The ten boxes of records pertaining to the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America (FTA), the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), and various cannery and packing shed workers' unions in northern California reflect the activity of the law firm of Gladstein, Grossman and Margolis, in which Norman Leonard later became a partner. It is very likely that the original contact between the law firm and the agricultural unions was made through the ILWU. Material in this collection includes correspondence, union organizing material, news clippings, and legal documents (memorandums, affidavits, evidence, decisions, etc.) from various courts and the National Labor Relations Board. Among early material relating indirectly to agricultural unions is the file Anti-Picketing Law Cases. These two cases, particularly the Fels case (258/3), document the effort to aid union organization by challenging obstructive legislation. Additionally, NLRB correspondence (258/1) shows that Gladstein, Grossman and Margolis hoped to influence Board decisions on cases of indirect importance to their clients.

The largest file, United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America material, represents the period 1936-1944. UCAPAWA District 2 covered California, Hawaii and Arizona, and documents relating to the district office can be found in folders 258/5-8. Letters documenting workers' opinions of various New Deal Programs, as well as routine correspondence are in these files. A two-page document, "The History of UCAPAWA in California," is also of interest.

Of interest to those researching AFL-CIO rivalry in the 1930s and 1940s is the file on Company Union Cases (258/6-259/4). Legal documents, including 2 copies of the NLRB decision, relate in some detail the set up of AFL unions, aided by growers and packers, in an attempt to head off a successful CIO drive.

Day-by-day histories of the Stockton Strike of 1937 can be found in folder 259/2. Evidence of employer influence in favor of the rival AFL local is found in a pamphlet sent to employees by Cal-Pak, the largest canning company in California. Included is a ballot card for upcoming elections, with suggestions for voting. A program for the "Cannery Workers Dance" is of special interest. The dance was put on by the company-sponsored local, and the program includes an annotated guest list which documents employer influence on the rival AFL union in Stockton. Folder also contains correspondence between Gladstein and Donal Henderson, President of UCAPAWA, concerning the Stockton situation, and evidence used in the Company Union Cases, including information on the AFL-CIO rivalry in San Jose. Folder 260/3 includes communications between Grossman in Stockton working on the Cannery Strike, and Gladstein in Salinas working on the NLRB case. The challenge of the AFL-Company-sponsored unions to UCAPAWA also is documented in the folders pertaining to UCAPAWA, Stockton (260/3-8).

Files pertaining to various UCAPAWA locals in Northern California show the similarity of challenges facing CIO organizers throughout the region. One of the biggest problems facing UCAPAWA seems to have been anti-CIO hiring practices. Of interest within this series are documents relating to the Committee to Aid Agricultural Organization, whose sponsor was John Steinbeck (260/12). The Committee brought the support of California's artistic and film community to the cause of farm workers. Removed from this folder were several photographs of migrant worker camps at an uncertain location. Also of interest are photographs of Faustino Oritz, leader of a strike by pickle packers in Hayward (206/6). These two photographs document the beating that he received at the hands of sheriff's deputies. Accompanying documents explain the circumstances of this event.

A large series pertains to UCAPAWA Salinas, Local 78. Subjects include contract negotiations (260/9), cases arising from the 1936 Salinas strike, and various legal and NLRB cases. Information on the 1936 court injunction against the GSA (261/1), as well as correspondence are found in folders (261/2-3). Insights into living conditions of packing-shed workers in this era can be found on the many "Back Pay Questionnaires" (261/5-6) These were used to assess claims for back pay under the NLRB order of 1939 and include notes on earning, injuries and other life conditions. Information on wages in the industry can be found in folder 263/3. Folder 263/5 contains lists of names and addresses of workers in the Salinas-Watsonville area in 1936.

Affidavits relating to the 1936 Salinas Strike, and the GSA blacklist of union members (263/6) are of interest both for factual data and for workers' attitudes. A group of folders (264/4-265/4) titled "Unemployment Insurance," concerns Gladstein, Grossman and Margolis' representation of union member who were refused unemployment insurance. The folders "appeals denied" (264/7-8), and "appeals approved" (264/9) also contains information on workers' lives. Folders 263/6-7 contain a variety of evidence from the 1936 Salinas Strike, including a worker identification card used by the GSA Hiring Hall, correspondence, union bulletins, and other evidence of illegal GSA hiring practices. Relocated from this file were: a 1935 contract offer from GSA to the union (moved to Oversize); photographs documenting illegal GSA hiring practices, and anti-union sentiment (to Leonard Photographs); and a strike poster (to Oversize).

Other folders under District 2 include items relating to sub-locals throughout California and Arizona. This includes an anti-picketing case, Rassmussen vs. Superior Court (265/7), attempts by UCAPAWA to take over an inactive Teamsters local in Arizona, as well as an early (1943) if abortive attempt to challenge race discrimination in Fresno (265/5). Also notable is one folder on the legal definition of agricultural labor (259/4).

Folders pertaining to FTA Local 7 in Stockton, and in particular cases arising from the 1948 Asparagus Cutters' Strike, are divided into sections, including General, Cabebe v. Souza, Eviction Cases, Criminal Cases, and Hold Back Cases (Cabrera v. Western Farms Co.). Materials include affidavits, memorandums, stipulations, agreements, decisions and correspondence. The general file for each section contains correspondence between lawyer Lloyd McMurry and Local 7. In this correspondence McMurry outlines the important issues in each case. Many correspondence are given over to the question of paying the lawyers. Folder 4/16 under Eviction Cases contains listings of personal property lost by workers when they were evicted from grower-owned housing during the strike of 1948.

Folder 265/11 briefly documents the difficulties faced by FTA locals shortly before, as well as after expulsion from the CIO in January 1950. Correspondence and other items from the 1950 NLRB election in Salinas can be found there.

1932

Vegetable Packers Association Local 18211, Salinas Valley (forerunner of F & VWU-AFL)

1933

Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU), affiliated with the Communist Party, leads an unsuccessful strike in the Imperial Valley

1935

State Federation of Labor charters Fruit and Vegetable Workers Union (F & VWU) Local 18211, Salinas. A strike ends with two workers dead and a union contract with the Growers-Shippers Vegetable Association in Salinas Valley.

1936 May

State Federation of Labor charters Agricultural Workers Union (AWU) Local 20211, Stockton.

1936 September

Strike by lettuce packers and Local 18211, Salinas is broken by GSVA (the "Battle of Salinas")

1937 March

Stockton Labor Council authorizes AWU 20211 to organize cannery workers.

1937 April

Stockton Cannery Strike

1937 July

UCAPAWA founded as part of the new CIO. Cannery and packing house unions soon quit AFL for CIO.

1944

UCAPAWA changes name to Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America (FTA). No personnel change.

1945

FTA begins big push to get control of northern California canneries: "The Cannery Drive"

1948

Asparagus Cutters Strike: FTA Local 7 moves to organized Filipino field workers in the Stockton area. Teamsters Raid: FTA Local 78 successfully defends territory from Teamsters.

1949

FTA Local 78 again defeats Teamster attempt to take over its territory.

1950 January

CIO expels FTA and other left-wing unions. FTA joins new union, DPOWA. Local 7 joins ILWU.

1950 October

Local 78 loses NLRB election to CIO.