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33-543: During the California agricultural strikes of 1933 , in which mostly Mexican and Filipino agricultural strikers organized with the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (CAWIU) for an increase in pay and an end to contract labor, Pedro Subia, a Mexican striker, was murdered. His funeral was held at the old Bakersfield City Hall building. As described by Chicano historian Rodolfo Acuña , "workers came from all

66-625: A Mexican striker, was murdered. His funeral was held at the old Bakersfield City Hall building. As described by Chicano historian Rodolfo Acuña , "workers came from all the camps around Bakersfield to gather in his honor in front of the Bakersfield City Hall. They included 'Whites, Mexicans, and Negroes, some of them once farmers in their own right, tall fair men from the mountains of the South and their wives leading little children, some desperate, many hopeless.'" The current City Hall

99-455: A mediator in the strikes. Although Creel lacked any formal powers, his bravado and air of authority impressed both growers and union workers. He warned growers that the Roosevelt administration would suspend federal agricultural assistance to California if violence continued, and proposed a three-member fact-finding commission to settle the strike. The growers agreed. Because Creel had assured

132-492: A series of strikes by mostly Mexican and Filipino agricultural workers throughout the San Joaquin Valley . More than 47,500 workers were involved in the wave of approximately 30 strikes from 1931 to 1941. Twenty-four of the strikes, involving 37,500 union members, were led by the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (CAWIU). The strikes are grouped together because most of them were organized by

165-472: A variety of construction projects, it was decided to purchase an existing building nearby and remodel it for the city's needs. The Borton, Petrini & Conron building, constructed in 1995, was purchased for $ 4.5 million, and cost $ 1.4 million to remodel. Its name was changed to City Hall North. Many of the city's departments and officials (including the City Manager ) were moved into it. The old City Hall

198-442: Is 60 cents per hundred pounds." When growers initially received word of the strike, they mobilized an all-out war against them. Seventy-five Kings County planters gave pickers and their families five minutes to load all their belongings on trucks and then dumped them in the highway. "The sheriff and I told the growers not to worry about the pickers' rights anyway," said Kings County District Attorney Clarence Wilson. Fortunately for

231-538: The San Joaquin Valley used extremely low labor costs to become the leading producer of the staple in the country, producing more cotton per acre than the Old South . Although California cotton growers paid marginally better than cotton growers in other states, wages for cotton pickers in California had declined significantly from $ 1.50 per hundred pounds in 1928 to just 40 cents per hundred pounds in 1932 (although

264-595: The CAWIU. Strike actions began in August among cherry, grape, peach, pear, sugar beet, and tomato workers, and culminated in a number of strikes against cotton growers in the San Joaquin Valley in October. The cotton strikes involved the largest number of workers. Sources vary as to numbers involved in the cotton strikes, with some sources claiming 18,000 workers and others just 12,000 workers, 80% of whom were Mexican. In

297-475: The border of the employer's land, the two sides began attacking each other (the workers armed with wooden poles, the growers' men using the butt of their rifles). A shot rang out and a striking worker, Pedro Subia, was killed. A sheriff's deputy threw a tear gas grenade at the group, and the growers' men opened fire. Several strikers were wounded. The cotton strikes came to a halt at the end of October. The killings at Pixley and Arvin led to public condemnation of

330-443: The camps around Bakersfield to gather in his honor in front of the Bakersfield City Hall. They included 'Whites, Mexicans, and Negroes, some of them once farmers in their own right, tall fair men from the mountains of the South and their wives leading little children, some desperate, many hopeless.'" The current City Hall was completed in 1954, after the old structure was destroyed in the 1952 Kern County earthquake . The old City Hall

363-551: The city's founder, is in front of the building and is marked as California Historical Landmark #382. Many of the city's departments and officials are located in City Hall North, which is one block west of City Hall South. During the California agricultural strikes of 1933 , in which mostly Mexican and Filipino agricultural strikers organized with the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (CAWIU) for an increase in pay and an end to contract labor, Pedro Subia,

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396-435: The commission announced on October 23 that growers should offer a rate of 75 cents per hundred. The growers accepted this solution on October 25. CAWIU asked for 80 cents per hundred and recognition of the union, but Creel said relief payments would be completely cut off if the workers did not agree to the commission's rate. Although workers were apparently overwhelmingly in favor of continuing the strikes, CAWIU leaders agreed to

429-655: The commission's solution on October 26 and called an end to all cotton strikes then ongoing in California. Bakersfield City Hall Bakersfield City Hall (which is also referred to as City Hall South) is the center of government for the City of Bakersfield , California . It houses the Mayor's office and the City Council chambers. It is located in the Civic Center , Downtown . A statue of Colonel Thomas Baker,

462-827: The cotton strikes of 1933, striking workers were evicted from company housing while growers and managerial staff were deputized by local law enforcement. Attacks by employers on peaceful striking workers were common and the surrounding community of bankers, merchants, ministers, and Boy Scouts encouraged the attacks. As a sheriff stated, "We protect our farmers here in Kern county. But the Mexicans are trash. They have no standard of living . We herd them like pigs." In Pixley, California , two strikers, Dolores Hernàndez and Delfino D'Ávila, were murdered and eight others wounded after "local sheriffs handed out six hundred citizen's permits to carry concealed weapons." Eight growers faced charges in

495-414: The cotton strikes were organized by a group of seventy-eight men and women who "concluded that it took the average picker 10 hours to harvest 300 pounds. Planters offered 40 cents a hundredweight – that was not enough to buy enough food and gas to get to the next job. The workers demanded a dollar per hundredweight." The planters reluctantly raised their offer to 60 cents, following public pressure, but this

528-428: The growers out in 1933, offering them subsidies. The pickers hoped the growers would support them with the bailout, but this did not happen, which prompted the strike. The Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union , a communist worker's organization, had been organizing in the cotton fields for some time, and by 1933 had come to provide leadership for the cotton pickers, most of whom were Mexican . The CAWIU

561-518: The growers that workers would return to work at the rate of 60 cents per hundred pounds while the commission did its work, both the federal government and state officials mounted a major "back to work" effort to end the strikes on October 14. The effort failed. When state officials conditioned the receipt of relief payments on a return to work, striking workers refused to accept them. The state unconditionally resumed payments on October 21. The commission held its hearings on October 19 and 20. Pushed by Creel,

594-437: The growers' actions, and California Highway Patrol flooded the area to restore order. Federal and state strike mediators arrived to try to end the strikes, and federal welfare and public works officials arrived to see what they could do to end economic problems that might be causing the strikes. Angry workers wished to engage in armed reprisal against growers, but CAWIU leaders were able to prevent this. Public opinion supported

627-631: The rate could go as high as 60 cents per hundred pounds for ground being picked over a second or third time). Wages for cotton pickers in the San Joaquin Valley were set by the Agricultural Labor Bureau, an employers' organization. In 1929, the Great Depression lowered the demand for cotton and many marginal planters lost their assets to Bank of America and others who held the notes. The US government bailed

660-525: The road, and told to get out of the county or face trouble. Tensions reached a peak on October 10 in Pixley when about 30 ranchers surrounded a meeting of striking workers. The ranchers fired on the strikers, killing three and wounded a number of others. That same day, a group of striking grape pickers faced a group of armed growers' men at a farm near Arvin, California , about 60 miles (97 km) south of Pixley. After several hours confronting one another at

693-558: The shootings, but all were acquitted. Another man, Pedro Subia, was murdered near Arvin, California . Workers came from camps from all around the Bakersfield area to commemorate his life at Bakersfield City Hall . CAWIU organizers Pat Chambers and Caroline Decker were arrested and charged under the California Criminal Syndicalism Act for their labor organizing activities. Cotton growers in

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726-672: The strike turned violent and workers were evicted from company housing . in Tulare County , armed men employed by the growers clashed with striking workers and CAWIU labor organizers, and CAWIU staff were forcibly ejected out of the county. Growers in Kings , Fresno , Madera , Merced Stanislaus , and San Luis Obispo counties armed themselves and their employees, announcing they would drive off any troublemakers. In Kern County , about 200 strikers and their families were evicted from their employer-owned cottages, their belongings dumped on

759-468: The strike, a California Highway Patrol vehicle came through the town, two blocks from the railroad crossing, with a machine gun mounted. Rudy Castro, a witness, stated that "they were ready to mow down these strikers, all because they had the audacity to ask for more money." There were nearly 3,800 strikers at the Corcoran camp, and the workers outnumbered the townspeople almost two to one. A tent school

792-729: The strikers so strongly now that California Governor James Rolph agreed to meet with union leaders to receive their demands. Although Rolph declined to send in more police or disarm growers, he did announce that the State Emergency Relief Administration would spend federal money to provide financial assistance to striking workers. George Creel , chair of the Regional Labor Board of the National Labor Board (a federal labor relations agency), began to aggressively intervene as

825-575: The workers the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union had rented camp spaces close to the cotton-picking centers, the most important one being in Corcoran, California . The townspeople barely tolerated the Mexican workers and accessing basic needs like health care was difficult. As one Corcoran nurse stated "No, we have to give her a bath first. You Mexicans are all dirty." On the first day of

858-456: Was completed in 1954, after the old structure was destroyed in the 1952 Kern County earthquake . The old City Hall was too small and the city had started planning a new structure one year earlier. By the early 2000s, the city had again outgrown the existing building. Many of the city's departments and officials were at various locations throughout the city. The city decided to reconsolidate these services back to downtown. A new building downtown

891-405: Was established at the camp for about seventy children, while, in another area of the camp, Corcoran resident Lino Sànchez facilitated nightly meetings. Three days into the protests, the cotton growers became concerned that their cotton crop was not going to be picked at its peak value, and that angry workers would destroy their crops or harm workers who engaged in strikebreaking . Two days later,

924-431: Was estimated to cost $ 18 million. Because the city was already committed to a variety of construction projects, it was decided to purchase an existing building nearby and remodel it for the city's needs. The Borton, Petrini & Conron building, constructed in 1995, was purchased for $ 4.5 million, and cost $ 1.4 million to remodel. Its name was changed to City Hall North. Many of the city's departments and officials (including

957-462: Was militant in its demands, and threatened a valley-wide strike if they were not met. These demands included a wage rate of $ 1.00 per hundred pounds of cotton picked, recognition of the CAWIU as the workers' collective bargaining agent, and abolition of "contract labor" (the contracting of a large group of workers for a one-time job or for seasonal labor). These demands were made in practically every cotton strike which followed in 1933. On September 18,

990-463: Was not enough, so the strike began. The cotton strikes began on October 4, 1933, with the establishment of picket lines by workers at the work site: "At the Camp. West and Lowe ranch, the pickets were uncommunicative, but it was learned through their captain that the picketers are organized for shifts continuing throughout twenty-four hours. All wore signs reading 'This ranch under strike.'" The strike

1023-607: Was primarily organized by women, because of their complex social networks which allowed them to communicate across worker camps and share when and where a strike would take place. The Los Angeles Times reported that the rationale for the strikes was to obtain "a rate increase of 40 cents a hundred pounds for picketers over the rate established at the recent meeting of the San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Bureau, and which cotton growers throughout Kern county agreed to support. The rate as established

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1056-679: Was renamed City Hall South, although it is still the official seat of power for the city. The Mayor's office and the City Council chambers remained in the old building, as required by the City Charter. The Department of Water Resources remained at its existing location in Southwest Bakersfield . The California Historical Landmark reads: Col. Thomas Baker's House in 1861 California agricultural strikes of 1933 The California agricultural strikes of 1933 were

1089-414: Was too small and the city had started planning a new structure one year earlier. By the early 2000s, the city had again outgrown the existing building. Many of the city's departments and officials were at various locations throughout the city. The city decided to reconsolidate these services back to downtown. A new building downtown was estimated to cost $ 18 million. Because the city was already committed to

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