1938 San Antonio pecan shellers strike

Historic labor action April 2020 April 2020 The 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers strike was a labor strike involving 12,000 pecan shellers in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Considered the largest labor strike in San Antonio's history, it saw mainly Mexican American pecan shellers, organized by labor activist Emma Tenayuca, protest wage cuts by the Southern Pecan Shelling Company. Starting on January 31, the strike lasted until March 8, when the two sides agreed to arbitration that led to a wage increase for the pecan shellers. Background During the 1930s, 40% of the pecan crop in the United States was grown in Texas, with half of that being produced within a 250-mile radius of San Antonio.González 2018 154González 2007 213 Described as the "world's largest pecan shelling center", between 10,000 and 20,000 workers, primarily Mexican American women, worked as shellers, removing the hard outer shell of pecans grown and collected in the region.Joseph 2018 184 Many of them worked in poor conditions for low pay. The average weekly family income for pecan shellers was between $1.00 and $4.00,note The Texas State Historical Association gives slightly more specific values of between $2.00 and $3.00 per week.Kirkpatrick 2018 with many shellers having to supplement their seasonal income with additional farm labor.González 2018 155 Additionally, the workrooms were often cramped centers often lacking proper ventilation, running water, and tools for shelling, with many of the shellers having to use their hands to shell the pecans.Joseph 2018 184 An increased rate of tuberculosis among the shellers was also pinned on the lack of proper ventilation and an abundance of pecan particulates in the workrooms.Joseph 2018 184González 2018 155 In the 1930s, the Southern Pecan Shelling Company, owned by Julius Seligmannote Also given as Seligmann.Joseph 2018 184Kirkpatrick 2018, dominated the pecan shelling industry both in San Antonio and nationwide, shelling between one-fourth and one-third of the total national output of pecans.Croxdale This company, like many others in the area, utilized a contract system whereby he sold contractors whole pecans at $0.10 per pound and purchased back the fully shelled pecans at $0.30 to $0.36 per pound, with the contractors handling all labor issues and facilitating the shelling facilities needed.González 2018 154–155Joseph 2018 184–185 In 1933, Seligman hired Magdaleno Rodríguez to organize a company union, the Pecan Shelling Workers' Union.González 2018 155 However, this union was short-lived, and in 1937 its remnants were reorganized into the Texas Pecan Shelling Workers' Union, supported by the Communist Party of America, who appointed Albert Gonsen as its leader. That same year, the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), affiliated with the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), granted a charter to the San Antonio pecan shellers with the understanding that the union would include other labor groups.González 2018 155 This included the San Antonio branch of the Workers Alliance of America, founded a year prior by Emma Tenayuca to help assist the pecan shellers.Joseph 2018 181 On January 31, 1938, contractors for the Southern Pecan Shelling Company announced a pay cut for pecan shellers from $0.07 to $0.06 per pound for shelled pecan halves and $0.06 to $0.05 per pound for shelled pecan pieces.Joseph 2018 185 Wages for pecan crackers were reduced from $0.50 to $0.40 per one hundred pounds of pecans.Joseph 2018 185 Following this, 12,000 shellers, or approximately two-thirds of the workforce, spontaneously walked out.González 2018 155Joseph 2018 185 This was not the first strike action taken by the pecan shellers, as mass strikes had occurred previously in 1934 and 1935 over wage cuts, with both ending without success.Joseph 2018 185 Course of the strike Initially, the faction of the Pecan Shellers' Union organized around Gonsen were unsupportive of the strike, but the UCAPAWA offered its support for the strikers.González 2018 155 Tenayuca shortly emerged as the leader of the movement, with the strikers electing her as their committee chair. While Tenayuca was not a pecan sheller, she was well known among the pecan shellers for her organization and activism in the Workers Alliance, which Tenayuca claimed had over 10,000 members at the time.Ledesma 2004 143Joseph 2018 186 Covering the incident, Time reportedly highlighted Tenayuca's communist philosophy and painted her as the puppeteer behind the strike.Joseph 2018 187 San Antonio mayor C. K. Quin and other public officials also employed red-baiting to draw public support away from the strikers. This strategy largely succeeded, as many moderates spoke out about the strike's perceived communist influence.Joseph 2018 187 In an interview with the San Antonio Light, the police chief argued that there was no strike and that the incident was part of a ploy by communists and not sanctioned by the CIO.González 2018 156 Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Antonio Arthur Jerome Drossaerts also spoke out against the strike and praised efforts by the police.Joseph 2018 187Ledesma 2004 144 However, La Prensa, a major Hispanic newspaper in the city, was sympathetic to the strikers.Ledesma 2004 145 Over the course of the strike, hundreds of protestors and picketers were arrested and imprisoned by the police, including Tenayuca.Joseph 2018 187 Additionally, all soup kitchens in the city were closed to the strikers.Gower As tensions increased, Texas governor James V. Allred ordered an investigation into possible violations of civil liberties, with a meeting held on February 14 chaired by the assistant state attorney. While the commission found that the police had overstepped their authority, no actions were taken against them.González 2018 156 Concurrently, there were calls from within the UCAPAWA for Tenayuca to step down from her position as strike leader due to concerns about her communist affiliation.González 2007 215González 2018 156–157 Ultimately, Tenayuca agreed to step down, and she was replaced by UCAPAWA president Donald Henderson.González 2007 215 Speaking of the incident years later, Tenayuca expressed frustration and resentment towards the push to remove her, but she did for the greater good of the movement.Joseph 2018 188 After her removal, Tenayuca continued to support the strike in less prominent ways.González 2007 215 Around this same time, the strikers received support from several sources. Texas Representative and future Mayor of San Antonio Maury Maverick stated his support for the strike. The American Civil Liberties Union also began to offer help to the strikers, and a rally was held on March 19 at Military Plaza to celebrate the release of some imprisoned strikers.Joseph 2018 188 By March, both sides had agreed to resolve the labor dispute through arbitration.Croxdale On March 8, the pecan shellers returned to work as the union and pecan companies agreed to arbitration via a three-person panel that included Austin, Texas mayor Robert Thomas Miller.Gower The panel returned its decision on April 13, mandating a one-half cent increase in wages from the previous rates.Gower Furthermore, the UCAPAWA local was recognized as the only legal representative for the pecan shellers.Gower Aftermath The wage increase decided by the arbitration panel was considered more favorable to the employers than to the shellers.Gower However, these wages were increased in October following the implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which instituted a $0.25 minimum wage.GowerGonzález 2018 157 Fearing that this wage increase would lead to mechanization, both the union and pecan companies appealed to have the pecan shellers exempted from the minimum wage requirement, which was ultimately denied.Gower Following this, the pecan shelling industry turned to mechanization, and by 1941 approximately 10,000 shellers permanently lost their jobs,Gower though many found new employment as the United States mobilized for World War II.González 2018 157 Following the strike, Maverick, who had lost reelection for the House of Representatives, successfully ran for mayor of San Antonio in 1938, with major support from Mexican Americans in the city.Gower Tenayuca would later write a political essay, "The Mexican Question in the Southwest", that discussed the strike, Tenayuca's politics, and issues facing Mexican Americans in the southwestern United States.González 2018 158 See also 1933 Funsten Nut strike - An earlier strike involving pecan processors in St. Louis Luisa Moreno - An UCAPAWA labor activist who was involved in the strike Notes note References Bibliography 30em yes https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/history-culture/article/this-week-1938-pecan-shellers-largest-strike-13581366.php This week in 1938, pecan shellers began the largest strike in San Antonio history Chavey S. M. February 1, 2019 San Antonio Express-News Hearst Communications April 13, 2020 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/oep01 PECAN-SHELLERS' STRIKE Croxdale Richard Texas State Historical Association April 13, 2020 https://www.expressnews.com/150years/major-stories/article/Pecan-shellers-strike-an-iconic-Great-Depression-6281620.php Pecan shellers strike was major labor win Danner Patrick May 22, 2015 San Antonio Express-News Hearst Communications en-US April 13, 2020 González Gabriela https://books.google.com/books?id=domnsqnvjT4C&q=1938+san+antonio+pecan&pg=PA227 Gender on the Borderlands: The Frontiers Reader University of Nebraska Press 2007 978-0-8032-3384-3 Castañeda Antonia en Armitage Susan H. Hart Patricia Weathermon Karen Google Books González Gabriela https://books.google.com/books?id=m_tcDwAAQBAJ&q=1938+san+antonio+pecan&pg=PA218 Redeeming La Raza: Transborder Modernity, Race, Respectability, and Rights Oxford University Press 2018 978-0-19-991414-2 en Google Books https://www.uiw.edu/sanantonio/gower.html Unintended Consequences: The San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938 Gower Patricia E. University of the Incarnate Word April 13, 2020 Joseph Harriett Denise https://books.google.com/books?id=oxZSDwAAQBAJ&q=1938+san+antonio+pecan&pg=PA199 From Santa Anna to Selena: Notable Mexicanos and Tejanos in Texas History since 1821 University of North Texas Press 2018 978-1-57441-723-4 en Google Books https://www.tpr.org/post/san-antonios-dark-chapter-remembering-pecan-shellers-strike-1938 San Antonio's 'Dark Chapter': Remembering Pecan Shellers' Strike of 1938 Kirkpatrick Brian September 4, 2018 Texas Public Radio en April 13, 2020 Ledesma Irene https://books.google.com/books?id=hNLwEt_htKkC&q=1938+san+antonio+pecan&pg=PA379 Women and Gender in the American West University of New Mexico Press 2004 978-0-8263-3599-9 Irwin Mary Ann en Brooks James F. Google Books https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/this-week-in-history-pecan-shellers-strike-in-san-antonio/ This week in history: Pecan shellers strike in San Antonio January 29, 2018 People's World en-US April 13, 2020 People's World 2018 Category:1930s strikes in the United States Category:1938 labor disputes and strikes Category:1938 in Texas Category:20th century in San Antonio Category:Agriculture and forestry labor disputes in the United States Category:January 1938 in the United States Category:February 1938 in the United States Category:March 1938 in the United States Category:Pecan Category:Hispanic and Latino American working class Category:Mexican-American culture in San Antonio Category:Labor disputes in Texas