Cherry-Picking Farm Labor

A vision from the Great Depression lay before them. .. More than 30 tents rose like mushrooms under the trees. Clothes hung from branches, and empty cans and food packages were piled high. Smoke curled from one of the fire pits that had been dug into the soil. About 100 men – migrant workers who follow crops – were sleeping on the ground by night in this orchard owned by R & J Dondero Inc., and climbing ladders by day to pick the company's cherries. Only a few overflowing portable toilets – and the orchard – were available for the men.