Braceros Rally for Drive to Recover Millions in Missing Wages

Nearly 300 former Mexican migrant laborers gathered Sunday near downtown Los Angeles to learn about the latest efforts to find millions of dollars deducted from their paychecks under the World War II braceros work program.

After years of being ignored by the Mexican government, the men and their families at the midday Plaza Olvera rally cheered upon learning that Mexican President Vicente Fox recently expressed interest in opening an investigation into the missing funds.

Braceros Committee President Baldomero Capiz also announced the organization’s intentions to file class action lawsuits against both the Mexican government and the United States, and to begin a nationwide U.S. tour next month to draw attention to the situation.

“The Mexican government may have been the one who didn’t pay us, but the U.S. government should have done more. As the saying goes, he who holds the cow’s legs is as guilty as he who kills it,” said Capiz.

As much of the U.S. work force headed to Europe and Asia to fight in the war, the braceros, as the Mexican laborers were called, were encouraged to come north through a joint program between the United States and Mexican governments to work on farms and railroads. More than 2.5 million workers headed to the U.S. fields.

Part of the workers’ salaries were withheld, to be paid upon their return home. That policy was supposed to serve as an incentive for them to return to Mexico and to encourage savings. But many have never seen the 10% taken weekly from their checks. The former workers are seeking about $150 million in lost pay.

“I had no idea where that money was going. No one told us anything,” said Raul Bernal, 65, who worked during the early 1950s gathering melons.

As they shaded themselves from Sunday’s sweltering sun, Bernal and others recalled the hard labor they endured to create a better life for themselves and their families.

“We carried 60 pounds of melons on our backs,” said Arturo Gandaria Aguirre.

“More sometimes,” chimed in Bernal.

“You had to cut the melon and then toss it into the bag on your back,” said Gandaria, bending over to demonstrate the motion he hasn’t done for decades but will never forget.

Jose Tovar came to the United States in 1956. He still has his identification card, which shows a defiant-looking 19-year-old ready to work. “I would pick lettuce for 79 cents an hour. Sometimes I picked tomatoes. That was the dirtiest. After one day, you couldn’t wear your pants out again,” he said.

The others agreed. “It was all dirty,” Bernal said, “and the locals didn’t want to do it.”

The men expressed pride in having done their part to support the effort to destroy fascism, although the program continued until the early 1960s.

“When everyone went to war, someone had to work the land to provide food to the soldiers and build a way to transport that food,” Capiz said.

Most of the workers returned to Mexico, although a number of them settled in the United States. What remains unclear is what happened to the funds, as well as how to identify those who have valid claims. The money was deposited into a few bank accounts, and many workers no longer have pay stubs or other documents proving they are owed money.

But those at the rally remain hopeful that after nearly 50 years, they finally will see their lost wages.

Juana Garcia stayed behind in Mexico and cared for her nine children, while her husband worked on a railroad in the United States from 1946 to 1949.

“We just thought that money was going to pay taxes. I knew it was his, but I thought we’d never see it,” Garcia said. “Then about two years ago, we started hearing about this effort on TV, and then we wanted to hear more.”

While the older men reminisced, her grandson Emerson Jimenez, 23, stood transfixed as he learned about the role his grandfather played working on a railroad.

“I never really knew my grandfather. I didn’t get to spend much time with him, and I never got to talk to him about his work on the railroad,” Jimenez said. “Now I’ve got a new view of him, that he was part of building something so big, that he made an important contribution.”