By Forests Or By Fields: Organizing Immigrant Labor in the Pacific Northwest, 1940-1990 Sifuentez, Mario J creator 2010 x, 249 p. born digital Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2010) Garcia, Matt Director Jacoby, Karl Reader Hu-DeHart, Evelyn Reader Brown University. American Civilization sponsor theses The aim of this dissertation is too examine the role that ethnic Mexican labor played in fashioning the Northwest into one of the most productive regions in the country after the Second World War. Expanding water-development projects, accelerated timber harvests, and a booming agricultural sector owe their success in large part to the labor of braceros, Tejano migrants, and Mexican immigrants, both documented and undocumented. This dissertation is a social, cultural, and political history of the lives of ethnic Mexicans in the Northwest and examines their struggles against racism and labor exploitation. A crucial component of that struggle is the history of the Piñeros y Campesinos Unidos Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farm Workers United), known by their Spanish acronym PCUN (pronounced "Pe-Coon"). The reforestation, nursery, and farm workers union's goal is to empower workers and eliminate systematic oppression and exploitation through collective bargaining, boycotts, legislative campaigns, and most importantly immigrant organizing. PCUN challenges previous notions of the unorganizable nature of undocumented workers long held by labor unions, which have struggled with the issue of citizenship, labor rights, and union organizing. Their commitment to organizing undocumented and documented immigrants make PCUN a leader among peers who are rethinking the relationship between farm work and immigrant rights. Immigration Bracero Farm Workers Union UFW Tejano Emigration and immigrationLaborMexicansAgricultural laborersPCUNUnited Farm Workers of AmericaPacific Northwest RPB 20111003 engEnglish10.7301/Z09P2ZV9In CopyrightCollection is open for research.dissertations