San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike in the Press
Here is a collection of news articles and photos related to the Pecan Shellers Strike in the Winter of 1938 in San Antonio, made available by by Thomas Dublin, Taina DelValle, and Rosalyn Perez. I am republishing them here because a) they are an amazing historical record of arguably the most important labor action in my hometown b) they may behind a paywall c) they show the ways in which La Prensa, which was supportive of the strike, portrayed the strike in admirable, supportive, realistic terms, whereas amongst the usual nonsense and celebrity of the mainstream white press such as the Express News portrayed the strikers only tangentially, as vagrants and troublemakers, a silent subaltern being beaten by the police.
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Document 9: "El Gobernador Ordena Se Investigue La Huelga," La Prensa, 12 February 1938
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The following pamphlet is sixteen pages in all. Because the pamphlet is rich in photographs of the pecan shellers strike, we have mounted each page as a separate file to speed the downloading process. You will need to click the appropriate links at the bottom of each page to move through the pamphlet.
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Meeting in Cassiano park in support of the strike
Report on the Strike
Car decorated in support of the Union
Document 1: "Estallara Una Huelga De Nueceros," La Prensa, 30 January 1938, p. 1.IntroductionLa Prensa, founded in 1913 by a Mexican exile, Ignacio E. Lozana, was, according to one historian "the voice of los ricos, upper-class Mexican refugees who settled in the Southwest by the thousands during the Mexican Revolution."[12] The paper offered detailed and sympathetic coverage of the pecan shellers' strike as a movement of fellow Mexicans in San Antonio.
insistan en no subir los salariosHoy se reuniran los limpiadores de nuez
en el Parque Casiano, a las 2 p.m.Ayer estuvo en la redaccion de LA PRENSA James Sager, representante en la ciudad de la "United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing and Allied Workers of America," afiliada al Comité de Organización Industrial (C.I.O.), quien manifestó que, a iniciativa de la "International Pecan Workers Union," miembro del repetido Comité, hoy a las dos de la tarde tendrá lugar una junta en el Parque Casiano.Agregó Sager que el objeto de dicha asamblea es la de intentar la unificación de todos los obreros limpiadores de nuez residentes en esta localidad, y haya un acuerdo entre la Union Internacional de Limpiadores de Nuez y la "Texas Pecan Shellers Union" o sea la Unión de Limpiadores de Nuez, la cual no está afiliada al Comité de Organización Industrial.También dijo James Sager que durante la asamblea se tratarán los asuntos relativos a los salarios y otras condiciones de trabajo y que el lunes próximo estallará la huelga de nueceros, en caso de que los patrones insistan en seguir manteniendo los salarios de 5 y 6 centavos por libra de almendra limpia, y continúen fijando el salario de 40 centavos por cada 100 libras de nuez quebrada.Los organizadores de la asamblea desean que todos los limpiadores de nuez encarcelada respalden el programa siguiente:Que las grandes plantas beneficiadoras de nuez sostengan los salarios de 6 y 7 centavos por libra de almendra limpia; 50 centavos para los quebradores, por cada 100 libras de nuez y aquéllos no hagan trabajos extraordinarios, sin el pago correspondiente y se fije un salario razonable a las obreras relimpiadoras de nuez.
TO STRIKE
employers do not raise salariesToday the Pecan Shellers will meet in
Casiano Park at 2 P.M.Yesterday, James Sager, city representative of the United Cannery, Agriculture, Packing & Allied Workers of America, affiliated with the Committee of Industrial Organizations (C. I. O.), was present at the La Prensa editorial offices to announce that, at the initiative of the International Pecan Workers Union, also a member of the C. I. O., will hold a meeting at 2 in the afternoon at Casiano Park.Sager added that the purpose of the meeting was to attempt the unification of all pecan shellers living in this area and to reach an agreement between the International Pecan Workers Union and the Texas Pecan Shellers Union, which is not affiliated with the C. I. O.James Sager also said that the meeting will address issues relative to wages and other working conditions, and that next Monday there will be a pecan workers strike, in the event that employers insist on keeping wages at 5 to 6 cents per pound for whole nuts and at fixing wages at 40 cents per 100 pounds for broken nuts.Meeting organizers want all pecan shellers to back the following platform:That large pecan plants keep wages at 6 and 7 cents per pound of whole nuts, 50 cents for the breakers for every 100 pounds of nuts; that shellers not perform overtime without corresponding pay; and that reasonable wages be fixed for the pecan shellers.
Document 2: "Pecan Plant Workers Strike," San Antonio Light, 31 January 1938, p. 1.IntroductionThis article offers clear evidence of the willingness of the police chief, Owen Kilday, to exercise his own brand of justice when it came to enforcing the law during the strike. As he explained to a reporter from the San Antonio Light, justifying his arrest of Emma Tenayuca, he "did not intend to let any Reds mix up in the strike." Public opinion, evidently molded by newspaper coverage, eventually became quite sympathetic to the harassed Mexican pecan shellers, even while opposing left-wing supporters of the strike.
WORKERS
STRIKE____________________________'500 to 5000' Estimated
Out; Kilday Organizes Riot Squad.
____________________________Warfare on San Antonio's labor front flared anew Monday when pecan shellers under the banner of the C.I.O. declared a strike.Picketing was in progress at a number of the city's 120 pecan shelling factories, while some of the plants were reported closed.The number of "strikers" was variously estimated at from 500 to 5000, the latter figure being supplied by Mrs. Emma Tenayuca Brooks, Workers Alliance official.Mrs. Brooks, with two strike leaders, was taken into custody by officers acting on orders from Police Chief Owen W. Kilday.A hurried check-up of various pecan factories disclosed that some were operating with full staff, while others reported that a small portion of their workers had failed to report.RIOT SQUADS. So serious did Chief Kilday consider the situation that he mobilized 150 officers for riot duty and stationed radio squads, armed with riot guns and tear bombs, at strategic points on the West Side, where most of the factories are located.The strike began at 7 a.m., Monday and picketing was peaceful. Chief Kilday said, however, that he was seriously considering arresting all pickets until satisfied the pickets are actually workers.The two officials of the International Pecan Shellers' union No. 172 taken into custody are Liandro Avila, address listed as 254 East Lambert street, the president; and Miss Minnie Rendon, 22, address listed as 915 El Paso street, secretary.They were picked up while directing pickets at the pecan factory of Jose Salas, Tampico and Trinity streets, at 9 a.m. Monday.WOMAN ARRESTED. Mrs. Brooks, the wife of Homer Brooks, former Communist candidate for governor, was taken into custody at another West side factory. Chief Kilday said he ordered her arrested because he "did not intend to let any Reds mix up in the strike."The Workers' Alliance leader, who wore a C.I.O. button prominently displayed, said that she was merely lending her moral support to help the workers obtain more pay and improved health standards.ONLY 30 STRIKE. Jack B. Harkheimer, of the Alamo Pecan Shelling company, 401 South Medina street, reported that nearly 200 of his 230 employes were on duty; while A. Sanchez, operator of a factory at 817 South Colorado street, declared that only a "few" of his workers were absent.M. Guerrero of the National Pecan Shelling company, 1025 West Houston street, asserted that all his employes had reported for work at the regular hour.Groups of pickets were seen around a number of the pecan factories, including the Delicious Pecan company, 515 West Houston street, where 50 or more men were seen milling about the entrance.
Document 3: Excerpt from "Siguen Firmes Los Nueceros," La Prensa, 1 February 1938, p. 1.IntroductionLa Prensa continued to offer a sympathetic view of the strike, providing in this next article a high estimate--8,000--of the number of strikers and serving as a mouthpiece for a delegation of pecan shellers who came to the newspaper's offices with an account of developments. Given Tenayuca's left-wing perspective, one senses that the paper's loyalty to Mexicanismo-- Mexican national identity--is stronger at this point in the strike than its customary upper-class loyalties.
Desautorizan la intervención de líderes extraños al gremioLa huelga de nueceros fue declarada por la Texas Pecan Shelling Worker's Unión affiliada al C.I.O., porque los dueños de las plantas limpiadoras de nuez redujeron los salarios de los obreros.Los limpiadores de nuez ganaban 7c por libra de corazón y 6c por pedazo, y ahora les estaban pagando nada más 6c y 5c respectivamente.A los quebradores les rebajaron de 0c a 40c por 100 libras.Por esta causa, la Unión declaró la huelga, y todos los trabajadores se unieron a la protesta.Aproximadamente 8,000 trabajadores están en huelga, y continuarán hasta que los manufactureros reconsideren su acción de haber rebajado los sueldos.Unos cuantos radicales, sin tener conexión alguna con la industria de la nuez, intentaron tomar parte en la huelga, y algunos fueron aprehendidos.Los miembros de la Texas Pecan Shelling Worker's Union han guardado completo orden durante su huelga, sin recurrir a actos de violencia, y ninguno de ellos ha sido arrestado.Las anteriores declaraciones fueron entregadas a nuestra redacción por el Sr. Barney Egan, director de la C.I.O., del Estado de Texas.A las 6:15 de la tarde, se presenta en las oficinas de LA PRENSA, una comisión de obreros limpiadores de nuez, encabezada por los obreros Juan Sánchez, Francisco Alvarez, señorita Mela Solfs, Eulalio López, señorita Catarina Díaz, señorita Amelia de la Rosa y Alberto Sifuentes, quienes en nombre de sus compañeros, manifestaron, esta inconformes con el arresto de la líder Emma Tenayuca de Brooks y que no consideran justificado el cargo que sobra ella hace la policia en el sentido de que dicha líder intervino voluntariamente en al huelga de nueceros.* * * Ayer, a las cuarto de la tarde, en el Salón Unión, situado en la esquina de las calles Matamoros y Pecos se reunieron en asamblea multitud de trabajadores limpiadores de nuez, con el objecto de discutir sus problemas y, una vez que hubo terminado la junta, en forma pacifica, se dirigieron hacia las oficinas de la policia, con el propósito de hacer una demonstración de simpatí a hacia la señora Emma Tenayuca de Brooks, segun nos indicaron los obreros encabezadores de la comisión que estuvo en las oficinas de LA PRENSA.Los obreros mencionados reitiraron que Emma Tenayuca no ha intervenido de su motu propio, en los asuntos de los nueceros, sino a invitación de ellos.También declararon dichos trabajadores que no se ha dado ningún caso de disturbos en las plantas limpiadoras de nuez y que se hallan en huelga la mayoría de los obreros que prestan sus servicios en las 120 plantas que existen en esta ciudad.Hasta ayer por la tarde se encontraba detenida en al inspección de policía la líder Emma Tenayuca, quien fue arrestada en la mañana junto con otros dos líderes obreros, pero estos últimos fueron puestos en libertad.Aparte de la comisión de obreros que se presentó en las oficinas de este periódico, en el frente se congregaron cerca de 300 trabajadores más que formaban parte de la manifestación que organizaron para ocurrir a las oficinas policíacas a pedir la libertad de la líder Emma Tenayuca.* * * Pecan Shellers Stand Firm Prepared to Continue the Strike
They do not ask for raises,
only that wages are not lowered
Intervention of outside leaders is unauthorizedThe pecan shellers' strike was called by the Texas Pecan Shellers Union, a C.I.O. affiliate, because the owners of the pecan cleaning plants reduced the workers' wages. The pecan shellers earned 7 cents per pound for whole and 6 cents for pieces, and now they are paid only 6 cents and 5 cents respectively.They reduced the pecan breakers from [5]0 cents to 40 cents per 100 pounds. As a result, the union declared the strike, and all the workers joined the protest.Approximately 8,000 workers are on strike and they will continue until the manufacturers reconsider their action of lowering wages.A few radicals, without any connection whatsoever to the pecan industry, tried to take part in the strike, and some of them were apprehended.Members of the Texas Pecan Shellers Union have maintained complete order during the strike, no further acts of violence have occurred, and none of them have been arrested.The previous declarations were submitted for our editing by Mr. Barney Egan, Director of the Texas C.I.O.At 6:15 P.M., a committee of pecan shellers appeared in the offices of LA PRENSA, headed by workers, Juan Sanchez, Francisco Alvarez, Miss Mela Solis, Eulalio Lopez, Miss Catarina Diaz, Miss Amelia de la Rosa, and Alberto Sifunetes, who on behalf of their co-workers, expressed dissatisfaction with the arrest of leader Emma Tenayuca de Brooks and said they did not consider the charges against her justified, since said leader intervened voluntarily in the pecan workers' strike.From what the leaders of the group indicated to us, at the offices of LA PRENSA, yesterday, at four in the afternoon, in the Union Hall, located at the corner of Matamoros and Pecos Streets, a large group of pecan shellers assembled to discuss their problems, and once the meeting was over, they peacefully went to the police offices to demonstrate support for Emma Tenayuca de Brooks.These workers reiterated that Emma Tenayuca had not intervened on her own in the shellers' affairs, but at their invitation.The workers also declared that there have been no disturbances in the shelling plants and that the majority of workers at the 120 plants in the city went on strike.Until yesterday afternoon leader Emma Tenayuca, arrested in the morning along with two other leaders, remained in the police custody, while the others were released.Apart from the group of workers who appeared in the offices of this newspaper, close to 300 more workers congregated in the front, forming part of the demonstration to take place at police offices requesting the release of the leader Emma Tenayuca.* * * *
Document 4: "Lograron Un Triunfo Los Nueceros," La Prensa, 2 February 1938, p. 1.IntroductionPressure from striking pecan shellers resulted in the release of Emma Tenayuca and the other two leaders arrested on the first day of the walkout. Once again La Prensa relies on spokespeople for the strikers for its basic story line. At this point in time strike leaders and the newspaper offer an optimistic view of the strike's prospects.LOGRARON UN TRIUNFO LOS NUECEROS
Una de las plantas accedió a las demandas que presentaronSiguen las gestiones para que vuelvan los salarios antiguosComo resultado de las declaraciones por más de 5,000 obreros limpiadores de nuez y los mensajes dirigidos a las autoridades por diversas organizaciones laboristas de Washington y otras ciudades aquéllas concedieron poner en libertad a la líder señora Emma Tenayuca de Brooks, quien fue detenida el lunes de la mañana bajo el cargo de que intervenía en la actividades huelgísticas de los nueceros, según nos indicó ayer James Sager, organizador de la U.C.A.P.A.W.A., en esta localidad.La líder mencionada recuperó su libertad a la 1 de la tarde y conforme los informes proporcionados por el repetido señor Sager, las autoridades permitieron a la referida líder que continúe prestando su apoyo moral a los obreros limpiadores de nuez, quienes la eligieron directora honoraria del Comité de Huelga.También nos manifestó Sager que prospera favorablemente la huelga de los nueceros, puesto que ya una de las plantas beneficiadoras de dicho fruto, la Delicious Pecan Company, sita en el 515 de la calle West Houston, accedió ayer a pagar los salarios que demandan los obreros, o sean 6 y 7 centavos por libra de almendra limpia y 50 centavos por cada 100 libras de nuez quebrada.Estima Sager que las demás plantas seguirán la misma linea de conducta que lo repetido fábrica, con lo cual quedará resuelta satisfactoriamente la huelga, con gran beneplácito de millares de trabajadores cuya subsistencia depende de los pequeños jornales que reciben limpiando nuez encarcelada o "pecana".OTROS DOS EN LIBERTADDurante la manaña del lunes también fueron arrestados Leandro Avila, presidente de la Unión Local de Limpiadores de Nuez, y Minnie Rendón, secretaria de la Unión Internacional de Limpiadores de Nuez; el primero fue puesto en libertad bajo fianza, y la segunda incondicionalmente.* * * Pecan Shellers Achieve Victory One plant accepted the demands presented
Efforts continue to restore old wagesAs a result of declarations made by more than 5,000 pecan shellers and messages sent to authorities by various labor organizations from Washington and other cities, officials released the leader Mrs. Emma Tenayuca de Brooks, who was detained Monday morning on charges of intervening in strike activities of the shellers, according to what James Sager, local organizer of the U.C.A.P.A.W.A., told us yesterday.The above mentioned leader regained her freedom at one in the afternoon and agreeing with the report proposed by Mr Sager, authorities permitted Tenayuca to continue lending her moral support to the shellers, who have elected her honorary director of the Strike Committee.Sager also told us that the pecan shellers' strike will proceed favorably now that one of the plants producing nuts, the Delicious Pecan Company, located at 515 West Houston street, agreed yesterday to pay the wages that the workers demanded, that being 6 and 7 cents per pounds of whole nuts and 50 cents for every 100 pounds of broken nuts.Sager suggested that the other plants would follow suit, which would mean that the strike would be satisfactorily resolved, with great approval from thousands of workers whose survival depends on the small day's wages that they receive for shelling pecans.Two Others ReleasedLeandro Avila, president of the local Pecan Shellers' Union, and Minnie Rendon, secretary of the International Pecan Shellers' Union, were arrested Monday morning; the first was released under bail, and the second unconditionally.* * * *
Introduction
In contrast to the coverage in La Prensa, this story in the San Antonio Light focuses on the left-wing backgrounds of Emma Tenayuca, her husband Homer Brooks, and the strike spokesman, James Sager. The police chief tars the strike leaders as communists and on that basis denies strikers the right to assemble and picket peacefully in front of pecan shelling factories. Notice how local and national CIO officials accept the police chief's charges as valid and emphasize that a more acceptable strike leader, Donald Henderson, president of UCAPAWA, is on his way to San Antonio to assume leadership of the strike.
Take Action After Ban on Pickets.
________________________________Leaders of the San Antonio's pecan shellers' strike, branded as Communists, Thursday offered to "step down."The offer was made to Chief of Police Owen W. Kilday after an order banning picketing, virtually sounding the death knell of the strike, had been enforced by police.James Sager, self-styled leader of the strike, and Mrs. Emma Tenayuca Brooks, honorary chairman of the strike committee, made the offer, but they stipulated that they first must be asked to do so by the strikers themselves, voting on the proposition.LEADERS LISTED. Sager is a former secretary of Communists in San Antonio while Mrs. Brooks is an official of the Workers' Alliance.Other strike leaders are Homer Brooks, former Communist candidate for governor; Leandro Avila, president of the strike committee of the International Pecan Shellers union, and Miss Minnie Rendon, union secretary.All have been labeled Communists by Chief Kilday.Charging that the strike was led by Communists who never had shelled a pecan in their lives, Kilday took the position that actually there was no strike.Thirty policemen, armed with riot clubs, were sent into the West Side area at 7 a.m. to disperse the picketers of the few pecan factories still affected by the walkout that began last Monday.PICKETS ROUTED.The raiding squads met with little resistance, although at the Juan Graza factory, Tampico and Calaveras streets, the pickets took their stand across the street in a vacant lot.Reinforcements from police headquaters routed the 10 pickets.Another 30 officers were held in reserve at police headquaters.Chief Kilday said, however, that he did not anticipate any difficulty; that only a bare handful of plants were being picketed and that practically all of them were operating with full crews.CALLED 'COMMUNISTS'The police chief, in a prepared statement, declared that the entire strike was a Communist movement and that it was without standing with the Committee for Industrial Organization.C. I. O. leaders, among them Barney Egan of Houston, state director, and Miss Rebecca Taylor, organizer for the International Ladies' Garment Workers, previously had denied that the strike leaders were C. I. O. members."The pecan shellers do not want Emma Tenayuca Brooks as leader," Kilday declared. "We checked their meetings and she never had over 500 at any of them out of the admitted 12,000 pecan workers in San Antonio. There are no factories closed; the larger ones are operating with full shifts. I cannot stand for any movement to be led by an admitted communistic group."DENIES THERE'S STRIKE."They are harassing a large group of poor people. Emma Tenayuca cannot help these workers as badly as they need help. There is no strike."These leaders never shelled a pecan in their lives and they represent the same group that marched on the city hall last year, later causing a riot in Gunter building."Emma Tenayuca doesn't want the strike to end, but rather to prolong it. She wants a revolution. It's wrong leadership."Chief Kilday declared an impartial check that disclosed approximately 500 Communists in San Antonio, most of Mexican descent.APPEAL TO ALLRED.Removal of the pickets aroused the ire of Sager, who announced that protests would be lodged with Governor James V. Allred and the Civil Liberties Union. He said:"The courts have upheld the right of workers to engage in peaceful picketing and we intend to fight for that right."Sager also said that Donald Henderson of Washington, D.C., president of the cannery union, would arrive in San Antonio Friday morning by plane to take personal charge of the strike.STRIKE STATUS TOLD.Status of the strike was clarified Thursday by Miss Rebecca Taylor, manager of the C. I. O. Garment Workers' union as follows:The International Pecan Shellers' union is a faction which broke off from the Texas Pecan Shellers' union, which is in turn a member of the United Canners' union, of which Henderson is the international president.The canners' union is an affilate of the C. I. O. and as such is lending its support to the pecan shellers, although disapproving of those who have assumed leadership of the strike, Miss Taylor said.John Brophy, national director of the C. I. O., in a telegram to the Rev. John Lopez, priest acting as negotiator in the strike, declared emphatically that the union did not countenance communisitic leadership.FAVOR LIVING WAGE.Miss Taylor said that she, as well as thousands of San Antonians, were heartily in favor of a living wage for the pecan shellers and that she favored a strike under proper leadership to achieve that goal.The arrival here of Henderson, as announced by Sager, should clarify the situation and place strike leadership in the hands of officials of the Texas Pecan Shellers' union, where it rightfully belongs, Miss Taylor declared.
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Document 6: "First Violence in S.A. Pecan Strike," San Antonio Light, 4 February 1938, p. 4-A.
Introduction
With a ban on picketing in place, it is not suprising that the San Antonio Light finds pecan factories "practically all operating with full crews." In addition to outlawing picketing, the police chief harassed a group of women from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom as they attempted to distribute food to striking pecan shellers and their families. (For more on the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, see "How Did the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Respond to Right-Wing Attacks, 1923-1931?")
Miss Winfree also said she had telegraphed Governor James V. Allred protesting police interference with the strikers.
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Document 7: "Pecan Workers Protest Civil Rights Curb," The Daily Worker, 4 February 1938, p. 3.IntroductionThe Daily Worker, the weekly newspaper of the American Communist Party, offers a critique of San Antonio law enforcement but shows itself surprisingly welcoming of C.I.O. support for the pecan shellers strike, as the original communist activists step aside in favor of Donald Henderson, president of UCAPAWA.
__________________________SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Feb.3--Pecan workers, who have been on strike since last Monday against the Delicious Pecan Company here, appealed today to Governor James V. Allred to restore their civil rights which are being flagrantly violated by local police and government officials.Action was taken by officials of the United Cannery, Agriculture, Packing, and Allied Workers, CIO., which has been leading the strike of 8,000, after San Antonio police forcibly smashed all picket lines around the struck plant this morning.The police gesture followed on the heels of a decree issued yesterday by the city government denying the strikers a permit to collect food and other contributions.Not to be daunted, however, the strikers held two large mass meetings last night and were making arrangements for a giant rally Friday afternoon to welcome Donald Henderson, international president of the union, who is flying in from Washington to take charge of the strike. The full weight of the CIO is expected to be thrown into the struggle of the pecan workers who are fighting for an increased standard of living and working conditions.
Document 8: "Chief Kilday Calls Out Reserve Force," San Antonio Light, 7 February 1938, pp. 1, 5.IntroductionThe strike regained momentum with the arrival in San Antonio of UCAPAWA president Donald Henderson. While the police obviously maintained the upper hand and continued to ban picketing, Henderson proposed negotiations with owners and then unspecified actions to back up the strikers' demands.
CALLS OUT
RESERVE
FORCE___________________________Walkout Regains Vigor After
C.I.O. Leaders Confer
With Officials.___________________________(Pictures on Page 3-A.)Wielding clubs, police Monday routed more than 300 pecan shellers and sympathizers in the first major disturbance of San Antonio's week-old strike.The strikers had gathered in front of the La Fe Pecan company, 1515 Santiago street, and muttered threats were heard as a police squad car bearing Sergt. William Christoph and Patrolmen Jack Holden and Pete Hillock arrived.When the shellers sullenly ignored orders to disperse, the officers drew their clubs and, aided by reinforcements, cleared the streets.STRIKERS BRUISED.Some of the strikers suffered bruises, but none was seriously injured, police reported.More than a score of smaller disturbances, all occurring within an hour, led Police Chief Owen W. Kilday to summon all available officers to immediate duty and to obtain permission from Mayor C. K. Quin to swear in 50 special officers.The disturbances, reported at a dozen pecan factories, came close on the heels of a breakup in a conference between Chief Kilday and Donald Henderson, national C. I. O. leader.BAN ON PICKETS.Kilday took the stand that a strike did not exist and informed Henderson, general president of the United Cannery, Agriculture, Packing and Allied Workers' union, that the ban on picketing would remain in force.Henderson and Barney Egan, state C. I. O. director, announced that they had agreed the strike was legal and declared that picketing would be carried out, thus hurling down the gauntlet to Kilday.The West side disturbances, however, were presumed to be independent on the conference with the police chief, as Henderson indicated no serious attempt at picketing would be made until Tuesday. He said negotiations with the factory operators would be sought first.RESERVES CALLED.Soon after Henderson and Egan left police headquarters, reports of disturbances began flooding the department. Sergt. Ferdinand Fest immediately summoned all officers off duty to appear at the station in uniform.At the same time Kilday communicated with Quin, asking permission to swear in the additional policemen. It was granted by the mayor, who said:"We must maintain order and we will swear in as many men as is necessary to do it."The conference in Kilday's office lasted more than an hour, and at the end both factions agreed that nothing had been accomplished. Henderson declared that he had hoped to enlist the co-operation of the chief to maintain peace in the strike zone, while permitting peaceful picketing.Before going into the parley, the labor leader declared that the strike was spreading and that he believed in a short time all the city's pecan factories--variously estimated at from 120-200--would be affected.TELLS PROGRAM.His program, Henderson said, will be to seek negotiations with the factory operators. That failing, drastic action to win the strike will be undertaken.Charging that the pecan shellers are averaging between $1.50 and $2.50 weekly, Henderson outlined the workers' demands as follows:Crackers (workers who crack the nuts): 60 cents per 100 pounds instead of the 50 cents now paid.Shellers: 8 cents per pound for whole nuts and 7 cents per pound for pieces. The rate is now 6 and 5 cents in most plants.SHOP STEWARD.Placing of a shop steward, representing the union, in each factory to supervise weighing of the nuts.Health cards for the workers to be paid for by the employers, with a new health card each time the worker changes his or her place of employment. This, Henderson said, will protect the consumer, employer and employe[e].The union leader said he was attempting to arrange a conference with Julius Seligmann, president of the Southern Pecan Shelling company to present the workers' demands.WILLING TO TALK.Seligmann earlier in the day indicated to reporters his willingness to meet with representatives of the strikers.E. M. Zerr, operator of a factory at Medina and San Fernando streets, took an opposite stand, threatening to close down his plants for a month if necessary if workers persisted in their demands. Zerr said about half of his 100 shellers were out.Discussing the general strike situation, Henderson said Mrs. Emma Tenayuca Brooks, Workers Alliance leader, had voluntarily resigned as honorary chairman of the strike committee. She had been under fire as a Communist.SIGN NEW MEMBERS.The C.I.O. official declared that three more factories had been affected by the strike Monday, and that at least half of the plants in the city were running shorthanded. More than 500 new members were signed by the union at a mass meeting in Cassiano park Sunday, he added.Henderson declined to estimate, however, how many shellers were actually involved in the walkout.The pecan shellers are required to pay a 50-cent initiation fee to join the union, plus monthly dues of 50 cents when employed and 20 cents when idle, Henderson said.Police took nine agitators into custody on the West side Monday morning. They were questioned by Chief Kilday and then released after being warned to refrain from molesting workers entering the plants.Reports that six "strong arm" men had been imported for use in the pecan shellers strike were current Monday among members of the mayor's investigating staff.Jack Dott and Tom McNamara, two of the investigators, said they had heard the men were brought here from other C.I.O. unions out of the city.
Document 9: "El Gobernador Ordena Se Investigue La Huelga," La Prensa, 12 February 1938
Introduction
Once again, coverage in La Prensa reveals the participation of women in the strike, something which is less evident in articles in The Daily Worker and the San Antonio Light. Arrested striking women with minor children were released, no doubt following public protest of the heavy-handedness of the police.
The “Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom” has asked for a national protest against the police intervention in the nut workers strike.[B]Todas acquellas que tienen en sus hogares hijos menores de edad a quienes atender
El Vicecónsul Urrea solicita la libertad de
sesenta y cuatro de los huelguistas arrestadosEl jefe de la policía envió ayer a un ayudante suyo a investigar cuántas de las nueceras que se encontraban detenidas tienen en sus hogares hijos menores de edad, a quienes atender.Como resultado de su medida, veinticinco de la mujeres que se hallaban detenidas que reunían ese requisito, fueron puestos en libertad, con el único requisito de que se presenten hoy, a la Corte de Corporación.No obstante los numerosos arrestos efectuados ayer por al policía, el líder Donald Henderson declaró que los obreros limpiadores de nuez continuarán la misma táctica de vigilar las plantas, pero que han sido instruidos en el sentido que no opongan resistencia a policía, ni que se conviertan en transgresores de la ley.EL GOBERNADOR ORDENA UNA INVESTIGACION --“Acabamos de ser informados – comunicó el viernes en la tarde Donald Henderson a LA PRENSA, -- de que el gobernador del Estado, James V. Allred, conforenció con el representante de la C.I.O. sobre la situación de los huelguistas de la industria nuecera en San Antonio, habiendo manifestado el Gobernador que iba a comisionar el señor Ebert Looney para que, como representante suyo, vieniera a San Antonio a investigar el caso.”--“Dice el Gobernador – continuó Henderson – que espera que se observe la debida tolerancia con los grupos obreros, siempre que se conserven dentro de la ley, y que no quiere que por ningún motivo se violen los derechos de ciudadanos de los huelguistas, quienes tienen derecho de reunirse en grupos frente a las fábricas.”Entre los nueceros huelguistas que fueron arrestados ayer durante la manifestación que efectuaron algunos trabajadores frente a las plantas limpiadores de nuez, se encuentra sesenta y cuatro ciudadanos mexicanos, quienes han solicitado el Consulado Mexicano interponga su influencia a fin de que sean puestos en libertad.El vicecónsul Roberto Urrea inmediatamente procedió a gestionar ante el jefe de la policía, Kilday, la libertad de esos mexicanos, máximo que no habia cargos concretos contra ellos, pero habiendo fracasado en sus gestiones, se comunicó con el gobernador del Estado, pidiéndole su intervención con el objeto de lograr lo que se des[?] la libertad de los compatriotas detenidos en la cárcel municipal.LA POLICIA DISPERSA Y ARRESTA A UN GRUPO En la esquina de las calles Veracruz y Chupaderas ocurrió el primer caso, durante la huelga de limpiadores de nuez en que fueron dispersados con gases lacrimógenos cerca de 300 trabajadores, y arrestados unos 150.Los citados huelguistas, sin atender a las repetidas disposiciones del jefe de la policía, Owen W. Kilday, en el sentido de que están absolutamente prohibidas las aglomeraciones de obreros frente a las plantas beneficiadoras de nuez procedieron a organizar una manifestación, pero los policías los disperaron inmediatamente arrojándoles gases lacrimógenos.Veinte policías, que llegaron al lugar de la escena en automóviles, conminaron a los huelguistas a suspender su manifestación, pero en vista de la desobediencia que demostraron, el policía Campos, haciendo uso de una escopeta especial, disparó gases contra los obreros, los cuales inmediatamente echaron a correr en todas direcciones, para salvarse del efecto de dichos gases.Muchos de los huelguistas arrestados fueron puestos en libertad, quedando detenidos algunos, bajo los cargos de perturbar la paz pública, formar aglomeraciones y obstruccionar el tráfico en las aceras.Los líderes de los trabajadores mencionados se prepararon para pedir protección a sus derechos civiles.El juez de la Corte de Corporación Policíaca, Phil Shook, anunció que serían juzgados los huelguistas capturados por la policía.Con motivo de los arrestos, la “Julia” o “María la Negra”, efectuó repetidos recorridos entre el lugar de la escena y las oficinas de la policía, llevando docenas de obreros, entre los cuales había una mujer, que se desmayó en medio de la multitud y fue conducida al hospital de la cuidad.QUEJA CONTRA LA POLICIA Donald Henderson, líder del C.I.O. y director de la huelga, manifestó ayer que está considerando presentar una queja contra la intervención de la policía en el movimiento huelguístico; también dijo que ha solicitado del Gobernador del Estado, James V. Allred, que envíe un cuerpo de “rangers” a fin de que se hagan cargo de la situación.Por otra parte, Henderson envió un mensaje al Presidente Lázaro Cárdenas, en el cual protesta contra la policía por “las brutalidades que está cometiendo contra los ciudadanos mexicanos”. También envió un mensaje semejante a la C.T.M. de México.[A]Además, Edward Clark, secretario del gobierno del Estado de Texas, remitió un despacho a Donald Henderson, indicándole que los sucesos relacionados con la huelga han sido puestos en conocimiento del Departamento de Suguridad Pública.Declaró el líder Henderson que “las autoridades de esta ciudad, siguiendo sus tácticas para sofocar la huelga, han manifestado que se preparan para clausurar la estación de socorros situada en la casa número 905 de la calle West Travis, a menos que no cumplan los operadores de aquélla con los requerimientos sanitarios”.KILDAY INSISTE EN LA CONSERVACION DEL ORDEN El Jefe de Policía, Owen W. Kilday, quien según ha declarado a LA PRENSA, está dispuesto a ayudar a los obreros mexicanos, siempre que no se dejen influenciar por elementos comunistas y líderes de afuera, insiste en continuar ejerciendo estrictas medidas con el objeto de impedir perturbaciones en el orden público.Ayer, cuando los huelguistas hicieron las primeras demonstraciones de desobediencia, el mísmo jefe dirigió el arresto de un grupo de nueceros que intentaron hacer una manifestación frente a la planta de Azar y Soloman, situada en la casa número 2416 de la cale [sic] W. Commerce.Kilday sostiene que "no existe un estado de huelga y que hacia el presente, no se ha llevado a cabo ningún arreglo para solucionar la situación, según los informes que tengo hasta ahora”.El jefe mencionado ha dado órdenes a la policía para que arreste a todos los trabajadores situados en los alrededores de las plantas, con excepción de los que se hallen en sus propiedades.KILDAY QUIERE QUE LOS OBREROS CAMBIEN DE ACTITUD El jefe de la policía Owen W. Kilday nos manifestó que la administración de la ciudad se halla en la mejor disposición de parlamentar tanto con los propietarios de nuecerías como con los grupos obreros que se encuentran descontentos de los precios que rigen actualmente, pero que los elementos trabajadores de nuecerías deberían cambiar de actitud, sacudiéndose de “esos malos líderes que no buscaban más que satisfacer sus ambiciones personales, en un franco movimiento de agitación.”--“Los elementos comunistas – dice Kilday – son insaciables, y tras esta hulega vendrá otra, pues su único objeto es la agitación.“Con respecto a los “líderes” que vienen de fuera a prestar su apoyo a los trabajadores, es indudable que la labor que llevan a cabo no es con el único objeto de mejorar la situación de los trabajadores latinoamericano [sic] pues esos “líderes,” al verse comprometidos, con abordar el primer tren se verán libres de cualquier represalia dejando toda la responsabilidad de sus actos en manos de los obreros.“El comunismo tiende a minar nuestras institucions y debemos combatirlo con toda energía.”Ayer conferenciaron el Comisionado de Policía Phil Wright, el jefe de bomberos y el capitán Kilday, y como resultado de estas pláticas las fuerzas de policía serán reforzadas con 125 bomberos, los cuales comenzarán a prestar sus servicios desde el sábado próximo.Además, Kilday ha modificado los turnos de la policía, y a partir del sábado, los dos turnos de 12 horas reemplazarán a los tres turnos de ocho horas cada uno, con lo cual quedará aumentada la fuerza de policía en un 50 por ciento.La “Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom,” ha pedido una protesta nacional contra la intervención de la policía en la huelga de los obreros limpiadores de nuez.Governor Orders Strike Investigation
Police Chief Frees Twenty-five Jailed Pecan Workers
All of those workers who have minor children at home to care for
Vice-consul Urrea seeks freedom of sixty-four arrested strikers
Yesterday, the Chief of Police sent an assistant to investigate how many of the detained women pecan workers have minor children to care for.As a result of his inquiry, twenty-five detained women who met the requirement were released, the only condition being that they appear before the municipal police court today.Notwithstanding the number of arrests made yesterday, leader Donald Henderson declared that the pecan shellers will continue their same tactic of watching the plants, but that they have been instructed not to offer resistance to the police nor to become law breakers.Governor Orders Investigation On Friday afternoon, Donald Henderson told La Prensa, “We have just been informed that the governor, James V. Allred, conferred with the CIO representative about the strikers in the nut industry in San Antonio, with the Governor declaring that he would appoint Mr. Ebert Looney, as his representative, to come to San Antonio to investigate the situation.”“The Governor says,” continued Henderson, “that he hopes [authorities] demonstrate due tolerance with worker groups, that they act within the law and that under no circumstances, for any reason, [should] the rights of citizens among the strikers, who have the right to congregate in front of the plants, be violated.Among the striking nut workers who were arrested yesterday during the demonstration organized by a few workers outside the nut shelling plants, there are 64 Mexican citizens who have asked the Mexican Consulate to use its influence in freeing them.Vice consul Roberto Urrea immediately began to arrange, with Chief of Police Kilday, for the release of those Mexicans especially since there were no concrete charges against them, but his efforts having failed, he communicated with the Governor asking his intervention to gain the freedom of his fellow countrymen held at the municipal jail.The Police Disperse and Arrest a Group The first incident took place at the corner of Veracruz and Chupaderas Streets during the nutworkers strike in which nearly 300 workers were dispersed with tear gas and 150 arrested. Those strikers, without heeding the repeated stipulations of the Chief of Police, Owen W. Kilday, which absolutely prohibited groups of workers from gathering in front of the producing plants, proceeded to organize a demonstration, but the police dispersed them immediately with tear gas.Twenty police officers who arrived on the scene in cars ordered the strikers to end their demonstration, but in light of the disobedience they showed, Officer Campos, using a special rifle, shot gas at the workers causing them immediately to run in all directions to spare themselves the effects of the gas.Many of the arrested strikers were freed while some remained in custody on charges of disturbing the peace, congregating and blocking the sidewalks.The leaders of these workers prepared to ask for protection of their civil rights.The judge of the municipal police court, Phil Shook, announced that the captured strikers would be judged by the police.Because of the arrests, the “Julia” or the “Black Maria” [paddy wagon] made several repeated runs between the scene and the police office carrying dozens of workers, among them one woman who fainted in the middle of the crowd and was taken to the city hospital.Complaint Against the Police Donald Henderson, leader of the CIO and director of the strike, stated yesterday that he is considering filing a complaint against the police intervention in the strikers’ movement; he also said that he had asked Governor James V. Allred to send a corps of [Texas] rangers to take charge of the situation.Moreover, Henderson sent a message to [Mexican] President Lazaro Cardenas in which he complained about “the brutalities [the police] are committing against Mexican citizens.” He also sent a similar message to the C.T.M. of Mexico.[A]Furthermore, Edward Clark, Secretary of State of Texas, submitted a message to Henderson informing him that the Department of Public Security has been notified of events related to the strike.Leader Henderson stated that “the city authorities, following tactics to suffocate the strike, have shown that they are prepared to close the neighborhood first aid center at 905 West Travis St. unless the operators comply with the sanitary requirements.”Kilday Insists on Maintaining Order Police Chief Owen W. Kilday, who according to La Prensa statements is ready to help Mexican workers provided that they do not let communist elements and outside leaders influence them, insists on continuing strict measures to stop disturbances of public order.Yesterday, when strikers made their first show of disobedience, the Chief himself ordered the arrest of a group of nut workers who tried to mount a demonstration in front of the Azar and Soloman Plant located at 2416 W. Commerce St.Kilday maintains that “a state of strike does not exist and until now, no settlement to solve this situation has been carried out, according to the information that I have to date.”The Chief has given orders to the police to arrest all workers found around the plants, with the exception of those who are on their own property.Kilday Wants Workers to Change Attitudes Police Chief Owen W. Kilday told us that the city administration finds itself as ready to negotiate with factory owners as with worker groups that are unhappy with the established prices [of labor], but that the nut workers should change their attitudes, removing “those bad leaders that looked for nothing more than to satisfy their personal ambitions, in an overt gesture of agitation."“The Communist elements,” says Kilday, “are insatiable and after this strike will come others, since their only objective is agitation.”“With respect to the ‘leaders’ that come from outside to lend their support to the workers, it is certain that their work does not have the sole objective of improving the situation of the Latin-American workers since these ‘leaders,’ upon seeing themselves compromised, will board the first train and will see themselves free of whatever reprisal, leaving all the responsibility for their actions in the hands of the workers.[”]“Communism tends to undermine our institutions and we should fight it with all our energy.”Yesterday, Police Commissioner Phil Wright, the chief of the firefighters, and Captain Kilday met and as a result of their conversations police forces will be strengthened with 125 firemen, who will begin to lend their services starting next Saturday.Moreover, Kilday has modified the police shifts and starting on Saturday, two shifts of 12 hours will replace the three 8-hour shifts, thereby increasing the police force by 50 percent.
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Document 10: "S.A. Strikers Tell Police Beatings," San Antonio Light, 15 February 1938, p. 1.IntroductionProtests of police violations of strikers' civil liberties led the Texas Governor to call for hearings by the State Industrial Commission. This article reports on testimony given at the Commission's hearings. Ultimately the Commission ruled that police actions were unjustified, but the Commission did not have the authority to enforce its decision and a local judge refused to grant an injunction permitting picketing.[13]
TELL POLICE
BEATINGS__________________A striking pecan sheller testified before the Texas Industrial Commission Tuesday that he was one of a group of pickets lined up before a factory by San Antonio police and made the target of a tear gas barrage.Felix Ferdin, 24, said he was placed in the group and lined up by Mike Livo, city policeman.Ferdin said he had been in a tear gas barrage twice. On the first occasion, he said, police came up to about 15 workers on Guadalupe street.THREATS TOLD. Threats on the life of Crossland were testified to by Policeman P. Berry.Berry declared that on several occasions while in the lobby of Gunter hotel behind Crossland he h[e]ard men say:"Let's take that --- -- - ----- and hang him."Berry, who had been assigned a bodyguard to Crossland, said he did not investigate the threats.Crossland, stating it was embarassing to have a uniformed man with him, told the commission he had never received any threats.Henderson denied being a member of the Communist party but admitted belonging to the Friends of the Soviet Union executive committee in 1932."DOESN'T OBJECT." Police Commissioner Phil Wright said he had not known Kilday possessed tear gas but he "didn't object to it."Wright, asked if there was a strike in San Antonio, replied he did not think he had a right to determine whether a strike existed or not.Charles D. Hall, foreman of the grand jury, refused to answer questions put to him by the commission.James Ragsdale, reporter for The Light, was one of the witnesses interrogated as to evidences of police brutality toward the strikers.Ragsdale related that he had been on duty in the strike zone daily during the past week and that he had seen police shoot tear gas at fleeing pickets. He also said he had seen officers use their clubs on the pecan shellers, saying they were struck while running.Asked if he had seen any of the pickets resist police, The Light reporter testified that he had seen a striker hurl a stone at a police car nearly a block away, adding that the stone did not hit the car.Other witnesses heard during the afternoon included Mayor C.K. Quin, the Revs. W.H. Marmion, Jesse Iwig, J.M. Kadyk, City Attorney T.D. Cobbs and Policeman Jack Holden.
Document 11: "Beasley Tells Court 6000 on Strike," San Antonio Light, 24 February 1938, p. 7A.
Introduction
The following article summarizes testimony charging the San Antonio police with using excessive force against striking pecan workers. The presiding judge, S.G. Tayloe, offered his six-page decision immediately at the close of oral arguments. He had written his decision before all the evidence had been presented, having already made up his mind that the police were within their authority to ban any picketing during the strike.[14]
Cobbs was to start introducing defense testimony during the afternoon. At noon he filed a paper in which the city denied that police had used unnecessary force in dispersing crowds and denied that police had arrested anyone for peaceful picketing.BEASLEY TELLS
COURT 6000
ON STRIKE________________________ J. Austin Beasley, C. I. O. leader in charge of the San Antonio pecan shellers' strike, took the witness stand in Forty-fifth District court Thursday to testify that his union numbers 3500 local members and that membership is growing by 150 daily.He was one of the last witnesses in the suit in which the union seeks to enjoin police from interferring with peaceful picketing.Beasley testified he had lived in El Paso, Austin, Dallas and, in addition, had studied electrical engineering in Arkansas; that he never went to Commonwealth college; that 6000 are on strike here and that more are being added daily.BELONGS TO DEMO CLUB. He said he belonged to several fraternal organizations and was connected with the Labor Non-Partisan league of Denver and the Colorado Young Democratic club. He testified he had never studied under Dr. Robert Montgomery of the University of Texas, but once heard him lecture; that he had once taken a government-sponsored course in labor problems; that he had once been trade representative for a bartenders' union in El Paso.Asked what caused the strike, he said:"This strike is a democratic expression of the pecan workers against what they thought to be a wage cut which was absolutely unwarranted."Beasley grinned broadly during cross-examination by City Attorney Thomas Cobbs.STRIKERS TESTIFY. Other witnesses of the morning were Dora Reyes, 113 Monterey street, who said she was gassed; Trinidad Martinez, 15 years old, who said she was gassed while on the picket line.Harry W. Freeman, attorney representing the Civil Liberties union, said he probably would wind up his case by noon."I think, " he said, "I've made out the best case I've ever heard of against police."POLICE BEATINGS TOLD.Seventeen witnesses were heard Wednesday, the bulk of testimony being that police clubbed and gassed strikers and discouraged workers from belonging to the union.City Attorney Cobbs asked for transcripts of the testimony of the two witnesses, declaring he believed the witnesses had perjured themselves.He named Jose Lopez, 121 El Paso street, and Refugia Garcia, 519 West Cevallos street.Lopez testified he saw police knock Lino Ramirez, 60, of 225 North Laredo street, to the floor and kick him. Ramirez has testified that he was hit, kicked, and shoved, but did not say anything about being knocked down.The Garcia woman testified that Chief of Police Owen Kilday warned her that if she continued to belong to the union he would split her head.NON-STRIKER GASSED. Ramirez testified police told him "The C.I.O. doesn't exist here!" and took his C.I.O. button away from him.Lopez said a policeman asked him:"Why are you so foolish as to get into that union?"Jesus Lomeli, 36, of 811 West Travis street, said he was walking down the street when police came up and assaulted him.Juan Originales, 2013 Colima stre[e]t, 64 years old, said he was not picketing when police gassed him.Eulalio Lopez, 50, of 2510 Chihuahua street, testified he was walking along the street when police called to him. He went to them and one of them said to him:"You should not belong to an organization that tries to do anything for labor!"DENIES BEING DRUNK. Whereon, according to testimony, police proceeded to beat and kick him and took him to headquaters and charged him with drunkenness and vagrancy. He was fined $10."I wasn't drunk," he said, "I didn't have any money to buy liquor. I didn't even have any money to buy bread!"He said when he was jailed the jailer took his C.I.O. button, threw it on the floor, and stepped on it with an oath.Jose Olivares, 41, of 922 Montezuma street, said police told him he had no right to picket, and when he protested that he was only trying to better his wages, they jailed him. He was released on bond. He did not know what charge was brought against him.Cecilio Alvarado, 35, of 315 Castro street, said he was clubbed by police.He said his sister was dragged and shaken by police who called her abusive names.He denies that he had talked to Mrs. Cassie Jane Winfree, state labor chairman for the Women's League for Peace and Freedom, before he gave his testimony.Felix Ferdin, 24, of 224 Montezuma street, said he was gassed twice by police. On one occasion Officer Mike Livo gassed him, he said.CITY DENIES CHARGES. The final plaintiff witness was Manuel Martinez, who testified that he is vice chairman of the strike committee and a plaintiff. Freeman wanted permission to add the name of Felix Ferdin as a plaintiff instead of Pedro Ruiz, whom he has not been able to locate. Cobbs objected and the objection was sustained.
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Document 12: "Allred Told Arbitration Stalled," San Antonio Light, 4 March 1938, p. 10.
Introduction
This article makes it clear that more than a month into the strike, momentum was shifting in favor of the pecan shellers. Governor Allred expressed "sympathy for the pecan shellers" and called for negotiations. San Antonio police were backing off their quick reliance on tear gas, and union meetings were filling to overflowing.
ALLRED TOLD
ARBITRATION
STALLED_________________________________ Governor Calls Conference
With City Officials;
Ease Gas Tactics._________________________________ The onus for failing to arbitrate San Antonio's 34-day-old pecan strike Friday was placed on C.I.O. leaders by Mayor C. K. Quin.Attending a closed conference in Austin called by Governor James V. Allred to delve into the strike situation, the mayor charged that the strike leaders had rejected an arbitration offer unless pay cuts were first restored. He added:"That, of course, blew up the whole thing."Mayor Quin, Police Commissioner Phil Wright and Police Chief Owen W. Kilday attended the parley, which came 12 hours after a delegation headed by J. Austin Beasley, strike chieftain, visited the governor.Beasley warned that bloodshed was near in the pecan strike unless police changed their tactics to permit peaceful picketing. He also asserted the strikers verge on starvation.OTHER DEVELOPMENTS. Other major developments in the strike Friday were:Secret orders issued to police on the West side forbidding promiscuous use of tear gas.Settlement of the strike by Sunday predicted by Beasley before 1500 cheering pecan shellers in Union hall Thursday night.Report that national labor relations act charges against an unnamed pecan factory operator were being filed in Washington by Donald Henderson, C.I.O. leader. This report given out by Beasley.Report that a conference was to be held in Washington during the day between Henderson and a group of senators and representatives to obtain a federal subsidy for the pecan industry, carrying with it regulation of hours and wages.PICKETS ARRESTED. Following Friday morning's meeting in Austin, Chief Kilday ridiculed the possiblity of violence in the strike, pointing out that quiet reigned on the strike front.At the moment he was issuing the statement police were arresting six pickets carrying banners on Colima street. Three prisoners were girls 16 years old.Mayor Quin labeled the talk of bloodshed "unfortunate." He charged that the whole strike was "instigated by Communist agitators and they don't want to arbitrate because arbitration would end the agitation. They want to keep up the agitation."Accompanying the city officials to the Austin conference as observers were seven pecan factory operators. All maintained silence as to what had been accomplished.Mayor Quin said that any announcement must come from the governor. Allred declined to comment except to say that there might be further meetings. He explained:"Any comment made at this time would just get them further apart," referring to the conflicting claims of city officials and C.I.O. organizers as to whether or not a strike actually exists.STATE PROBES STRIKE. Governor Allred disclosed Thursday that investigators for the state department of public safety have been in San Antonio two weeks conducting a secret probe of the strike.The governor expressed sympathy for the pecan shellers and promised to do what he could for them.The strike began January 31 in protest against a reduction in wage scales. Estimates on the number of strikers range from 500 to 5000, but factory owners insist that all the plants in the city are operating. The strikers are seeking higher wages, plus union recognition.The Friday parley was called by Allred, who requested the city officials to meet with him to ascertain if something couldn't be done to end the strike, according to Kilday.Kilday, who expressed himself as fearful the governor might declare martial law here, issued the tear gas order to Sgt. William Christoph, in charge of the 175 policemen and firemen in the strike sector. He said:"No tear gas is to be used unless the strikers are in the center of the street and unless the crowd is actually threatening."The strikers hailed the order as a virtual admission that police have been using tear gas promiscuously. They had previously claimed officers hurled gas against peaceful pickets and that in some instances persons not involved in the strike were gassed.Beasley made his prediction of a strike settlement at a mass meeting Thursday night in Union hall. The hall was jammed to capacity, with an overflow of 700 Mexicans outside the building, according to detectives who attended on Kilday's orders.LEADER CHEERED. The C.I.O. leader was cheered when he announced Allred had sent a message expressing sympathy for the strikers.Other speakers were George Lambert, national publicity director for the United Packing, Agricultural, Canning and Allied Workers' union, and Miss Margurita Flores, comely Houston girl whom police labeled leader of the strike "pep" squad.Miss Flores warned against any display of violence, assuring the strikers they would have public sympathy and support as long as they cling to peaceful picketing.The Thursday afternoon conference with Allred, attended by Beasley and P. F. Kennedy, vice president of the Texas state C.I.O., brought the threat of violence unless the strike is settled "with benefits to the workers."SIDES WITH STRIKERS. Beasley declared the strikers would have to be "mowed down with machine guns" unless something is done to aid the "starving" strikers.Allred sided with the strikers in expressing the opinion that the city ordinance under which workers carrying banners have been arrested is unconstitutional.The ordina[n]ce, passed in 1899, provides that a permit must first be obtained to carry an advertising "sign" from the city marshal. Allred pointed out that the city does not possess a fire marshal."If some of the things charged police are true," the governor said, "they are wrong.""Specifically, if they refuse to let strikers congregate peacefully on lots hired by them for that purpose; if the police grabbed union buttons from the strikers and threw them underfoot; if police sought out and forced people to become strike breakers under threat of deportation."CAN'T REACH DECISION. "I deplore the situation," the governor said later, "I have been deeply concerned for several weeks, since it was first brought to my notice. I don't know what to do, I don't know what I can do, but I will check other sources of information and determine what I can do."Beasley told Allred that police were inhuman in their treatment of pickets, especially women. As many as 25 women have been jammed in patrol wagons designed to accommodate 15, and that prospective mothers have been crowded into cells with prisoners held on other charges.HARD TO RESTRAIN. Closing his conference with the governor, the C.I.O. executive said:"I am having much difficulty in restraining the workers from violence. They figure they don't have anything to lose; specifically what they want to do is tear up some of those plants."Beasley Friday disclosed that the pecan shellers' union has set up an executive board. Members of the board he said are Toribio Castillo, Velia Quinones, Amelia De la Rosa, Eugenio Medina, Renabe Martinez, Juan Baladerna, and Natalia Camareno. Beasley is chairman.
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Document 13: Texas Civil Liberties Union, San Antonio: The Cradle of Texas Liberty and Its Coffin? 1938.
Introduction
The repression of San Antonio pecan strikers by local police under Chief of Police Kilday led to considerable public support for the strike. Local congressman Maury Maverick spoke out. Texas governor James Allred dispatched the state's Industrial Commission to conduct an investigation of attacks on striker's civil liberties, and the Texas Civil Liberties Union published a 16-page pamphlet which we reprint here in its entirety. The pamphlet itemizes a series of charges concerning the denial of basic civil liberties by San Antonio authorities, including the mayor, police chief, and courts. It also offers the fullest contemporary narrative of the basic events associated with the strike and its eventual settlement. The pamphlet reflected a growing sentiment among respectable San Antonians, that led local politicians to put pressure on pecan operator Julius Seligmann to effect a compromise settlement. At the time of the publication of the pamphlet, pecan shellers had returned to work with a guarantee of arbitration of their piece wages. The final settlement came in the summer, with piece wages set halfway between the reduced wage levels that had precipitated the strike and the wages demanded by the strikers.
Special thanks to Special Collections, University of Texas at San Antonio Library for scanning images from the original pamphlet and granting permission for their republication in this editorial project.
* * *
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Document 14: "Pecan Strikers Return to Work," San Antonio Light, 8 March 1938, p. 6-A.IntroductionFinally, after five weeks on strike, union officials and operators reached an agreement to arbitrate their differences. The article also describes a pending investigation of unfair labor practices by the National Labor Relations Board that would probably be called off now that a tentative settlement had been reached.PECAN STRIKERS
RETURN TO
WORK___________________________________San Antonio's pecan shellers' strike was at an end Tuesday -- at least temporarily.The embattled shellers began trooping back to the city's 128 pecan factories Tuesday morning, the result of an agreement between plant operators and C.I.O. officials to arbitrate the labor controversy.The agreement must be submitted to the workers at a meeting Tuesday night at union headquarters. This, however, is merely a formality, leaders said.Beasley appeared at the city hall at 11:30 a.m. with a rough draft of the arbitration agreement. It was approved by Mayor Quin. The C.I.O. leader then announced that a meeting of operators, union leaders and the city officials would be held at 8:30 p.m., to sign the agreement.TEMPORARY PACT. The arbitration pact is temporary in that the workers will continue for the next 15 days at the reduced wage scale which caused the strike, according to J. Austin Beasley, strike chieftain.It is believed that the arbitrators--to number three--will have agreed on the wage rate by that time. This is the opinion of both strike leaders and factory operators.The strike began January 31, when the wage scale was reduced 1 cent to 6 cents and 5 cents per pound for pickers with 40 cents per 100 pounds for shellers. Previously, the shellers had received 50 cents per pound.Agreement to arbitrate the strike came Monday night at a conference attended by city officials, factory operators and union leaders.Among those present were Julius Seligmann, Texas pecan czar; Mayor C.K. Quin, Commissioner Phil Wright, Chief Owen W. Kilday and Beasley.PICKETS RELEASED. Immediately following the closed session Chief Kilday ordered all pickets in police custody released. At the same time he announced that policemen and firemen on special duty in the West side strike area would be withdrawn.The order was acclaimed by 125 city firemen who had been working 24-hour shifts, and by policemen, who had been on duty 12 hours daily.Under terms of the agreement, the operators will select one member of the arbitration board and the union another. These arbitrators will then meet and select the third member.The arbitrators will be called upon to decide whether the wage rate shall be 8 and 7 cents per pound, with 60 cents for shellers, demanded by the strikers. They will also pass on the union demand for an official weigher in each factory.RECOGNITION ASKED. The strikers also had demanded recognition of the International Pecan Shellers union as their bargaining agent, but it was believed this would be accorded without controversy.Meanwhile, an investigator and an attorney for the national labor relations board had arrived in San Antonio to probe the strike situation. This came as the result of labor charges filed against Seligmann by Beasley. The two are Howard LeBaron, field investigator, and Attorney L. N. D. Wells Jr.Dr. Edwin A. Elliott, regional director for the board, had requested parties involved in the strike to meet with him in Fort Worth Wednesday to discuss the charges.It was indicated Tuesday that the call for the meeting will be ignored, Beasley saying he was uncertain as to whether he would attend.Exact number of workers involved never was definitely determined, Chief Kilday claiming less than 500 workers were out, while Beasley placed the number at 5000. All the city's factories continued to operate during the 36 days of the dispute.Beasley said Tuesday that the arbitration agreement will be signed Wednesday morning. It is the result of a series of night meetings held in Mayor Quin's office, in which the mayor played a leading role.HEALTH STANDARDS. One of the major objectives of the union, the C.I.O. leader said, will be to maintain rigid health standards among its members. He added:"This is the greatest service the union can render here in view of the recent publicity accorded the pecan industry in a national publication."Following a telephone conversation with Donald Henderson, C.I.O. executive, in Washington, Beasley said that congressmen and department of agriculture officials look with favor upon legislation protecting the pecan industry.A law will be sought fixing a tariff on other nuts, with the proceeds to be used in subsidizing the local industry and thus making possible higher wages.
Document 15: "Pecan Strikers Appeal For Aid in Battle," The Daily Worker, 9 March 1938, p. 3.IntroductionOutside support had been crucial to the success of striking pecan workers. This article from The Daily Worker reflects the efforts of the Communist Party to publicize the strike and encourage contributions to a relief fund. The Texas Civil Liberties Union and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom had also lent crucial support to the strike.
Bring Their Wages Down to $2 and Less a
Week--Police Terror Assailed in Plea_______________________________(Special to the Daily Worker)
SAN ANTONIO, Tex., March 8. -- Five thousand of America's lowest paid workers, the pecan shellers of South Texas, today appealed to organized labor and labor's friends to help them win their vital strike, now entering its fifth week.These workers are striking in protest of a wage cut amounting to about 20 per cent, which would bring their average wages down to $2 or less per week. Before the wage cut, their pay averaged less than $2.50 per week for from sixty to eighty hours of work.During the strike police and the corrupt city administration have denied the workers the right to picket, have beaten them, have lined up men, women, children and mothers with babies in their arms, on private property, and then without warning shot tear gas into their midst. Police have beaten, clubbed and kicked workers, both men and women. One sixty-six year-old man was knocked down at the city jail and kicked by a policeman. Over 700 arrests have been made. Scores of people have been kept in jail for days without being charged with any offense.Funds should be sent to Pecan Workers' Emergency Relief Committee, J. Austin Beasley, Secretary-Treasurer, Box 1861, San Antonio, Texas. Mr. Beasley is international organizer for the United Cannery, Agriculture, Packing, Allied Workers of America, and is in charge of the San Antonio strike.
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Document 19: "Pecan Strikers Dance in Street on Victory," The Daily Worker, 23 March 1938, p. 3.
Introduction
Striking pecan workers and their families celebrated the agreement to arbitrate the remaining differences over wages. Given the steadfast hostility of city authorities and the local police, it was quite an accomplishment to hold out for arbitration. The Mexican identity of the pecan shellers is evident in this article from The Daily Worker.
In his unsuccessful efforts to break the strike, Julius Seligmann, pecan tycoon, even imported to San Antonio the author of that notorious book, the Red Network -- Mrs. Dilling -- for some plain and fancy red-baiting.Pecan Strikers Dance in Street on Victory_______________________________________25,000 at San Antonio Celebration of Settlement
Granting Union Recognition--CIO Hailed
By Mexican Workers at Meeting_______________________________________ SAN ANTONIO, Texas, March 22.-Twenty-five thousand men, women, and children wanted to dance gaily in the public square Friday night in victory celebration of the end of the six weeks' strike of pecan shellers. But so tightly did they pack City Hall Plaza from rim to rim that they had to be content to stand for hours, listening to the Mexican orchestra and to the reports of their leaders.Under banners proclaiming, "Viva CIO," the huge throng, largest San Antonio ever saw, on any occasion, and one of the greatest labor demonstrations in the history of the South, heard J. Austin Beasley, organizer for the United Cannery and Packinghouse Workers Union, tell of the terms of strike settlement and defy the reactionary city administration, which boasts of breaking every strike in San Antonio's history.At the close of his speech Beasley asked how many had gone to jail in the strike, for the right to picket, and a thousand hands went up. He dedicated the dance and celebration to them.Terms of settlement for the pecan workers, most of whom are Mexicans, include recognition of the union and of shop committees. Wages, which have been at what the union calls the "sub-human" level of $2.50 to $4 a week, are to be adjusted by an arbitration board.Following Beasley's speech, the orchestra played first "Tu ya no sopla," dedicated to Mayor Quin (meaning that his honor and the city hall machine had blown off for the last time), to roars of laughter from the crowd.
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