Carey McWilliams described deplorable conditions at Durst's Labor Camp in the 1930s, including workers sleeping on straw or gunnysacks in tents or fields, an unsanitary outdoor toilet situation, and many sick and dehydrated children seen around the camp in filthy conditions. Temperatures reached 105 degrees with no water available for the workers, who started picking in the early morning for less than $1 per day. In 1933, over 3,000 pickers went on strike from Half Moon Bay to Hayward, resulting in a successful strike that doubled wages.