The Working Class Has No Border Ep 6: Fighting California Fascism PREVIEW

·26 min·2 clips

A 1933 deputy sheriff tells the New York Times, 'We protect our farmers... but the Mexicans are trash.'

The episode is a preview from the Patreon-exclusive series 'The Working Class Has No Border', focusing on Episode 6 about fighting California fascism. It begins by teasing a fascist period in farm labor history, urging listeners to subscribe for the full content. The hosts dive into the 1933 cotton strike in California's San Joaquin Valley, where the CAWIU (Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union), led by the Communist Party, organized thousands of Mexican, Black, and white workers. They discuss how wages had plummeted from $1.50 to 60 cents per 100 pounds of cotton picked, prompting demands for $1, a union hiring hall, and an end to racial discrimination. The strike grew to over 18,000 workers, shutting down 100,000 acres, and faced violent repression from growers who formed cartels and armed vigilante squads. A deputy sheriff openly admitted to protecting farmers while dehumanizing Mexican workers, and growers published threats of concentration camps and deportation. The hosts analyze this as fascist racial oppression, drawing parallels to modern issues like ICE raids and Zionist settler rhetoric. They describe how the strike camp fostered cross-racial unity, with workers calling each other 'comrade', and how growers blockaded it, leading to attacks that killed several people. Sham trials imprisoned organizers under criminal syndicalism laws, while the federal government intervened to force a compromise wage of 75 cents to prevent revolt. The hosts contrast Marxist views of the state as the executive committee of the bourgeoisie with liberal pluralist theories, arguing the strike illustrates class power. Despite repression, the strike succeeded in raising wages and boosting union membership, with the episode ending on a song about migrant labor exploitation.

As heard by us

A 1933 strike camp makes a sharp case for cross-racial solidarity under repression.

Work Stoppage treats California's 1933 farm labor conflict as a story of organized solidarity meeting growers, armed vigilantes, and repression.

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Why you'd press play

You want 1933 California, a strike camp for more than 5,000 mostly Mexican workers, and solidarity that made visiting journalists sneer.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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