- Date:
- January 1938 - March 1938
- Location:
- San Antonio
- Texas
- United States
Pecan Shellersâ Strike
-
What was the Pecan Shellersâ Strike?
The Pecan Shellersâ Strike was a labor dispute that took place from January to March 1938 in San Antonio, Texas. The strike was initiated by thousands of pecan shellers, mainly Latina women, protesting against low wages and poor working conditions in the industry.
The strike was led by Mexican American labor organizer Emma Tenayuca. The San Antonio city government supported the pecan companies and attempted to suppress the strike, but eventually, the companies and workers reached an agreement on arbitration in March 1938. Although the strikers received a small pay increase, most of them later lost their jobs due to the mechanization of the shelling process.
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Where and when did the Pecan Shellersâ Strike take place?
The Pecan Shellersâ Strike was a labor dispute that took place from January to March 1938 in San Antonio, Texas. Around 12,000 pecan shellers, most of whom were Latina women, protested against low pay and substandard working conditions in the cityâs pecan-shelling plants. The workers walked off their jobs on January 31, 1938, under the leadership of Mexican American labor organizer Emma Tenayuca. Although the strikers received a small pay increase, many later lost their jobs due to the mechanization of the shelling process by company owners.
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Who were the pecan shellers involved in the strike?
The Pecan Shellersâ Strike of 1938 involved thousands of pecan shellers, predominantly Latina women, protesting low wages and poor working conditions in San Antonio, Texas.
Emma Tenayuca, known as La Pasionaria, a Mexican American labor organizer with ties to the International Pecan Shellers Union, led the strikers. The San Antonio city government supported the pecan companies and downplayed the strike, blaming communist agitators and arresting Tenayuca.
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Why did the workers go on strike?
In San Antonio, Texas, in January 1938, thousands of pecan shellers, predominantly Latina women, initiated the Pecan Shellersâ Strike to protest substandard working conditions and low pay. At the time, the workers earned only a couple of dollars per week while working long hours with few breaks in poorly ventilated plants. In response to the strike, which was led by Mexican American labor organizer Emma Tenayuca, the city government sided with the pecan companies and attempted to suppress it. Despite facing arrests and police violence, the strikers secured a small pay increase. However, most of them lost their jobs later on after the company owners chose to mechanize the shelling process.
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How did the strike affect the workers and the community?
The 1938 Pecan Shellersâ Strike in San Antonio, Texas, saw thousands of mostly Latina women protesting against low pay and poor conditions. Though the strikers received a small pay increase, most lost their jobs when company owners mechanized the shelling process.
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What was the outcome and impact of the Pecan Shellersâ Strike?
The Pecan Shellersâ Strike was a labor dispute in San Antonio, Texas, from January to March 1938, involving thousands of pecan shellers, mainly Latina women, protesting low wages and poor working conditions.
Though the strikers received a slight pay increase, most lost their jobs because company owners mechanized the shelling process. In response to the strike, the owners feared that the workers' wages would increase. The owners protested the Fair Labor Standards Act signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1938, which would impose a nationwide federal regulation of wages and hours. The request was denied, and, as feared, the companies turned to machines, causing most of the pecan shellers to lose their jobs.
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Pecan Shellersâ Strike, labour dispute (JanuaryâMarch 1938) in which thousands of pecan shellers, most of whom were Latina women, walked off their jobs in San Antonio, Texas, protesting low pay and substandard working conditions. Though the strikers ultimately received a small pay increase, most later lost their jobs after company owners mechanized the shelling process.
In the 1930s San Antonio was a leader in the pecan industry, home to hundreds of shelling plants that handled about half the pecan production in the United States. Many in the cityâs large Mexican and Mexican American community were employed by the plants to shell pecans by hand. The shellers worked long hours with no days off and earned just a couple of dollars a week. They were given few breaks, and bathroom facilities were inadequate or nonexistent. In addition, the plants were poorly ventilated, and the dust stirred up from the shelling weakened the workersâ lungs. This combined with crowded work conditions made the shellers more susceptible to developing asthma and contracting tuberculosis, a serious bacterial infection that was common at the time.
In January 1938 several of the plants reduced the shellersâ pay from six or seven cents per pound (depending on whether the shelled pecans were pieces or whole) to five or six cents per pound. In response, some 12,000 workers went on strike on January 31. Mexican American labour organizer Emma Tenayuca emerged as their leader. Known as La Pasionaria (âThe Passionate Oneâ) for her rallying speeches, Tenayuca had helped form the Texas Workers Allianceâa branch of the communist- and socialist-oriented Workers Alliance of Americaâa few years before to advocate for unemployed and underpaid workers in San Antonio. She also had ties to the International Pecan Shellers Union, which eventually joined and supported the strike.
The San Antonio city government, which backed the pecan companies, tried to downplay the strike in the local newspapers. They blamed communist agitators and arrested Tenayuca. That arrest, together with Tenayucaâs fiery speeches, made national news. Soon local law enforcement arrived at the pecan companies where the workers were picketing and used tear gas and billy clubs to break up the peaceful crowds. The police arrested hundreds of strikers and jailed them in overcrowded conditions.
In March 1938 the companies and the workers settled on arbitration. On March 8, while the case was still being decided, the workers returned to work under the reduced rates. The arbitration board announced its decision on April 13. It allowed the companies to pay the pecan shellers five cents per pound for pieces and six cents per pound for halves for a short time. In May, however, those wages would increase by half a cent.
On June 25, 1938, U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act into law, to take effect on October 24. Its purpose was to impose a nationwide federal regulation of wages and hours. The law applied to all industries engaged in interstate commerce, which included the pecan industry. Among other changes, the law set the minimum hourly wage for workers at 25 cents. In protest, the pecan company owners laid off thousands of workers. Concerned that owners would begin mechanizing the shelling process, the union joined with the employers to seek an exemption for pecan shellers. The request was denied, and, as feared, the companies turned to machines, causing most of the pecan shellers to lose their jobs.