United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing & Allied Workers of America C.I.O. - 1938 Membership Book

"Being fully aware that the conflict between capital and labor grows with intensity from time to time and tends to work disastrous results on the working millions unless we combine for mutual protection and benefit, and realizing fully that the struggle to better our working and living conditions is in vain unless we are united to protect ourselves against the organized forces of the employers and exploiters of labor, and

Knowing full well that the old craft and isolated local forms of trade union organizations are unable to defend effectively the interests and improve the conditions of the workers, THEREFORE, WE, THE WORKERS ENGAGED IN THE CANNING, AGRICULTURAL, PACKING AND ALLIED INDUSTRIES form an organization which unites all workers in our industry on an industrial and democratic basis, regardless of age, sex, nationality, race, creed, color or political and religious beliefs, and pursues at all times a policy of aggressive activity to improve our social and economic conditions.

We pledge ourselves to labor unitedly for the principles herein set forth, to perpetuate our union and work concertedly with the general labor movement to bring about a higher standard of living to all workers and small oppressed farmers.

AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL"

This membership book predates the formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and is therefore affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization, at this point still a rogue group of unaffiliated trade unions bankrolled by the United Mine Workers. This is maybe the most class-conscious preamble of any of the CIO unions I have come across. UCAPAWA famously organized Mexican & Mexican-American agricultural workers, Black southern sharecroppers and migrant Filipino, Chinese and Japanese cannery workers who traveled seasonally to Alaska. Around half of the unions membership were women, who held elected office and made up a sizable portion of the unions organizers. 

They, like the International Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union C.I.O. also adopted the slogan AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL from the Industrial Workers of the World. The wobblies were early organizers in the California canning and farm working industries so the intensity of their preamble and principles is not surprising. The Communist Party also played a major roll in developing the social consciousness of the union. By way of a few mergers, former UCAPAWA locals would ultimately end up becoming the Inland Boatman's Union Region 37, who are now the marine division of the ILWU.