While going through Wally Smith’s columns looking for one that would be of interest to the readers of this column, I came across several short interesting stories.
Keep in mind how misinformation can run amuck. These stories are dated July 10, 1980.
A labor organizer on the air a few days ago talked about his new farm union. He severely criticized the Okanagan fruit growers’ poor accomodation and lack of any accomodation for fruit pickers.
He also denounced low wages for cherry pickers and mentioned $2.90 an hour paid for this work.
Of course Mr Labor Organizer failed to mention that cherry picking is generally piece work; the grower pays for the amount of work accomplished and it works out at so much a pound for the cherries picked.
A good cherry picker has little trouble earning $5.00 to $6.00 and hour and some will do better. The good picker uses both hands and gets the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
End of story.
Once the facts come out the picture changes and the truth is seen for what it is, the truth.
The second story Wally wrote in that column;
It was a relief to learn that the so-called ‘racism’ incident at Osoyoos, involving a group of cherry pickers and a handful of hooligans, was fiction rather than fact. There was an incident alright, but there appears to be a general agreement there were no racial overtones.
Race, back in 1980 was a hot topic as it is today.
Wally was a fair man when it came to race. He changed my life when I was badmouthing one of our racial minorities who lived in our end of the rural Oliver community. It was after that scolding when I changed my opinion of minorities and saw them as people just like me.
There were more cultural differences than racial differences that I was aware of while I growing up in the south end of the Okanagan Valley.
We all seemed to get along. Even when we went across the US border to date the Americans, there was rarely strife, as long as the truth was told.
All we can do now is have a critical eye for everything we see in print and keep checking for the facts that lead us to the truth.
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