June 6, 1934: 90 years ago, June 6 1934, amid a strike in Brentwood by the Communist [...]

90 years ago, June 6 1934, amid a strike in Brentwood by the Communist Party-led Cannery & Agricultural Workers Industrial Union (CAWIU), around 200 apricot workers and organizers (along with their families) were rounded up in cattle pens and “deported” out of Contra Costa County

Since 1932, the CAWIU had been leading massive and hard-fought agricultural strikes across California. Striking workers, a great many of whom were Mexican and Filipino, were often met with brutal violence from local authorities and vigilantes

The Brentwood strike began in June under the leadership of communist Caroline Decker (who would soon be imprisoned for violating the Criminal Syndicalism Act). At the same time, the American Federation of Labor sent organizer Julius Nathan to Brentwood to compete with the CAWIU

The apricot growers agreed to negotiate exclusively with Julius Nathan and the AFL and refused to recognize the CAWIU. After the CAWIU flouted an order not to march through Brentwood, the sheriff deputized 75 vigilantes who rounded up suspected “agitators” and held them in pens

The next day, the “agitators” were forced into a car caravan at gunpoint and driven to San Joaquin County, where they were handed over to the local sheriff. The AFL, having succeeded in pushing out the CAWIU, did not go on to organize Brentwood workers