1. At the time of the interviews, Mondragon (whose name has been changed to protect his present position) worked for another lettuce producer in the Salinas Valley. His departure from Miracle came about as a result of the firm's having been raided by the Border Patrol in two consecutive months. The circumstances are recounted later in this section. However, Mondragon's testimony as to management practice was corroborated by former employees of the company. [BACK]

2. In addition, I had decided during the course of the strike not to openly engage in research or discussion with the strikebreaking workers. Given the turmoil and the emotions of the times, I felt it wise to pursue other avenues of data collection. [BACK]

3. Verde executives reported that the company had had some financial problems but refused to elaborate. Annual reports of the parent corporation describe in vague terms the position of the subsidiary but mask the extent of losses by aggregating sales and income figures for Verde with other associated subsidiaries. Therefore it is impossible to give an accurate picture of the actual profit/loss situation for the company. [BACK]

4. Promotion at Verde is no less restricted in its scope, however, than other companies. As in other companies, upward occupational mobility is limited to the fields. Though in theory a worker could rise in the ranks from fieldwork to maintenance or other technical employment, organizational obstacles block such movement. Most higher level jobs require that applicants speak and read English. The training needed for technical certification, e.g., a welder's license, is not provided by the company. Finally, jurisdictional boundaries between unions act to create exclusive occupational ladders, e.g., the distinction between field and nonfield work is simultaneously a boundary between the UFW and the Teamsters. [BACK]

5. Twenty-seven lettuce workers from Verde were interviewed at length during the course of the study. Fifteen had two or more years' seniority with the company while the remainder had less than two years. Because evidence of the two-tier system began to emerge only after a majority of the interviews had been conducted, I could not collect more specific data on earnings or work history for the entire group. Therefore, the material presented and the conclusions reached are based almost entirely on those interviews. [BACK]