaflet which concluded:

"We are not going to live in the streets or sidewalks—that would be breaking the law. And we are not going to go hungry without jobs and without shelter either."

There was no elaboration.

STOCKTON, CALIF., April 6, 1967.

Mr. BERT CORONA,
President, MAPA,

Napa, Calif.

DEAR MR. CORONA: A deplorable condition exists in Stockton today amongst the farm workers. This condition is not new it has existed for a very long time. I have no axe to grind and others share my views. I am writing you this because I believe I must in order to live with my conscience.

The business and industrial community of this area, for time immemorial has used the farm worker as a scapegoat to bail them out of a bad crop, or a bad market situation. This system has been helped along by the secondary profiteer, such as the labor contractor and the merchant who often times finances the contractor, or makes arrangements with the farmer to enable him (the merchanti to deduct directly from the workers earnings before payment, for goods sold the worker on credit at inflated prices. The Bracero program expanded this system and further entrenched it.

The political system of the area is also heavily weighted against the farm worker, because of the economic strength and the broad tax base of the farmer and the food processor.

The total disregard and low esteem that is held for the individual who is directly responsible for the economic welfare of this community, is starkly demonstrated by the complete omission of any plans, or even thought, of the needs or welfare of this individual, the farm worker, in planning the growth and future development of this community. Even now that the Albatross is hung around their necks they don't seem to care.

Any needs of the farm laboring people, that have dared, or forced their way into public view, have been treated superficially and then on a short term basis. This is vividly demonstrated in the newspaper reports that accompany this letter. The news coverage that was given the problem that exists here today and the unbiased manner in which is was presented, is one of the most amazing reformations that I have witnessed in my fifteen years in Stockton.

Previously the Stockton Record maintained an ultra conservative position and was the champion of the status quo defenders. Also within my recollection, this is the first time that a responsible public official has placed himself on public record, as recognizing the needs of the farm worker and then only because of the economic value that the farm worker has for the City.

As I mentioned above, when ever anything is done to meet the needs of these farm workers, it is done superficially. Also it is done in a manner that utterly destroys the concept of humane treatment.

Example. When suddenly the County Government discovered a condition that has existed here since I have been in the Area, that there was an urgent need for migrant farm worker family housing. The County Board of Supervisors accepted the responsibility of making housing available for this need, but only because there were Federal funds available for this use. Then there commenced a prolonged hassle amongst community leaders, particularly school district trustees. They all cried with one voice. The location of this housing in our area will lower property values, our school facilities will be over taxed, our childrens education will be downgraded.

Consequently this housing was relegated to remote areas of the county, in one instance, adjacent to a county dump. These people must feel like social lepers.

The housing that was provided was not only remotely located, but was of very limsy construction. For example the socalled Paradomes. They made of a plastic material that has no insulation or soundproofing qualities whatever. Consequently hey heat up like an oven when the sun shines and cool down like an refrigerator when night falls. Then they disintegrate in winter weather.

All the time that the migrant farm families have had need for housing and other social needs, the single male farm worker has had greater need, if only because there are a greater number of them. Something must be done for them. They face the same threat of mechanization as other trade workers do.

Yes, the agricultural industry is being squeezed by economic pressure. But the ndividual who made this industry the strongest this world has ever seen, is being smashed into degradation and poverty, with complete disregard.

It is very gratifying to me as a citizen of this community to see that another attempt by this disadvantaged to better themselves and to secure the privileges That other laboring groups enjoy: has gained more community wide attention than ever before. Of course this does not that they will gain what they are seeking, but they are one step closer.

This success is owed in large part to stronger support by a few community organizations and individuals who sincerely want to help. I strongly commend the two chapters of M.A.P.A. in this area, particularly Mrs. Genevieve Patron whose personal effort has been tremendous and successful.

I implore you and your people, to use your talents and prestige to secure the aid that these people so desperately need and the need is now.

As I write this, it is raining quite hard. A short while ago I drove by a vacant store building that had been made available as temporary shelter for the homeless men who could not be accommodated in more suitable quarters. There were so many of them standing outside sheltered by an torn awning, that I thought they had been evicted. On investigating I found the store jambed with humanity. Mr. Corona you can not imagine the stench that I encountered in that building. Some of the men told me that they had not bathed for several weeks and had not changed clothes for a longer period. It seems that only those who are fortunate in securing lodging at the County Jail Honor Farm, or at the Missions, are offered bathing facilities. Nowhere are they offered laundering facilities, so they are forced to wear the same soiled clothing day after day.

These men have now taken to stealing clothing and personal belonging from one another in order to change or exchange them for food or money. Seeing these conditions has upset me very much, you have no idea how depressed I am. Mr. Corona, WHY/ WHY/ WHY/

Yours sincerely

ALBERT C. CASTILLO.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT LEVELS FOR ANGLOS AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS IN THE FIVE SOUTHWESTERN STATES

1 Percentages of total male population age 14 and above. Figures based on 1960 U.S. census.

Mr. RESNICK. Mr. Alberto Pinon, national president of the Community Service Organization.

STATEMENT OF ALBERTO PINON, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATION (CALIFORNIA)

Mr. PINON. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Resnick, you have the written statement before you. Rather than to go into that, I think I would like to speak a little bit about Community Service Organization and what it is since I happen to have a copy of previous testimony, which has it written down.

CSO was organized in the City of Los Angeles in late 1947 by a small group of individuals who saw the need for a community mutual aid organization. This movement has since spread throughout the State of California and now has chapters in 27 countries.

In 1953 CSO was incorporated under the laws of the State of California and its influence has since spread into Arizona and Colorado. It is neither a political movement nor a welfare agency. It is a selfhelp mutual assistance organization with the strength in its membership and we feel as long as there is a need of one human being for another, CSO will endure.

Its goal is the social and economic improvement of the community with particular attention to the needs of Mexican-Americans. From its inception the membership in CSO has come from the low income people. It was so structured in order to permit broad community par ticipation. Its constitution and bylaws contain no reference to ethnic background or antecedents. Today, however, the membership in CSO is predominantly Mexican-American with a sprinkling of Negroes and just a few Anglos.

Community Service Organization has been commended for its work by the California State Legislature through several resolutions, commended by the Bishops' Committee, the American Friends Service Committee, labor organizations and many prominent national and local leaders.

I feel, Mr. Congressman, that if you have some questions that you would like to ask me regarding my written testimony, I would be more than happy to elaborate to the best of my ability.

Mr. RESNICK. Thank you. One question I wanted to ask. Perhaps I should have asked Mr. Corona. But, perhaps you know. Is the mechanization of agriculture in California proceeding at such a rapid rate that there is now a surplus of local workers? Is this what happened? In other words, you need fewer men to grow more stuff and this is one of the problems? In other words, it would seem to me pretty soon that the demand would be such that the workers would be in demand but this does not seem to be happening.

Mr. PINON. Yes. This is very true. Mechanization has increased at a rapid rate since termination of Public Law 78, which permitted the importation of foreign contract labor. However, I feel that the problem, the green card problem is much more acute than the mechanization problem in California, particularly in the areas that are contiguous to the Mexican border, and this is a problem that is going to have to have some attention.