| Transcript |
"Women led the demonstrations, took part in the decision-making
process, and formed the bulk of the front-line forces in the pecan
shelters' strike of 1938."
was diverse as her mother was Spanish,
and her father was an American Indian.
However, she was practically raised by
her maternal grandfather, who kept his
granddaughter informed about the revolutionary events happening in Mexico.
Tenayuca got involved in labor struggles
in 1932. Just out of high school, she belonged to a discussion group which the
authorities called the "who-gives-a-damn-
gang." The group discussed socialist
literature and current events. They even
had an office downtown. So when the
Finck cigar workers walked out on strike
in 1932, she joined their picket lines.
She helped with that strike, she maintained contact with the emergent garment
workers and she also offered tremendous
help with the pecan shellers' strike in
1938.
The Strike
The events leading up to the strike of
1938 are somewhat confusing. Shed
committees had been formed all over the
West Side during Rodriquez's time, but
they were weakened when Rodriquez
disappeared.
The strike did appear to be spontaneous. The pecan workers pulled out on
strike January 31 after a pay cut. Shellers
who had made 7-6 cents a pound (7 cents
for pieces, 6 cents for halves) were reduced to 6-5 cents a pound. Wages for
crackers were cut from 50 cents to 40
cents per 100 pounds. Although the president, secretary and treasurer of the union
were men, Emma Tenayuca was elected
strike leader.
The strike continued for three months,
primarily because of strong opposition
from the San Antonio political machine.
Over 700 arrests were made. Lambert
[observed] the opposition stemmed from
a fear that the West Side would become
aware of its own power: "The establishment and the community were quite
frightened. They had been exploiting
these people and here was an uprising.
The chief of police was reacting as a
frightened man—totally senseless arrests
were made. This made national headlines
and there was some support in the community. Very much like the civil rights
movement in the 60's."
Owen Kilday, chief of police, stated
under oath the reason for the overreac-
tion led by the "establishment" was that
the strike was part of a "Red plot" to
gain control of the West Side. Rebecca
Taylor, president of the San Antonio
I.L.G.W.U., professed sympathy with the
strike. But due to the presence of communists in the leadership, she would offer
no assistance to her sister CIO union. In
fact, pecan shellers complained that
Taylor drove around with the police
pointing out union activists as potential
communists.
In February Donald Henderson, president of United Cannery and Agricultural
Processors and Agricultural Workers of
America (UCAPAWA), flew to San Antonio to personally direct the strike. The
list of demands formulated by Henderson
included 7 cents a pound for halves, 8
cents for pieces, 60 cents per hundred
pounds for crackers, plus union recognition, supervised weighing by a worker,
and owners to be responsible for payment
of health exams. Also, due to anti-communist sentiment, UCAPAWA support
was conditional upon Emma Tenayuca
not participating in strike activities.
Under this concerted pressure, Tenayuca
and the Worker's Alliance withdrew from
formal leadership of the strike.
State Activities
The events of the next week involved
confrontations with the city over normal
strike activities of picketing and soup
kitchens. Cassie Winfree, State Labor
Chair of the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom, and Minnie Rendon asked permission from the
city to solicit funds to support the
strikers. Although this was permitted,
it was the only encouragement the strikers got from the city. The strikers primarily aided themselves. Soup kitchens
spontaneously appeared on the picket
lines. Alberta Snid's mother and others
cooked beans, tortillas, and tacos. "Different people, who they were, where they
came from, where they got the food, I
don't know. But what little they had,
they would share. There was always
something to eat." However, the city
health department condemned the strikers' soup kitchens as unhealthy, although
they had never been able to find time to
investigate the unsanitary conditions of
the pecan shelling factories.
Chief of police Owen Kilday claimed
that there was no strike and proceeded to
disperse demonstrators and to arrest
pickets. In one week in March, 90 male
pecan shellers were arrested and imprisoned with 200 others in a county
jail designed to hold 60. At one point, a
riot in the prison had to be quelled with a
fire hose. Altogether, an estimated 700
arrests were made during the strike.
Women who were arrested were generally
allowed to go back home if they had
children, but many others were incarcerated. Alberta Snid, who was 16 at
the time, was imprisoned. She met her
father coming out of the jail as she was
going in. All she remembers about her
stay was that there was "standing room
only."
During the violence between strikers
and police, negotiations were ongoing.
The mayor, the governor and the factory
owners all joined the effort to settle the
strike. Donald Henderson initially
handled the strikers' side of the bargaining, but according to Latane
he always conferred with Louisa Moreno
first. Moreno, who had no public exposure, apparently exerted considerable
behind-the-scenes influence. "The Communist Party sent Louisa Moreno in.
Louisa was a sensible, caring person. She
was Spanish-speaking, whereas Don and
the others were not. She, more than
anybody else, did the direction of the
strike. When Don Henderson came to
town, he would go to her apartment for
direction and consultation."
The mayor became involved in the
strike by publicly asking what wage
would allow owners a profit at the going
market price of pecans. Julius Seligmann,
acting as spokesman for the owners, responded that they wanted to pay better
wages, but the industry was too competitive and that they had to compete with
other parts of the state and country
where labor was cheaper. The owners also
claimed that a union in pecan-shelling
would be ineffective, so they weren't
going to waste their time or their
workers' time by dealing with UCAPAWA.
They threatened that wages were low, but
they were better than "no wages at all."
The negotiations were complicated on
February 15 by a Texas Industrial Commission [investigation] into the possible
violation of civil rights in San Antonio.
Governor Allred, a New Deal governor
somewhat sympathetic to labor, feared
that pickets were being denied the right
of free speech by the city's use of tear
gas and firehoses. The hearings concretely established the anti-union bias
and practices of the police and the employers. During the investigation, police
witnesses labeled the entire strike a Red
plot and blustered that Emma Tenayuca
was still involved. They cited newspaper
reports that had Emma shouting, "The
police can stand me up against the wall
and shoot me down, but my blood will
still protect the people."
In one four-hour, dramatic meeting,
the police blamed all the commotion
on 200-300 people in the Worker's Alliance, the organization of the unemployed directed by Tenayuca. They
claimed that there was not a strike in the
first place. According to their figures,
only 500 people were out on strike, less
than a majority of the workers, therefore
the strike was not legal.
During the inquest, Julius Seligmann
protested that pecans cost 33 cents a
pound to produce, but could only be sold
for 27 cents. In spite of the accounting
loss, Seligmann admitted clearing
$800,000 in eight depression years of
operating the Southern Pecan Shelling
Company. Justifying the below-subsis-
tence wages he paid, Seligmann claimed
that pecan shellers were only picking up
"pin money" even though police asserted
that some shellers had asked to be
arrested because they were hungry. Also,
a study financed by the WPA indicated
that pecan shelling was the predominant
source of income for most shellers
during the shelling season.
Despite the inquest and the interference by the authorities, negotiations
continued between the union and the
owners. In March, they agreed to arbitrate and the workers went back into the
plants, ending the largest mass strike in
San Antonio labor history on a victorious
note. An initial settlement of 7-8 cents
was rapidly increased to 25 cents when
Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards
Act (1938) which created a minimum
wage of 25 cents an hour.
But the importance of the pecan-
shellers strike overshadows simple wage
agreements. As mentioned by several of
those interviewed, the strike approached
the level of a mass movement, like the
civil rights marches of the '60's. The
wage gains turned out to be relatively
minor, but the sense of pride workers
gained lasted a lifetime. Alberta Snid
said, "Yes, I think we learned a whole
lot. I think we learned how to even
defend ourselves more. I think we forgot
a little bit of the fear we had. Because
before we couldn't say nothing, we
couldn't talk. Afterwards, it was entirely
different. . . We learned that through
organization we could do something.
Maybe we didn't win that much as far
as money-wise was concerned, okay? But
we learned that being united was power.
A single person cannot do anything, alone
we cannot do anything. People are
power."
The failure to support local leadership
might account for the ultimate defeat of
the union. The local had fallen to a membership of 800 by 1942. When the minimum wage was increased to 25 cents, the
owners asked for a dispensation from the
federal government. When it was rejected,
the owners mechanized the industry.
Total employment fell from 12,000 to
2,000. None of those interviewed expressed any disappointment over having
victory snatched from them. The lack of
concern could be due to the fact that
better-paying jobs opened up with the
advent of World War II. Pecan-shelling
had always been a "job of last resort."
In what can only be described as a
mass movement, more issues than wages
were discussed. The role of women in
society and the lack of public assistance
and social services were questioned, the
need for a minimum wage dramatized,
criminal justice procedures criticized, and
more control of the political process
as well as the right to vote demanded.
And in all of this, women took a prominent role. Women led the demonstrations,
took part in the decision-making process,
maintained the relief efforts, and formed
the bulk of the front line forces.
C1979 People's History in Texas, Inc. The booklet excerpted above is available by mail
($2.00 and .50 postage) from People's History in Texas, Inc., P.O. Box 7953, Austin,
Texas 78712, and locally from B.D. & Daughter, 520 Westheimer and The Bookstore,
1720 Bissonnet.
Woman separating bits of pecan from shell.
HOUSTON BREAKTHROUGH
16
JULY/AUGUST 1979 |
