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A daily, pocket-sized history of America's working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
Sunday Mar 07, 2021
On this day in labor history, the year was 1974.
That was the day workers at Farah Manufacturing finally ratified a first contract.
Workers went on strike in May 1972 demanding union recognition.
Owner Willie Farah had said he’d rather die than have his company go union.
It was said he rode his bicycle through the plant screaming “Work Faster! Work Faster!”
Management had imposed increasingly unattainable production quotas that bred dangerous working conditions, until finally workers had had enough.
The organizing drive to bring in the American Clothing Workers of America began in 1969.
It spread to five plants throughout El Paso, Texas. Workers often met in secret.
Though male cutters had initially sought out representation with the ACWA, the workforce was overwhelmingly comprised of Mexican-American women.
They became some of the union’s best leaders.
Workers staged a walkout in March 1972 and many were fired on the spot.
By May 1972, the firing of workers at the San Antonio plant for union activity prompted the strike.
Declared an unfair labor practice strike, the AFL-CIO began a national boycott campaign of Farah products.
The ACWA organized public support and strike relief.
Women strikers embarked on nationwide speaking tours as part of the Justice for Farah Strikers Committee, to build the boycott and public support.
By early 1974, the NLRB ordered reinstatement and union organizing.
The contract included wage increases, seniority rights and job security, and grievance procedures.
But long-term lessons of the strike proved that the work of organizing could never stop with winning recognition and a first contract.
Workers continued to battle for years against quotas, firings and weak representation in a historically Right-to-Work state.
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
November 25 - Chicago Printers Walk Off the Job
November 24 - The Hollywood Ten
November 23 - The Thibodaux Massacre
November 22 - Uprising of the 20,000
November 21 - Autoworkers Join the Postwar Strike Wave
November 20 - Birth of the Time Clock
November 19 - Joe Hill’s Final Words
November 18 - Accident or Murder?
November 17 - Resisting Impressment
November 16 - NFL Players End Strike
November 15 - The IWW is Raided
November 14 - The Origins of CWA
November 13 - The Holland Tunnel Opens
November 12 - Striking Against Privatization
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