The Imperial Valley lettuce strike of 1934 was a brief defeat for striking agricultural workers amid the labor unrest that marked California in 1934. In late January, 3,000 lettuce pickers walked off the job; police intervened on behalf of employers, hundreds of workers were arrested, and wages fell rather than rose.

Causes and Setting

The strike unfolded after nearly five years of economic depression had impoverished millions of ordinary Americans. It was an early sign of the labor strife developing around Berkeley and across California that year, preceding a much larger West Coast dock strike in May. The two labor conflicts shared a period of mounting unrest, but the book distinguishes their outcomes rather than presenting the lettuce strike as a victory for the workers.

Course and Outcome

The lettuce pickers’ action was broken quickly. Acting on behalf of employers, police arrested hundreds of workers, and wages dropped from 20 cents to 15 cents an hour. The account records the result starkly: the effort to resist low pay ended with workers receiving less, not more.

Place in the Year’s Labor Unrest

The later longshoremen’s strike offers a revealing contrast. It brought California’s ports to a standstill and ended with the workers achieving almost none of their wage demands, yet it won popular sympathy and strengthened the union movement. The lettuce strike, by contrast, is described through its rapid suppression and wage reduction. Together, the episodes show that labor unrest could produce very different immediate outcomes even as it became a consequential force in California politics.