Hardin County onion pickers strike
Encyclopedia
The Hardin County onion pickers strike was a strike
by agricultural workers in Hardin County, Ohio
, in 1934. Led by the Agricultural Workers Union, Local 19724, the strike began on June 20, two days after the trade union
formed. After the kidnapping and beating of the union's leader and the intervention of the Ohio National Guard
on behalf of the growers, the strike ended in October with a partial victory for the union. Some growers met the union's demand for a 35-cents-an-hour minimum wage, but the majority did not.
, contained a large onion
-growing region about 12 miles (19 km) east of the town of Lima
. Two main growing areas existed. Scioto Marsh consisted of about 17,000 acre
s (69 km²) of farmland. The top three growers controlled about 30 percent of Scioto Marsh land under cultivation. Hog Creek Marsh was a smaller growing area which consisted of about 4,000 acres (16 km²). The largest owner of Hog Creek marshland controlled about a third of that area's total land under cultivation. Roughly 25 smaller growers cultivated the rest of the farmland.
Wages and working conditions for agricultural workers in Hardin County were poor even before the onset of the Great Depression
. A plentiful supply of Caucasian
migrant farm workers kept wages far below those of other counties and states. Working conditions were harsh. Laborers worked on their hands and knees weeding and picking onions. The work day
was 10 hours long, with a 15 minute break for lunch and no overtime. There were no toilet facilities or restroom breaks, and water and first aid
for injuries or heat exhaustion
were not provided. The black earth absorbed heat, and temperatures near the ground could reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 °C). Many workers lived in employer-provided housing, and were given an employer-owned milk cow (on loan) to prevent starvation.
Crop yield
s from the Hardin County onion fields were declining significantly by 1930 due to soil exhaustion as crop rotation
was not practiced. As the Great Depression worsened, growers reduced the amount of land under cultivation even further to only 3,500 acres (14 km²). Growers also cut wages and required laborers to work longer hours.
By June 1934, economic conditions for farm workers in Hardin County were especially severe. The prevailing wage was 12 cents an hour, but many workers earned only 8 cents an hour. Eight out of 10 families were considered to be living in extreme poverty, and almost half of all workers reported working only 26 days a year.
(NLRA) was passed in 1935, it specifically exempted agricultural workers
from the protection of the law. Although it was not illegal for farm workers to organize unions, federal (and state) law did not protect their ability to do so. Subsequently, most employers discriminated heavily against agricultural workers who attempted to form unions, and used a variety of techniques (many heavy-handed, and some actually coercive) to resist farm unionization.
, and listed as Local 19724.
The workers immediately demanded recognition of their union, a 23-cents-an-hour wage increase (to obtain a minimum wage of 35 cents an hour), and an eight-hour work day.
Led by the top four landowners, the 30 growers formed the Onion Growers' Association to oppose the union. Odell and Rizor asked to meet with the Association, but the growers refused and said they would let their fields be overgrown with weeds first. The growers subsequently told the press that meeting with the union was pointless, since the growers were already losing money. The union challenged this claim, pointing out that at least one grower had recently purchased three new automobiles. But the growers stuck by their claim. A few weeks later, the Ohio state legislature asked the growers to open their books as part of a state investigation into the strike. But the growers declinded to do so. To the union, this was merely additional evidence that the growers were profitable.
Odell called a strike on June 20. About 800 of the county's 1,000 onion field workers walked out. To prevent replacement workers from entering the fields and breaking the strike, the strikers attempted to stop and search all automobiles entering the Scioto Marsh and Hog Creek Marsh areas. For the first week of the strike, there was no violence. The Socialist Party of America
and the American Civil Liberties Union
raised funds for strike relief.
The union also received assistance from the Ohio Unemployed League. The League was a branch of the American Workers Party
(AWP). The goal of the League was to organize jobless workers, advocate for higher relief payments for the unemployed, and help the unemployed resist employer calls to take striking workers' jobs. The League and the union struck a deal which provided for the legal defense of union members by the AWP and the League. League leaders obtained representation on the union's strike committee, assurances that the strike would be carried out using militant tactics, and that no settlement of the strike would be made without agreement of the strikers. Pursuant to this agreement, Toledo League leader Sam Pollock
became part of the union's strike leadership team.
On June 22, Court of Common Pleas
Judge Hamilton E. Hoge issued one of the most sweeping anti-labor injunction
s in American history.
The injunction restricted picketing to groups of two. Judge Hoge left it up to the discretion of sheriffs' deputies how far apart each group must be. Initially, the union established 34 pickets at least 25 feet (8 m) apart. Deputies arrested half the strikers. The union increased the distance between pickets to 50 yards (16 m), and still arrests occurred. Distance between pickets was extended to 100 yards (90 m), then a quarter of a mile (400 m), and in some cases a half mile (800 m). Arrests continued. On a number of occasions, deputies called pickets together and, when they obeyed, arrested them for congregating unlawfully.
To enforce the injunction, 54 "special" sheriff's deputies were hired and sworn in. The deputies' salaries were paid for by the growers. Although the deputies technically remained under the supervision of the Hardin County sheriff, the deputies were under the control of the growers and their field foremen. Most of the special sheriff's deputies were members of the Hardin County detachment of the Ohio National Guard and veterans of the Auto-Lite strike
in nearby Toledo
, which had only recently ended. The National Guard troops, most of whom were only 18 years old, were determined not to be intimidated by the picketers as they had been in Toledo. The newly-appointed special deputies were armed with riot gun
s, machine gun
s, and tear gas equipment from the National Guard armory in Kenton, Ohio
.
The union demanded to know why the state was providing the county with troops. When Governor
George White
was asked why the special deputies were recruited solely from the Ohio National Guard, he replied that the guardsmen were merely private citizens who had sought temporary employment. The governor saw no problem with arming the county deputies with state-owned weaponry or having full-time, on-duty officers of the Ohio National Guard command and drill the special deputies.
The special deputies quickly proved unruly. Local citizens complained that the guards were harassing them. The sheriff referred complaints to the commanding general of the Ohio National Guard, who then told petitioners that this was a matter for the local county sheriff. When prominent Hardin County business leaders forced the sheriff to deal with these problems, the sheriff ordered an investigation. But the investigation was never carried out, and the National Guard troops' behavior worsened.
sent a mediator
to Hardin County to help settle the strike. The growers agreed to raise the minimum wage to 15 cents an hour, but the union rejected the offer.
After the settlement's rejection, employers began evicting workers from employer-owned homes.
The employers also began to resort to violence to protect their replacement workers and break the strike. Vigilante
groups were formed which beat strikers and union sympathizers, and ran them out of town at gunpoint. Shots were fired at picketers and at union members attending meetings. The growers hired another 50 special deputies to patrol the fields with machine guns, and special deputies used extensive amounts of tear gas to harass and break up pickets. National Guard troops began clubbing and beating picketers whenever they encountered them. On June 29, two strikers were shot and wounded by National Guard troops after they attempted to stop a truck of strikebreakers from entering a field.
Union members and their supporters also resorted to violence. The growers began large-scale importation of replacement workers to break the strike. When they could intercept trucks carrying replacement workers, the strikers would throw rocks, bricks and bottles at the strikebreakers. Fistfights broke out whenever striking workers and strikebreakers encountered one another. Union members and sympathizers cut telephone wires throughout the county, blew up bridges, scattered nails on roads to stop and slow truck traffic, fired shots at strikebreakers, burned warehouses, and set off small explosions in towns, villages and onion processing stations throughout the county. Strikers even bombed the home of the owner of the Scioto Land Company, the largest landowner in Scioto Marsh.
The level of violence led to a large number of arrests. Over the next 20 days, more than 60 picketers were arrested. Odell was arrested and charged with contempt of court for violating Judge Hoge's injunction. A Scioto Land Company official had approached Odell on the street and brandished a gun in his face. Arrested by the town marshal, the official retaliated by having Odell arrested for "congregating" in violation of the injunction. Odell served 10 days in jail for contempt of court. Pollock, too, was arrested and jailed. When a truckload of strikebreakers attempted to run down a group of pickets, the pickets (led by Pollock) retaliated by hurling stones and bottles at the truck. Pollock was charged with unlawful assemblage, inciting to riot, and malicious destruction of property. Pollock's wife and defense lawyers were unlawfully denied access to him for several days. When they finally did see him, sheriff's deputies stood close by to intimidate them and listen in on their privileged conversation
.
. The explosion ripped away an entire side of the home. Although the mayor and his wife were sleeping in the home at the time, they were not injured.
Although he denied any involvement with the bombing, Odell was arrested minutes later and taken to the Hardin County jail (which was located in the town of McGuffey). However, sheriff's deputies refused to charge Odell. As Odell was being booked, about 200 anti-union vigilantes rushed the jail, seized Odell, took him out of the jail and threw him on a waiting truck. Sheriff's deputies stopped the truck and demanded to know if Odell was aboard. Odell claimed he shouted to let the deputies know he was there, but the deputies ignored him. Odell also claimed that at least 15 sheriff's deputies were in the jail and could have prevented his abduction, but the county sheriff contended that only three deputies were on hand. To Odell and union sympathizers, the sheriff's deputies appeared to be cooperating in the kidnapping.
Odell was taken to Waynesfield
, a small village in Auglaize County
about 12 miles (19.3 km) away. There, Odell was beaten and threatened with death, then taken to a highway in mid-afternoon and left at the side of the road.
During the day, the town of McGuffey was seized by hundreds of armed anti-union vigilantes. The vigilantes patrolled the town on foot and accosted any citizens they found on the street. They demanded to know if the citizen was a union supporter. If the individual claimed not to be taking sides in the strike, the vigilantes threatened them with death and told them to leave town. As the capture of the town continued throughout the day, union members and their families barricaded themselves inside their homes, fearing for their lives.
During the afternoon, Odell hitch hiked
back to McGuffey. He obtained a revolver from his home and then walked with his brother through the center of town, defying the vigilantes to kill him. Odell returned home in the late afternoon.
After Odell returned to his house, a crowd of 200 men and women gathered in front of the building and demanded that he leave town or suffer the consequences. Odell replied, "Tell them to go to hell." Odell then went to bed, a revolver under his pillow and armed union guards stationed throughout the house. The crowd continued to surround Odell's house throughout the evening, shouting obscenities and threatening Odell and his family. Only five sheriff's deputies stood nearby to handle the mob. Around midnight, the crowd climbed into cars and trucks and paraded around Odell's home, honking horns and brandishing clubs. The vigilante caravan then headed to the nearby town of Alger
, where they threatened three other union leaders. One union leader, Floyd Collins, was ill and had to be secretly rushed out of town.
That same day, United States Secretary of Labor
Frances Perkins
sent Robert C. Fox, another federal mediator, to Hardin County to try to end the strike.
The day after his kidnapping, Odell sought to invoke the Federal Kidnapping Act
, a new federal statute enacted in 1932 in the wake of the Lindbergh kidnapping
. But on August 27, a federal prosecutor said the Federal Kidnapping act would not apply as Odell had not been taken across state lines or held for more than five days.
The strike, however, was close to an end. The 800 strikers had dwindled to a handful as violence drove them from the picket lines. The larger growers were able to employ significant numbers of replacement workers, and onion production was nearly back to full capacity.
A few days later, several of the smaller growers signed a contract with the union. The contract raised wages to 35 cents per hour, but did not alter working conditions or recognize the union.
Within a few months, most of the strikebreakers left the area as the growing season wound down. But as onion production continued to drop over the next several years due to soil exhaustion, fewer and fewer onion weeders and pickers were needed in Hardin County. A few years after its founding, the Agricultural Workers Union faded away. By the mid-1940s, most of the Hardin County agricultural workers had been replaced by Mexican
migrant worker
s.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by agricultural workers in Hardin County, Ohio
Hardin County, Ohio
Hardin County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,058. Its county seat is Kenton and is named for John Hardin, an officer in the American Revolution.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, in 1934. Led by the Agricultural Workers Union, Local 19724, the strike began on June 20, two days after the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
formed. After the kidnapping and beating of the union's leader and the intervention of the Ohio National Guard
Ohio National Guard
The Ohio National Guard comprises:* Ohio Army National Guard* Ohio Air National Guard-External links:* compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History...
on behalf of the growers, the strike ended in October with a partial victory for the union. Some growers met the union's demand for a 35-cents-an-hour minimum wage, but the majority did not.
The Hardin County onion fields
Hardin County, OhioHardin County, Ohio
Hardin County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 32,058. Its county seat is Kenton and is named for John Hardin, an officer in the American Revolution.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, contained a large onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
-growing region about 12 miles (19 km) east of the town of Lima
Lima, Ohio
Lima is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwestern Ohio along Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton and south-southwest of Toledo....
. Two main growing areas existed. Scioto Marsh consisted of about 17,000 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (69 km²) of farmland. The top three growers controlled about 30 percent of Scioto Marsh land under cultivation. Hog Creek Marsh was a smaller growing area which consisted of about 4,000 acres (16 km²). The largest owner of Hog Creek marshland controlled about a third of that area's total land under cultivation. Roughly 25 smaller growers cultivated the rest of the farmland.
Wages and working conditions for agricultural workers in Hardin County were poor even before the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. A plentiful supply of Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
migrant farm workers kept wages far below those of other counties and states. Working conditions were harsh. Laborers worked on their hands and knees weeding and picking onions. The work day
Working time
Working time is the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational labor. Unpaid labors such as personal housework are not considered part of the working week...
was 10 hours long, with a 15 minute break for lunch and no overtime. There were no toilet facilities or restroom breaks, and water and first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
for injuries or heat exhaustion
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia is an elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation. Hyperthermia occurs when the body produces or absorbs more heat than it can dissipate...
were not provided. The black earth absorbed heat, and temperatures near the ground could reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 °C). Many workers lived in employer-provided housing, and were given an employer-owned milk cow (on loan) to prevent starvation.
Crop yield
Crop yield
In agriculture, crop yield is not only a measure of the yield of cereal per unit area of land under cultivation, yield is also the seed generation of the plant itself...
s from the Hardin County onion fields were declining significantly by 1930 due to soil exhaustion as crop rotation
Crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons.Crop rotation confers various benefits to the soil. A traditional element of crop rotation is the replenishment of nitrogen through the use of green manure in sequence with cereals...
was not practiced. As the Great Depression worsened, growers reduced the amount of land under cultivation even further to only 3,500 acres (14 km²). Growers also cut wages and required laborers to work longer hours.
By June 1934, economic conditions for farm workers in Hardin County were especially severe. The prevailing wage was 12 cents an hour, but many workers earned only 8 cents an hour. Eight out of 10 families were considered to be living in extreme poverty, and almost half of all workers reported working only 26 days a year.
Legality of farm labor unions
When the National Labor Relations ActNational Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act or Wagner Act , is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions , engage in collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in...
(NLRA) was passed in 1935, it specifically exempted agricultural workers
Farmworker
A farmworker is a person hired to work in the agricultural industry. This includes work on farms of all sizes, from small, family-run businesses to large industrial agriculture operations...
from the protection of the law. Although it was not illegal for farm workers to organize unions, federal (and state) law did not protect their ability to do so. Subsequently, most employers discriminated heavily against agricultural workers who attempted to form unions, and used a variety of techniques (many heavy-handed, and some actually coercive) to resist farm unionization.
Beginning of the strike
On June 18 and June 19, 1934, weeders and pickers working on onion farms in Hardin County formed a union, the Agricultural Workers Union, under the leadership of Okey Odell, a 38-year-old weeder. The workers were assisted by J.M. Rizor, an organizer for the International Quarrymen's Union. Their union was recognized by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) as a federal unionDirectly Affiliated Local Union
A Directly Affiliated Local Union is a U.S. labor union that belongs to the AFL-CIO but is not a national union and is not entitled to the same rights and privileges within the Federation as national affiliates.Legally, the AFL-CIO is the parent union of the DALU, and the AFL-CIO is responsible...
, and listed as Local 19724.
The workers immediately demanded recognition of their union, a 23-cents-an-hour wage increase (to obtain a minimum wage of 35 cents an hour), and an eight-hour work day.
Led by the top four landowners, the 30 growers formed the Onion Growers' Association to oppose the union. Odell and Rizor asked to meet with the Association, but the growers refused and said they would let their fields be overgrown with weeds first. The growers subsequently told the press that meeting with the union was pointless, since the growers were already losing money. The union challenged this claim, pointing out that at least one grower had recently purchased three new automobiles. But the growers stuck by their claim. A few weeks later, the Ohio state legislature asked the growers to open their books as part of a state investigation into the strike. But the growers declinded to do so. To the union, this was merely additional evidence that the growers were profitable.
Odell called a strike on June 20. About 800 of the county's 1,000 onion field workers walked out. To prevent replacement workers from entering the fields and breaking the strike, the strikers attempted to stop and search all automobiles entering the Scioto Marsh and Hog Creek Marsh areas. For the first week of the strike, there was no violence. The Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
and the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
raised funds for strike relief.
The union also received assistance from the Ohio Unemployed League. The League was a branch of the American Workers Party
American Workers Party
The American Workers Party was a socialist organization established in December 1933 by activists in the Conference for Progressive Labor Action, a group headed by A.J. Muste.-Formation:...
(AWP). The goal of the League was to organize jobless workers, advocate for higher relief payments for the unemployed, and help the unemployed resist employer calls to take striking workers' jobs. The League and the union struck a deal which provided for the legal defense of union members by the AWP and the League. League leaders obtained representation on the union's strike committee, assurances that the strike would be carried out using militant tactics, and that no settlement of the strike would be made without agreement of the strikers. Pursuant to this agreement, Toledo League leader Sam Pollock
Sam Pollock (labor leader)
Samuel "Sam" Pollock was an American labor union activist and leader. He helped lead two important strikes in 1934, the Auto-Lite Strike and the Hardin County onion pickers strike, before becoming district president of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America.-Personal...
became part of the union's strike leadership team.
Injunction
The growers immediately went to court to prevent the union from picketing in the fields.On June 22, Court of Common Pleas
Ohio Courts of Common Pleas
The Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the state court system of Ohio.The courts of common pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state. They are the only trial courts created by the Ohio Constitution . The duties of the courts are outlined in Article IV, Section...
Judge Hamilton E. Hoge issued one of the most sweeping anti-labor injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
s in American history.
The injunction restricted picketing to groups of two. Judge Hoge left it up to the discretion of sheriffs' deputies how far apart each group must be. Initially, the union established 34 pickets at least 25 feet (8 m) apart. Deputies arrested half the strikers. The union increased the distance between pickets to 50 yards (16 m), and still arrests occurred. Distance between pickets was extended to 100 yards (90 m), then a quarter of a mile (400 m), and in some cases a half mile (800 m). Arrests continued. On a number of occasions, deputies called pickets together and, when they obeyed, arrested them for congregating unlawfully.
To enforce the injunction, 54 "special" sheriff's deputies were hired and sworn in. The deputies' salaries were paid for by the growers. Although the deputies technically remained under the supervision of the Hardin County sheriff, the deputies were under the control of the growers and their field foremen. Most of the special sheriff's deputies were members of the Hardin County detachment of the Ohio National Guard and veterans of the Auto-Lite strike
Auto-Lite strike
The Toledo Auto-Lite strike was a strike by a federal labor union of the American Federation of Labor against the Electric Auto-Lite company of Toledo, Ohio, from April 12 to June 3, 1934....
in nearby Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, which had only recently ended. The National Guard troops, most of whom were only 18 years old, were determined not to be intimidated by the picketers as they had been in Toledo. The newly-appointed special deputies were armed with riot gun
Riot gun
A riot gun or less-lethal launcher is a type of firearm that is used to fire "non-lethal" ammunition for the purpose of suppressing riots. Less-lethal launchers may be special purpose firearms designed for riot control use, or standard firearms, usually shotguns and grenade launchers, adapted to...
s, machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, and tear gas equipment from the National Guard armory in Kenton, Ohio
Kenton, Ohio
Kenton is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Ohio, United States, along the Scioto River. The population was 8,262 at the 2010 census. It is named for Kentucky/Ohio frontiersman, Simon Kenton...
.
The union demanded to know why the state was providing the county with troops. When Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
George White
George White (Ohio politician)
George White was the 52nd Governor of Ohio.Born in Elmira, New York, White attended Princeton College. After mining in the Klondike, White settled in Marietta, Ohio to drill for oil....
was asked why the special deputies were recruited solely from the Ohio National Guard, he replied that the guardsmen were merely private citizens who had sought temporary employment. The governor saw no problem with arming the county deputies with state-owned weaponry or having full-time, on-duty officers of the Ohio National Guard command and drill the special deputies.
The special deputies quickly proved unruly. Local citizens complained that the guards were harassing them. The sheriff referred complaints to the commanding general of the Ohio National Guard, who then told petitioners that this was a matter for the local county sheriff. When prominent Hardin County business leaders forced the sheriff to deal with these problems, the sheriff ordered an investigation. But the investigation was never carried out, and the National Guard troops' behavior worsened.
First settlement attempt and outbreak of violence
On June 27, the United States Department of LaborUnited States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
sent a mediator
Mediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
to Hardin County to help settle the strike. The growers agreed to raise the minimum wage to 15 cents an hour, but the union rejected the offer.
After the settlement's rejection, employers began evicting workers from employer-owned homes.
The employers also began to resort to violence to protect their replacement workers and break the strike. Vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
groups were formed which beat strikers and union sympathizers, and ran them out of town at gunpoint. Shots were fired at picketers and at union members attending meetings. The growers hired another 50 special deputies to patrol the fields with machine guns, and special deputies used extensive amounts of tear gas to harass and break up pickets. National Guard troops began clubbing and beating picketers whenever they encountered them. On June 29, two strikers were shot and wounded by National Guard troops after they attempted to stop a truck of strikebreakers from entering a field.
Union members and their supporters also resorted to violence. The growers began large-scale importation of replacement workers to break the strike. When they could intercept trucks carrying replacement workers, the strikers would throw rocks, bricks and bottles at the strikebreakers. Fistfights broke out whenever striking workers and strikebreakers encountered one another. Union members and sympathizers cut telephone wires throughout the county, blew up bridges, scattered nails on roads to stop and slow truck traffic, fired shots at strikebreakers, burned warehouses, and set off small explosions in towns, villages and onion processing stations throughout the county. Strikers even bombed the home of the owner of the Scioto Land Company, the largest landowner in Scioto Marsh.
The level of violence led to a large number of arrests. Over the next 20 days, more than 60 picketers were arrested. Odell was arrested and charged with contempt of court for violating Judge Hoge's injunction. A Scioto Land Company official had approached Odell on the street and brandished a gun in his face. Arrested by the town marshal, the official retaliated by having Odell arrested for "congregating" in violation of the injunction. Odell served 10 days in jail for contempt of court. Pollock, too, was arrested and jailed. When a truckload of strikebreakers attempted to run down a group of pickets, the pickets (led by Pollock) retaliated by hurling stones and bottles at the truck. Pollock was charged with unlawful assemblage, inciting to riot, and malicious destruction of property. Pollock's wife and defense lawyers were unlawfully denied access to him for several days. When they finally did see him, sheriff's deputies stood close by to intimidate them and listen in on their privileged conversation
Attorney-client privilege
Attorney–client privilege is a legal concept that protects certain communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential....
.
Bombing of the mayor's home and seizure of the town of McGuffey
Near dawn on the morning of August 25, 1934, a bomb exploded at the home of Godfrey Ott, mayor of the town of McGuffey, OhioMcGuffey, Ohio
McGuffey is a village in Hardin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 522 at the 2000 census.-History:The village of McGuffey, home of the first chartered agricultural workers' union and one of the largest agricultural workers' strikes in national history, was honored with a historical...
. The explosion ripped away an entire side of the home. Although the mayor and his wife were sleeping in the home at the time, they were not injured.
Although he denied any involvement with the bombing, Odell was arrested minutes later and taken to the Hardin County jail (which was located in the town of McGuffey). However, sheriff's deputies refused to charge Odell. As Odell was being booked, about 200 anti-union vigilantes rushed the jail, seized Odell, took him out of the jail and threw him on a waiting truck. Sheriff's deputies stopped the truck and demanded to know if Odell was aboard. Odell claimed he shouted to let the deputies know he was there, but the deputies ignored him. Odell also claimed that at least 15 sheriff's deputies were in the jail and could have prevented his abduction, but the county sheriff contended that only three deputies were on hand. To Odell and union sympathizers, the sheriff's deputies appeared to be cooperating in the kidnapping.
Odell was taken to Waynesfield
Waynesfield, Ohio
Waynesfield is a village in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States with a population of 803 as of the 2000 U.S. census. It is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Waynesfield is located at ....
, a small village in Auglaize County
Auglaize County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 46,611 people, 17,376 households, and 12,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 116 people per square mile . There were 18,470 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...
about 12 miles (19.3 km) away. There, Odell was beaten and threatened with death, then taken to a highway in mid-afternoon and left at the side of the road.
During the day, the town of McGuffey was seized by hundreds of armed anti-union vigilantes. The vigilantes patrolled the town on foot and accosted any citizens they found on the street. They demanded to know if the citizen was a union supporter. If the individual claimed not to be taking sides in the strike, the vigilantes threatened them with death and told them to leave town. As the capture of the town continued throughout the day, union members and their families barricaded themselves inside their homes, fearing for their lives.
During the afternoon, Odell hitch hiked
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
back to McGuffey. He obtained a revolver from his home and then walked with his brother through the center of town, defying the vigilantes to kill him. Odell returned home in the late afternoon.
After Odell returned to his house, a crowd of 200 men and women gathered in front of the building and demanded that he leave town or suffer the consequences. Odell replied, "Tell them to go to hell." Odell then went to bed, a revolver under his pillow and armed union guards stationed throughout the house. The crowd continued to surround Odell's house throughout the evening, shouting obscenities and threatening Odell and his family. Only five sheriff's deputies stood nearby to handle the mob. Around midnight, the crowd climbed into cars and trucks and paraded around Odell's home, honking horns and brandishing clubs. The vigilante caravan then headed to the nearby town of Alger
Alger, Ohio
Alger is a village in Hardin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 888 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Alger is located on State Route 235 about south of Ada....
, where they threatened three other union leaders. One union leader, Floyd Collins, was ill and had to be secretly rushed out of town.
That same day, United States Secretary of Labor
United States Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins
Frances Perkins , born Fannie Coralie Perkins, was the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition...
sent Robert C. Fox, another federal mediator, to Hardin County to try to end the strike.
The day after his kidnapping, Odell sought to invoke the Federal Kidnapping Act
Federal Kidnapping Act
Following the historic Lindbergh kidnapping , the United States Congress adopted a federal kidnapping statute—popularly known as the Federal Kidnapping Act — which was intended to let federal authorities step in and pursue kidnappers once they had...
, a new federal statute enacted in 1932 in the wake of the Lindbergh kidnapping
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
. But on August 27, a federal prosecutor said the Federal Kidnapping act would not apply as Odell had not been taken across state lines or held for more than five days.
Conclusion of the strike
On August 28, federal mediator Fox met with Ott, several large growers, and Odell. Odell agreed to reduced his demand for a wage increase to 25 cents an hour. The discussions went so well that Fox felt a resolution to the strike could be reached within a few days. Odell later told the press he had made no such concession.The strike, however, was close to an end. The 800 strikers had dwindled to a handful as violence drove them from the picket lines. The larger growers were able to employ significant numbers of replacement workers, and onion production was nearly back to full capacity.
A few days later, several of the smaller growers signed a contract with the union. The contract raised wages to 35 cents per hour, but did not alter working conditions or recognize the union.
Within a few months, most of the strikebreakers left the area as the growing season wound down. But as onion production continued to drop over the next several years due to soil exhaustion, fewer and fewer onion weeders and pickers were needed in Hardin County. A few years after its founding, the Agricultural Workers Union faded away. By the mid-1940s, most of the Hardin County agricultural workers had been replaced by Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s.