Martin became known as a pro-business governor in early May 1935 when timber workers began to strike, declaring, "These pestiferous peewees would go to any lengths to embarrass me and my administration." In private correspondence and public appearances he railed against the National Labor Relations Board, declared union organizers to be gangsters and Bolsheviks, and considered Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins to be the head "red" in the Roosevelt administration. Martin threatened to fire Columbia County Sheriff Oscar Weed for not responding harshly enough to striking workers, instructing the state's sheriffs to "beat hell out of 'em!" and "crack their damn heads! Those fellows are there for nothing but trouble – give it to them!" On May 23, 1935, Martin ordered the state police and National Guard to protect strikebreakers at the Stimson Mill strike in the Washington County town of Gaston. The National Guard was again called out to harass, intimidate, and arrest striking longshoremen in 1937.