In the dusty bayou country of southern Louisiana last week, the sugar cane stood 10 ft. high. It was time for harvest, but on the huge sugar plantations many of the harvesters failed to report for work. Each morning before sunup, some 2,000 (an estimated 10% of the labor force) gathered in Masonic lodges and Burial Society halls from the outskirts of New Orleans to the Atchafalaya River to sing hymns, pray, sip coffee and idle away the day. After generations of precarious existence on the big plantations, the cane workers were out on an organized strike. Their wages...
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