Teacher & Student Arrests
Delia Mendez was a Social Sciences teacher at Watsonville High School. In the interview below she describes accompanying her students when they went to the picket line to support their striking parents. Mendez and her students were arrested and charged by the Watsonville Police Department. She describes the arrests, the community response, and the trial.
The letter below from is from the local teacher's union, the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, Local 1936. It discusses Mendez's arrest, the charges against her, and asks for support in the form of letters and donations to a legal fund.
Questions
- Why do you think the police chose to arrest the students, and charge the teacher, rather than informing them first that they would be in violation of the court injunction?
- What effect would these arrests have on the community at large? Do you think it might discourage community members from getting involved? Or would it possibly have the opposite effect?
Delia Mendez Describing Arrest
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Letter from Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers asking fellow teachers and unionists to support Mendez.
Text of letter below (PDF) Download Text of letter below (PDF)
Mendez, Delia. "Interview with Delia Mendez 2010-11-18." 18 Nov. 2010, archive.org/details/csfst_006453 Links to an external site.. Peter Shapiro Watsonville Canneries Strike Interviews, larc.oh.shapiro_27, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University. (This is a clip from a longer interview which can be found at archive.org/details/csfst_006453 Links to an external site..)
“Dear Fellow Teacher-Unionist.” Frank Bardacke Watsonville Canneries Strike Records, larc.ms.0093, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco State University.