00:00:00.009 - 00:00:19.069

Well, let's get started. Gloria, I wanted to ask you some questions first about just your life before the strike began, um. How old were you when you, uh, when you first came to Watsonville? Uh, I was 14 years old and I started working in the canneries

00:00:19.069 - 00:00:38.849

when I was 15. That was when that would have been in 19. Uh When did you come to this? Did you, were you born in Mexico? Yes, yeah, and your family came and settled in Watsonville. Yes, in 1962, in '62, yeah, and you went straight into

00:00:38.849 - 00:00:57.580

the cannery when you got here. Yes, you basically never held any other job until the canary closed down and it was Watsonville Canning the whole time. No, it changed owners like a couple of times after. After the strike, right, oh, but this is after the strike,

00:00:57.750 - 00:01:14.190

yes, so the consul family was pretty much signing your paycheck from the time you were 15 years old. Yes, and was it, I gather you weren't supposed to be working there when you were 15. No, a little bit of makeup and you know, make you look

00:01:14.190 - 00:01:36.550

older, yeah, yeah. Did people working there. And what what kind of work were you doing when you first started? When I first started, I started sorting lima beans. And then uh I started learning, you know, everything. I went to, I started learning everything, you know, how

00:01:36.550 - 00:02:01.519

to sort, how to dream, how to run machinery. So then, uh, I work my my way up to to floor leader. But this was, you know, took me a long time. And can you, what exactly does a floor leader do? you know, you. You start the

00:02:01.519 - 00:02:25.520

lines, then you're responsible for. Let's say from 100 people to 120 people. Make sure you know they're doing their job, teaching them how to do it. And then, uh, Make sure you get good production. What exactly Is involved in sorting. You said that's how you started

00:02:25.520 - 00:02:45.300

out, and sorting. They have the lines and then they have all kinds of people on both sides of the line and then the product goes in the middle and then you start sorting out like, you know, like. The brown ones, all the lima beans are green,

00:02:45.399 - 00:03:01.580

right? So you get all the brown ones, all the rotten ones out. I mean, I, I'm asking these questions because I know it became a big issue when you all were out on strike about the company recruiting scabs, uh, who didn't know what they were doing.

00:03:01.820 - 00:03:16.600

It, it took you a while to learn all these skills. Yes, it takes you a while to to learn all these, uh, things and get used to the belts, you know. What was the most difficult thing to learn about the job? To learn about the jobs,

00:03:16.610 - 00:03:33.759

there was a lot of stuff, uh, like, you know, the Brussels sprouts. We used to cut them with a, with a water pressure and it was like, like razor blades. So there was a lot of fingers or a lot of tips going, you know. A lot

00:03:33.759 - 00:03:49.369

of people got hurt, yeah, yeah. Was that a problem in the way management dealt with it? Um, I mean, did they, did they punish people when they got hurt? Did they, you know, nothing like that. No, they just took care of people and stuff like that.

00:03:49.380 - 00:04:11.509

I lost a couple of tips, fingertips myself. Yeah, now, when you were um. Your old contract expired in uh what June of 1985. How much were you being paid at that time? At that time, at the time I was making like uh. In those days it

00:04:11.509 - 00:04:34.730

was like $10 an hour. You were making $10 an hour and when the contract expired, uh, Mort Conso wanted to cut your wages to how much? Cut down our wages, like I will be making like $7 and something. So When the contract expired, you, it wasn't,

00:04:35.549 - 00:04:55.829

yeah, had you ever been involved in the union before the strike? Uh, a union member, yeah, just you were a member, did you go to meetings? Did you, uh, um, can you describe what it was like? Well, it was uh. Mr. King at the time and

00:04:55.829 - 00:05:11.730

then he wasn't doing too much, you know, because there was no fights, no arguments, no nothing, but when it comes to to the strike is when, you know, we decided to take him out because he wasn't helping us at all. Yeah, I want to come back

00:05:11.730 - 00:05:28.859

to that, but um in the meantime, just before the strike happened, uh. Mort Consul decided that he wanted to uh cut wages way back about what $3 an hour would have been for you? Yes, it was, um, I think it was a couple of guys they

00:05:28.859 - 00:05:46.549

came, they came from, I don't know, I don't know where and then started giving them, you know, advice on how to, how to hurt the workers, you know, like cut down the wages and then the insurance. Take away the insurance and all that. The health insurance

00:05:48.399 - 00:06:05.760

was the main reason why we refused the contract. That was a big issue. Now you, you, um, you'd had health insurance from the very beginning when you started working in that plant. Yes, yeah, and you had, um, you had kids at that point, right? Not, not

00:06:05.760 - 00:06:22.920

when you started working, but when the strike happened. Yeah, how many? 2 before the strike and 2. No, they were all born before the strike, right? But you had what, uh, um, you had 4 kids then when the strike happened. How old were they when that

00:06:22.920 - 00:06:49.359

parent at the time, yeah, and um you were a single parent, you were raising 4 kids. So how old were they? Well, my twins were. Like 14 years old and uh the boys were one was. 6 and the other one was 7. And were you surprised

00:06:49.359 - 00:07:09.260

when Cono cut the wages, or did you know it was that going to happen? Well, the one is those people that They were giving them advice, you know, started taking over and a lot of changes started happening, so we were like, you know, preparing ourselves. You

00:07:09.260 - 00:07:29.279

you knew something bad was going to happen even before the old contract expired. Was it discussed in the names were Marty Marty. He was a consultant that more Cons brought in from outside. Yes, just to go back a little bit, um. Mort Conso, I understand, took

00:07:29.279 - 00:07:46.200

over the plant when his father died, and he was uh pretty young at that point. He was about what in his early 20s. Did the conditions change really noticeably when he took over? No, no, he just did it the way his father did it. So this

00:07:46.200 - 00:08:04.250

change was something that came later, later with those, those two people, Marty White, the other guy, and he pretty much here here's something that um. I interviewed Sergio Lopez last summer, and he told me that one of the things that Richard King did was he allowed.

00:08:05.100 - 00:08:23.839

Console to basically lower his wages by 40 cents an hour, uh, even though there was, you know, a contract that was already in effect that covered many several canneries and that this put Richard Shaw in a very bad position and that, you know, Sergio said that

00:08:23.839 - 00:08:41.830

King should never have done that. Were you aware that this was going on? I mean, was there much discussion of that wage cut when it happened? Yes, uh huh we have regular meetings. And King knew that it was happening, and he, he said, Mort consul says

00:08:41.830 - 00:09:02.390

he'll go out of business if you don't take a 40 cents an hour pay cut. He actually said that, um, and this was what, a few years before the strike. Yes. What was it? It was, it was uh prior to the strike, right. Now there was

00:09:02.390 - 00:09:24.859

a challenge to uh Richard King um running the union in the previous election, wasn't it? Was it 82? That I, uh, that Frank Bardake ran against him. And made a fairly he got a fair number of votes. Did he have much support in the Yeah, did,

00:09:25.099 - 00:09:46.460

did he, did, did, did he get many votes from people in Watsonville Canning? No, because they really, we really thought, you know, Sergio was gonna be a fair person. People relied on Sergio a lot to. Basically take care of business at Watsonville Canon, yeah. Um, Did

00:09:46.460 - 00:10:05.590

people Feel comfortable with him? Did they feel that he was doing his job? hm? I'm sorry, in the beginning, yeah, in the beginning. Before the strike happened, yeah. So there were not huge complaints about uh he he he did most of the work with the uh

00:10:05.590 - 00:10:25.179

the cannery workers and and people felt reasonably comfortable with him. Yes. Um. You said in the beginning, which means that later on people were not so comfortable. Why do you say that? So there was a lot of. There was a lot of division. This is after

00:10:25.179 - 00:10:47.200

the strike started. And um The The question I have is, is when When the when consul went, he did away with the healthcare. This would have been in uh in the in the summer of 1985, did away with the healthcare, he cut your wages by $3

00:10:47.200 - 00:11:08.770

an hour. Uh, and Richard King did nothing, right? Uh, was he there? Were there union meetings? Did this get discussed? Yes, but nobody had any respect for him. Can you describe, uh, uh. If there was a union meeting before you went out on strike, but after,

00:11:09.000 - 00:11:25.450

uh, Mort Consul cut your wages and benefits in that period like between I guess the end of June and the beginning of September, did the union have a meeting at that point ever? You talk about what was happening. Yes, uh-huh they had meetings. What happened? Were

00:11:25.450 - 00:11:48.710

you at these meetings? Uh yes. And uh did did anything get decided? What kind of things were people saying? Well, you know, uh, that's when people decided, uh, to go on strike. So there was actually a strike vote taken. Yeah, did Richard King try to stop

00:11:48.710 - 00:12:06.390

it from happening? Yes. uh, what did he say? Well, he was trying to convince the people to accept the contract. He, he did urge you to accept the contract. Did he explain why? Did he say why? Because otherwise we were going to be out with no

00:12:06.390 - 00:12:22.630

jobs that they were going to close down the plant. He said the plant would close if you didn't accept the cuts and people did not believe him. They did believe him, but they, you know. They'd, uh, they didn't want to go along with him. They thought

00:12:22.630 - 00:12:35.820

that, oh, so when you say the plant would close, you don't mean go out of business. You mean it just there would be no work, right? So, uh, basically what he was saying is that Consul was saying he was saying take it or leave it. If

00:12:35.820 - 00:12:49.539

you don't, you know, uh, if you don't accept these terms, I'm not going to, you know, I'll shut, but he did try to operate the plant with, with scabs, right? You, you weren't locked out. He, he didn't say, I'm gonna shut the plant down. You can't

00:12:49.539 - 00:13:10.489

come into work. You just, you took a strike vote? Uh, no, we took, we took the boat. Mhm. And then, uh, there was a certain day and that day everybody, everybody stay outside. We already had signs and we had everything. So you were prepared and you

00:13:10.489 - 00:13:31.969

walked out on September 9th. Um, were there demonstrations outside the plant right at the beginning? Everybody was, you know, taking, taking over the. The doors and everything and had their signs ready. Were people, how many people in the plant were participating at this point? Was everybody

00:13:31.969 - 00:13:54.239

very active? At the beginning, everybody. Yeah, yeah. You were very united. Yes. Um, and. Along came um Did you have any kind of problems with the police at the beginning or with the courts? Was there, were there any attempts to stop you from picketing? Oh yes.

00:13:55.369 - 00:14:15.770

Since, uh, day one they were, you know. Against the strikers. When did the, uh, so how many pickets were allowed at the plant they had to take us to court. They took us to court to decide how many people were supposed to be allowed on every

00:14:15.770 - 00:14:34.880

door. And what did they finally decide? Well, it was, you know, a small group of people, so you basically were not allowed to have large picket lines, and that was, do you know, uh, about when that happened, that that that that decision came down. Um, when,

00:14:34.890 - 00:14:55.840

yeah. Oh. I don't recall the date, but It was, you know, like Like a couple of weeks into the strike, this would have been in the middle of September. Was anybody arrested? Yes. Do you have any idea how many? Uh well I don't have a number,

00:14:55.869 - 00:15:15.030

but then it was a lot of strikers arrested, including myself. This was right at the beginning in September when they first had the injunction. Yeah. um, now. You had 4 kids at home, 2 of them pretty young. Uh, were you, were you getting strike benefits from

00:15:15.030 - 00:15:36.849

the Teamsters right at the beginning? We were only getting uh. $40 a week. And then you were hauled into court uh for for breaking the court injunction at picketing. I mean, did you actually did they actually uh uh put you in jail or or uh did

00:15:36.849 - 00:15:51.119

you have to serve on any time at all or what? How did you deal with that? Oh, they, uh, they took me to jail, but then, uh, somebody bailed me out, so I wasn't there just a couple hours, but there was a lot of strikers that,

00:15:51.159 - 00:16:05.849

you know, they were there a little longer. Yeah. Did they, uh, did you actually have to go on trial for breaking the injunction or it was just they took you down and someone bailed you out and that was the end of it? Uh, no. No, we

00:16:05.849 - 00:16:24.710

had courses and all that stuff. How many times were you arrested in the course of the strike? I recall only once. That was the only time at the very beginning then, um, and yet to stay out of trouble because I was one of the leaders of

00:16:24.710 - 00:16:44.809

the strike, so I had to look up, right, but at the beginning you weren't a leader of the strike yet. That that came later. And right into the strike they they decided to have a Oh, you know, representatives, so they voted for the, the striker committee.

00:16:45.940 - 00:17:06.650

Now I want to ask you about Solidarity Day on I guess it was October 8th, was it? Uh, the, the big demonstration that that TDU organized, um. I know a lot of problems arose then. Let me ask you first of all, had you Did you know

00:17:06.650 - 00:17:26.949

much about TDU before Solidarity Day happened? Had you had any contact with them? Uh, were there any people inside Watsonville Canning who had? They were, uh, I think, uh, TDU I, I never heard of TDU until the the strike started, you know, right. And what did

00:17:26.949 - 00:17:47.099

they do when the strike started? Well, they dividing the people. You know, they, a lot of workers decided to stay with TDU and a lot of, you know, of us decide, you know. Got together and decide who was going to be the best. You know, people

00:17:47.099 - 00:18:09.229

to, to rely to and did this become an issue when they were, did, did anybody from the plant have any. Take part in planning that big rally on Solidarity Day. I mean, obviously the union was not helping, right? They, they didn't um. And uh, so who,

00:18:09.280 - 00:18:35.089

who, who planned that rally? Uh, probably the workers that were related to TDU. These were people inside Watsonville Canning though? Yeah, um. Do you know who they were? Uh, Esperanza, her husband, it was I should get their full names, I guess. Esperanza Torres. He now works

00:18:35.089 - 00:18:56.180

for the Teamsters. Yeah, uh-huh and then her husband's name, her husband's name Enrique Torres. Had they had they worked with TDU before or were they just recruited, you know, after the strike began? I don't know because they were. They were friends with uh Joe Fay uh-huh.

00:18:59.069 - 00:19:16.250

No. Joe told me actually when I interviewed him that they had had a an incident I think it was at Watsonville Canning where uh a worker who got into it with uh uh one of the foremen, uh, there was an attempt made to deport him and

00:19:16.250 - 00:19:35.349

they defended him and and uh. That was really TDU's first, um. Involvement with Watsonville Canning. Were you aware at all that that was going on when it was happening? We were aware of everything that was going on. Did you know the worker who was that they

00:19:35.349 - 00:19:54.729

were trying to deport? Yeah, this is what Joe told me that there was a worker who. Uh, you know, When the I, I forget the exact details, but the company. You know, He he'd gotten into it with a foreman. The company attempted to discipline him and

00:19:54.729 - 00:20:15.250

then the INS got involved. Um, you, you weren't aware of that. I don't remember the name. Yeah, yeah, um, did it make a big impact inside the plant from what you can see? Yes it did. People were people knew about it. People were upset. Um, was

00:20:15.250 - 00:20:35.750

there any kind of activity to support, uh, this worker that people participated in? I think it was You just, you just weren't a part of it yourself. No, I was part of everything. Yeah. So do you, do you remember going to any meetings or any protests

00:20:35.750 - 00:20:56.430

or any court hearings with this worker? Uh yes, you did. You just don't recall his name? Yeah, um, did people. Identify that struggle as something that TDU was uh making happen or did they just sort of see it as this is us, we're defending one of

00:20:56.430 - 00:21:15.010

our people. Did they see it as as a TDU action? Yes, yes, a lot of people, a lot of people had a lot of, you know, TD or yes. You did you have any doubts about them before the strike began? Any questions that might have made

00:21:15.010 - 00:21:36.819

you hesitate to get involved with them? Yes, because. Yeah, because I felt like they, they didn't have no, no respect for the workers that they wanted to be the leaders, you know, they never respected the the strikers committee. This was afterwards. This was after the strike

00:21:36.819 - 00:21:58.599

began. I'm just wondering if this kind of tension existed before the strike. If there were people in the plant who knew that TDU was Well, like I said, maybe a part, you know, a small group of people. Yes. But they hadn't before Solidarity Day, uh, and

00:21:58.599 - 00:22:19.229

they, they clearly made some big mistakes there, uh, but before then had they done anything to make people angry or suspicious of them that you were aware of? Yeah, it was mainly after the strike began. Now, tell me, um, Just what you remember of Solidarity Day

00:22:19.229 - 00:22:46.079

and and how it happened and what made people so unhappy. On there today was. Right into the strike. We had so many. This happened in in where in a park in a front of the cannery. I mean, I remember there was a big rally at the

00:22:46.079 - 00:23:10.930

plant gate and you know a bunch of people came from out of town to support to support it. Um Did you was the day that the students got involved, right? Yes, and a lot of students got arrested and teachers. Were any strikers arrested then? Yes. Um

00:23:10.930 - 00:23:44.189

strikers and students and teachers, were there any people? Were there any people from the plant who spoke at the rally? Yes, um, who would that have been? Is it Esperanza or. And um And Aurora Trujillo. She worked at Richard Shaw, didn't she? Yes. Um, and they

00:23:44.189 - 00:24:04.959

had a Guillermina Ramirez, so they all spoke at the big solidarity rally on that TDU organized, you know, on October the 6th, was it, um. Why did it become a problem, uh, the way that rally was run? Because I know that it was after the rally

00:24:04.959 - 00:24:21.989

that um you decided to form a striker's committee and it was partly in response to what had happened at the rally. What made you decide to do that? And, and I, I know that when you formed the committee you had a very large meeting, uh, so

00:24:21.989 - 00:24:39.609

a lot of people obviously felt the same way. What, what happened at the rally that made people feel so strongly? That you needed a striker committee that because we we felt that there was not enough representation from the workers that like other people were taking over

00:24:39.609 - 00:24:59.500

our strike. Did you object to. Particular things that they did in planning the rally or just the general feeling that outsiders were taking charge and you didn't have a voice general feeling, yeah, um, how did you get that many people? Tell me how you organized that

00:24:59.500 - 00:25:16.979

meeting where the strikers committee was elected. We just uh let the people know that we were gonna have a meeting and uh they got to vote who they wanted for the strikers committee. And people knew that they were not going to have union support when they

00:25:16.979 - 00:25:40.359

did this. Sergio was not involved at all. It's kind of steady. Yeah, I don't understand what's going on. Um. Can you hear me all right? OK. Sergio was not involved at all when the strikers Committee first was selected. Uh, did he ever go to your meetings?

00:25:42.910 - 00:26:03.150

No, no, no. Um, not even they were opposed, you know, people, they, you know, they never thought that people can, you know, be smart enough to. For their own their own committees and you know, fight their own. Who, who was elected to the strikers Committee? It

00:26:03.150 - 00:26:40.270

was. Armando Morales. That's your brother, right? Yeah, and Chavelo, yeah. Chalo Moreno. Then it was the Cuca, then it was uh. From the other cannery, I think it was uh Linda Linda Garcia. And you there were 11 of you in all? Were they, were they equal

00:26:40.270 - 00:27:02.770

numbers from Richard Shaw and Watsonville Canon? Uh, no, no, no, there was more people from there. From the car from the right, yeah. I want to ask a little bit about Richard Shaw. Uh, because I talked to a few people from the Teamsters Union from the

00:27:02.770 - 00:27:26.359

International who said that. Really, uh, Shaw was in, in serious financial trouble. And he should not have. He was kind of dragged into the strike by Mort Consul who hoped to use it to put him out of business. Uh, do you agree with that? No. Um.

00:27:26.609 - 00:27:50.319

No, because I think that we were the, the biggest, uh, you know, biggest uh company that did the Did uh Like we were selling more, more products and all that stuff than they were. There was always a competition between the two canaries between Sean and uh

00:27:50.319 - 00:28:12.579

yeah um. They told me, uh, Alex Hiba Alada told me that he um. When he went down to Watsonville and he was sent there by Chuck Mac that the first thing he did was Look at the books at Richard Shaw's books. And he concluded from that

00:28:12.670 - 00:28:29.180

that you know, Shaw was in a lot of trouble. That he, you know, that he was in danger of going out of business. They needed to have a settlement with Shaw and then concentrate on defeating Mort Conso. And yet when Shaw settled, I know workers at

00:28:29.180 - 00:28:51.430

Watsonville Canning were not happy. How did you feel about that? Well, you know, we felt that, um, Then we needed more support from them. But people, you know, just You know, realized that they needed their jobs just as much as we did. So there was not

00:28:51.430 - 00:29:15.050

a lot of hard feelings. No. Were there people from Watsonville Canning who were in the meeting where the Shaw workers voted to accept their contract? Not too many, too many, uh, they were, you weren't there. No, I was, I think I was there. You were outside

00:29:15.050 - 00:29:31.650

and things got pretty rowdy after the after the vote took place, as I recall. I remember there was a rainstorm and there were a lot of police and there were some people arrested. Yes, what do you remember about that that um that afternoon? That afternoon. Well,

00:29:31.729 - 00:29:50.430

people were pretty upset, you know, cause, uh, and a lot of them don't, don't didn't understand at that time, you know, and or or they understood, but they wanted more support from them. Mhm. You mean people from Watsonville Canon, uh, so. The people from Watsonville Canning

00:29:50.430 - 00:30:09.310

were outside the meeting. You heard that they'd voted to go back to work and people were angry. Yeah, and what, what happened? How did people react? Well, you know, just, you know, I guess, uh, name calling and, and, you know, loud people and all this stuff,

00:30:09.349 - 00:30:31.449

but there was no. No violence. Were people arrested? I don't recall. Oscar, are you with me? Is he there? He was with us. Oh, he left. Yeah, I was wondering why he didn't break in. I know he was present for a lot of this. Um, I

00:30:31.449 - 00:30:42.859

can, I can talk to him more respect for the workers. He had a lot of respect for the workers. Yeah, no, I, I understand that. I mean, I meant right now. I thought he was in the room with you when you had the speakerphone on. Well,

00:30:42.900 - 00:31:06.050

let me. I wanted to ask you uh about Oscar's role. He arrived in Watsonville. He told me on Solidarity Day on October 6th or whatever it was, um. How did you first meet him? Well, he came, he came and introduced himself and And you know, He

00:31:06.050 - 00:31:26.790

brought a lot of people with him. And then, um, We like them. And then he, uh, I mean, the, the help, uh, the help that we had all during the strike, it was because of, of, uh, his group of people. You know, they help us a

00:31:26.790 - 00:31:48.900

lot. They took us, like, you know, Sergio never wanted us to try to get out of Watsonville. Right. You mean in terms of getting support from, yeah, they didn't want no support. So, you know, I think, uh, thanks to Oscar's uh group of, uh, supporters, we

00:31:48.900 - 00:32:11.979

got, we, we were able to stay. And the strive for 2 years. Did um Did Sergio speak at Solidarity Day? Uh, at the rally, he, he didn't speak, did he? He, he just attended it, but he just stood on the side, um. He didn't try to

00:32:11.979 - 00:32:33.290

stop it from happening. He just did not participate. Um Well, I wanted to ask you, I know that even before Oscar, uh, came to Watsonville, the cannery Manuel Diaz was there, um, and he was representing the cannery Workers Project. How much did you, did you know

00:32:33.290 - 00:33:00.709

him at all before the strike? No. Um, And How did so what describe your first meeting with him. Well, he introduced himself and told us, you know, that. Then, you know, that uh they were trying to, to help us. And um Chabelo and Armando, everybody agreed,

00:33:00.760 - 00:33:22.800

you know, that that uh. That we could use their help. At the time the Cannery Workers project uh was part of TDU. I don't know that it stayed that way. Did that was that a cause for any suspicion? Did people worry that Manuel might be working

00:33:22.800 - 00:33:38.500

for TDU or that he might be there for TDU and not for the strikers? No. Because I, I, I asked because I remember at the time hearing a story that somebody said to him, Are you here for us? Are you here for TDU? And he said,

00:33:38.579 - 00:33:54.339

I'm here for you. I don't know who asked him that question, but it, you know, when I heard it, I thought TDU is not that popular down there. Um, you don't know anything about that story. You, you don't know who asked him that or. Uh, I

00:33:54.339 - 00:34:12.370

remember there was a lot of, you know, hesitation between. You know, a lot of, a lot of, you know. Whether you could trust situation like that is like the workers they know who to trust. uh-huh, we, we're all in the defensive. And you had never been

00:34:12.370 - 00:34:31.070

on strike before, no. Did you have any idea what was involved in in in being on strike? No. You didn't know what to do. I mean, it was just a matter of, uh, you said you had pickets in front of the plant. The union was not

00:34:31.290 - 00:34:52.030

organizing this. You, you basically had to do it yourselves. We have to do it ourselves. You Organized your own rally, uh, later in October after you formed the strikers Committee? Uh, yes. The strikers committee worked with uh Oscarting, you know, a lot of people and uh

00:34:53.340 - 00:35:10.879

In preparing for these demonstrations. What kinds of things did you have to do to prepare once you had the striker committee? What, what jobs did you? Mhm. How often and where did you meet? You didn't meet at the union hall or or if it was an

00:35:10.879 - 00:35:28.669

emergency, we just call for for, you know, for a meeting. You were not meeting at the union hall at first. Yes, you were from the very beginning. From the very beginning we were not welcome, but we decided we pay our union dues. We, you know, nobody

00:35:28.669 - 00:35:44.149

tried to keep you out, members, union members, so we're staying here. We took over the union. Yeah, nobody tried to keep you out of the union hall, even at the beginning. No, Richard King was still president. I was still secretary treasurer at that point. Was he,

00:35:44.189 - 00:36:00.870

was he around at all? Or he just disappeared in and out, in and out, yeah, but he didn't try to stop you. He didn't accuse you of, you know, no. Uh, How do you think he felt about having this rank and file group take over the

00:36:00.870 - 00:36:21.520

strike? They didn't like. No, they didn't like it at all, but he didn't try to stop it. No. What would have happened if he had? He could have been in a lot of trouble. Um, And You had a problem. You, you were, I mean, you basically

00:36:21.520 - 00:36:42.709

had to get on for what, a year and a half on what, $45 a week, yes, in a in a box of food every month. Where did the food come from? From uh supporters or the harvest the bank food food bank and all that stuff, a

00:36:42.709 - 00:37:07.560

lot of donations from the. Stores we had a group of people, the food committee that was going out doing all this, you know, who was on the committee who was on the food. The food was Lydiama, Clement. Lydia's son is the one who's the president of

00:37:07.560 - 00:37:28.209

Local 912 now, right? Yeah. I wanted to ask you, um, the name I kept hearing in connection with the, the food was Bill Walsh. Did you know him? Can you, can you tell me a little about him? Who? Bill Walsh, Bill Walsh, yes, from the Teamsters,

00:37:28.280 - 00:37:48.929

yes, uh huh. He was helping a lot too. Yes. When did he come to Watsonville? He came. when the strike started, the very beginning, and he basically was just rounding up food. Did they have a place where it was distributed? Yes, they had some. Warehouses right

00:37:48.929 - 00:38:02.500

there on uh Walker Street, big building. I don't know if uh they lend it to us or they were renting it. I don't know what, but that's where they were keeping the food. And once a month everybody will stand in line there for their box of

00:38:02.500 - 00:38:19.580

food, right. Did it help? I mean, was it, uh, was there enough for, for everybody who needed enough, you know, but people will was, you know. A lot of people went to work in the fields and stuff, you know, but they were still going to the

00:38:19.760 - 00:38:35.969

picket lines, right, right. How I'm, I'm, that's interesting to me. I know, uh, how many, about how many people would you say and how, how long would these jobs be and like just a short few weeks would be harvest time or something and. Yes, uh, because,

00:38:36.010 - 00:38:52.919

you know, there's like a lot of people went to the To work in Gilroy in the tomato plants and all that stuff and it was really very seasonal like 3 months now when you were working at Watsonville Canning, it was pretty much a year-round, yeah, uh,

00:38:52.929 - 00:39:14.709

from the very beginning for you. Even when you were just starting out, you were working year round. Um, So, we had, uh, seasonal people when the because you know some lines run the whole year and some some lines were just, you know, 2 or 3 months

00:39:14.709 - 00:39:27.469

out of the year. But there was so many canaries, you know, at the time, you know, they could go, they could go work in smackers or they could go work in grosettis or they could go work in richer shows. So if you were seasonal you could

00:39:27.469 - 00:39:44.199

usually find work. You just had to hustle. Oh yes yeah. Did a lot of people go back and forth between the canneries and uh the harvest? Yeah, uh, you never, you never did work in the fields yourself. No, no, no, I was lucky to, to stay

00:39:44.199 - 00:40:03.520

there. What about members of your family? You came up when you were a teenager. I mean, your parents came too and my father, my father was here for like 20 years before he, so he was working in Indio, California, right? Oh, in Indio. Actually, I'd like

00:40:03.520 - 00:40:22.750

to ask you a little bit about that um. So your father really was, he came up from Mexico in the 1940s then during World War II. uh-huh, yeah. Oh, he came under the bracero program and the Bracero program then so he's for men like him so

00:40:22.750 - 00:40:40.139

much that he helped him get his papers. So your father was illegal. Did he got citizenship too. Your father got his citizenship? Yes, no, no, no, just, just he was just a legal immigrant, so you didn't have to. You, you came into the country legally too,

00:40:40.620 - 00:40:58.260

yeah, you and your brother and your mother, two brothers, yeah, Armando and and somebody else. Did any of you ever have to work in the fields when you first came up? Yeah, my brothers and myself too in the in the picking grapes. In, uh, in around,

00:40:58.459 - 00:41:12.540

so you were in the San Joaquin Valley then when that happened. We were in Coachella Valley Coachella Valley, yeah, uh, and, uh, when did you come to Watsonville when you were just fairly soon after you got there, right? Yes, um, so we stayed there one year

00:41:12.540 - 00:41:30.010

and we told my father that he was being overworked and then and then my brothers thought it was, you know. It was time to move on, right. Did he take a job at the plant too? No, no, he never worked in frozen food. Uh, no, he

00:41:30.010 - 00:41:53.110

was working in the strawberries, and he, he continued to do that all through the strike. My father, Or did No, he was working his fields. He worked in the fields. How, how long, how long did he work in the fields? All his life, all his life.

00:41:53.189 - 00:42:12.159

When did he die? He died in 2000. Uh-huh. So he continued to pick strawberries while you were working at Watsonville Canning. Yes, he was helping my brother in the strawberries, yeah, and Armando got a job in the frozen food plant. Yes. Did your father or your

00:42:12.159 - 00:42:29.459

brother, did they ever consider working in frozen food too, or was it would have been too difficult for you brothers work for the frozen food? Both of them did. Yeah, uh, your father never did though. No. And um you know, I, I, I, I, I gather

00:42:29.459 - 00:42:44.459

that working in frozen food was really a big, big step up from the fields that you were lucky to get that job. Were there a lot of people, uh, young people like you, people who weren't really old enough to be working there who managed to get

00:42:44.459 - 00:43:00.580

in the way you did? Yes, because, you know, they were forced to help the families, you know, yeah, so there were a lot of Not that many, but yeah, a lot. The people who are still teenagers, you know, who are supposed to be too young to

00:43:00.580 - 00:43:23.989

do that kind of Mrs. Consul won't see us, right, Mrs. Consul, yes, I never heard about her. Yes, it was. 0000, right, yeah, and we. Was she in the plant during the during the day then all the time all the time she was like running the

00:43:23.989 - 00:43:40.449

plant and Mort was her son, and he went away to law school and then when his father died, he came back. uh, did you know him at all before he took over the plant? Yes, because he used to go visit the plant, you know, his mother

00:43:40.449 - 00:44:02.340

or his father, yeah, we knew him. To me, uh. A little bit about him. I mean, the, the story I always got about him was that he was a bit of a playboy. Yeah, he was very handsome, very good looking guy, and he knew it. Was

00:44:02.340 - 00:44:18.709

he always, I mean, did he, was there a change in him, you think that made him decide to pretty much drive you all out on strike? I mean, did he, or do you think he was always I think he was influenced from from those. Yeah, because

00:44:18.709 - 00:44:39.989

before that he was really nice to everybody, right. Did he ever talk about competition from Mexico? Oh no, that wasn't something that came out competition from Richard. Richard Shaw Shaw worked for Watson before he went into his own business. Yeah, yeah. The, the competition from Mexico

00:44:39.989 - 00:44:59.120

did not become an issue then until afterwards when the plant started shutting down and moving south. Yes, but you didn't see that were talking about, you know. About, you know, taking their canary somewhere else where labor was cheaper or, or, you know. They didn't have to

00:44:59.120 - 00:45:18.870

pay insurance and all that. Did you I mean just one thing that you hear about the Teamsters Union. Is that in the old, you know, when, when they first moved into frozen food that they, they had contracts at all these canneries but they didn't pay any

00:45:18.870 - 00:45:37.379

attention to the workers. It was like, like they did their own contracts and they did. Mhm. They, they never involve the workers. And yet you've got better. Better pay and better benefits working with the Teamster contract than you would have gotten working in the fields. What

00:45:37.379 - 00:45:51.560

was people's attitude toward the Teamsters Union at that point? Was there a lot of resentment that the Teamsters didn't consult them, or were people just happy to get the good paycheck and the the good benefits? No, I, I guess, you know, nobody worry about anything until

00:45:52.959 - 00:46:10.550

the strike until the strike. That was when the the problems with the union became very obvious and you know, uh, people knew that Richard King was Yeah, um, everybody says that, so I guess it's OK for you to say it too. I haven't had one person

00:46:10.550 - 00:46:28.909

who hasn't mentioned that to me. I know that, you know, he was drunk at the meeting, yeah, yeah, but nobody took him seriously as long as, you know, it didn't affect them directly. He looked kind of scary, so people had like certain respect for him because

00:46:29.629 - 00:46:43.919

he was big and you know looked kind of mean, so he ran a bar, didn't he, near the plant. Uh, for a while, Sergio told me that was where he first, he first met, uh, Richard King. He was, he had this bar and Sergio took it,

00:46:44.090 - 00:47:10.520

took it, yeah, yeah, and everybody loved him, you know. Uh. And that was Sergio's introduction to the, to the Teamsters Union, I guess is is meeting this, this big glad-handing bartender. Um, well, You knew You'd seen Richard King, you weren't happy with him. uh, Sergio was

00:47:10.520 - 00:47:32.530

not very helpful. Uh, and then you started having people coming down from, you know, the, the Chuck Mac sat down to keep an eye on things. Did you know Alex, uh, you at all? Yeah, you, you, you weren't really like. Yeah, why was that given how

00:47:32.530 - 00:47:49.570

much mistrust there was for the Teamsters. I don't know. He looked kind of decent and he the way he spoke to the people, I guess. I mean, I'll, I'll speak for myself. I, he, he, he talked to me for about 3 or 4 hours, and I,

00:47:49.629 - 00:48:09.969

I enjoyed talking to him. Yes, he was there. you know. And yet he went down there with the idea that his job was to basically get a settlement for Richard Shaw and concentrate on defeating Mor Conall. Did that become an issue for you or for anybody?

00:48:10.100 - 00:48:29.010

I mean, I, I know that it didn't make people not trust him. No, we always trust them. Uh-huh. And then Bill Walsh came down. Yes. So. From your point of view, the people that the, the Joint Council 7 or that the international sent to Watsonville, they

00:48:29.010 - 00:48:51.770

were, they were helpful. They were more more respected, yeah, in a way that the local, in a way that the local people were not, um. And uh After the Shah settlement. Did people feel like the union had sold them out? Or simply that the, you know,

00:48:51.929 - 00:49:06.709

the shaw workers made a decision that was difficult to make, but one that they felt they had to make. No, yeah, we knew it was the workers that, you know, it was their decision. It wasn't that they were and you know, we respected that. It was,

00:49:07.020 - 00:49:27.300

you know, like I said, a little bit of. Uh, people, you know, angry, but then I guess they realize, you know, that. Nobody thought that the union had union negotiators had basically yeah, or had had basically sold them out or forced them to make a bad

00:49:27.300 - 00:49:45.739

settlement. No, that that that wasn't an issue for you. Um, One thing I wanted to um talk for a little while about the you know what the thing that impressed me the most I think during the strike which was and we talked about this a little

00:49:45.739 - 00:50:09.280

bit the last time we were together, the recertification vote. Uh It must have taken an incredible amount of organizing. To get all what 90% of the Strikers came back for that vote. You said that people had taken jobs uh in the in the fields and in

00:50:09.280 - 00:50:26.590

some of the other canneries and stuff while the strike was going on. But everybody was back for the boat, yeah. Were there many people who had actually left Watsonville? Yes, a lot of people because they lost their homes. I should ask you about that too, actually.

00:50:26.679 - 00:50:59.570

I mean, um. Were you renting the strike began or did you have your own home? No, right? I had a couple of little rentals in the back. That's why, you know, two little rentals, that's what kept me going, yeah. Were other people doing things like that

00:50:59.570 - 00:51:20.199

too? Yes. How many people do you know how many people lost their homes? A lot of people uh, was there any that the striker committee was helping a lot of people with their rents and with their payments and all that stuff. That must have been a

00:51:20.199 - 00:51:36.520

huge job. Tell me a little bit about, give me an example if you can of of one case where somebody was in danger of being evicted or having the bank foreclose on them, what the strikers committee did. Uh, they give them the money too. Where did,

00:51:36.820 - 00:52:01.750

where did they raise the money? Uh, we were raising the money from donations. You know, like myself, I was traveling all over the. With Oscar to ask for help. We went to the universities, we went to A lot of places and you had a fund set

00:52:01.750 - 00:52:22.600

up we did the strikers found that it was. Uh, Chabela Moreno was in charge. And then he will present every week, you know. Oh To the workers, you know, with the expenses and, and, you know, the money that was coming in and everything was that part

00:52:22.600 - 00:52:37.840

of the union's budget or was that an independent thing that the strikers committee set up? You did it, yeah, yeah, you had your own system. You kept your own books and everything, yeah, and Shavelo basically was the one who operated it and you didn't just help

00:52:37.840 - 00:53:03.100

people with housing problems, I, I gather you. Uh, other problems too. What people would come to you with problems? Like, you know, like. Doctors or stuff like that or did you have, did you have a system set up so that people could come and say I

00:53:03.100 - 00:53:19.270

need help to paying my doctor bill. I need help paying my rent and then they would put an application we get a little meeting and then we will hear the. What the people needed and decided, you know, who wants to be helping, you know, did that

00:53:19.270 - 00:53:35.870

ever become a problem? I mean that there wasn't enough to go around or that some people thought they weren't getting properly, you know, nobody ever dubbed the right, and you know, I mean, you all knew each other pretty well. I mean, the, the TDU was giving

00:53:35.870 - 00:53:57.389

us a hard time, you know, putting stuff in the people's heads, but we were always. You know, yeah. Maybe you should elaborate on that a little bit. This is something they, they actually were raising questions about how the strikers committee was spending money. Can, can, can

00:53:57.389 - 00:54:13.919

you give me an, yeah, the, can you give me an example? I mean they had their own fundraisers and stuff, uh-huh, yeah, you know, and then, uh, we always came out clean and, and uh they had uh. They had a lot of, a lot of doubts

00:54:14.679 - 00:54:34.560

from the people. This was true even. Well into the strike, it wasn't just at the beginning. So there was tension all along and it lasted right up through to the end. I wanna jump forward for a minute, Gloria, and talk about, um, well, actually let's let's

00:54:34.560 - 00:54:51.649

talk a little more about the, um. The recertification vote you had this committee that helped people. Not lose their homes and help them with medical bills and you know, car payments, that kind of thing. What other kinds of things did the strikers Committee do just in

00:54:51.649 - 00:55:17.860

terms of helping people get by helping people. You organized picket lines, yes, and then we We supervised the picket line. Some of us, some of us were, you know, doing one thing like Mia was doing most of the. Of the Traveling. Speaking and behaving of the

00:55:17.860 - 00:55:35.959

strike and collecting. Collecting help for the strike. And educating people about the strike. What were your I mean, you, you must have made a a a bunch of speeches. Which one, which one do you remember the best in terms of who you were speaking to, the

00:55:35.959 - 00:55:55.830

reaction you got to the I mean, I remember I heard you speak a few times. You went to Boston. You went to Boston, Boston University of Boston and and you know all the people are so educated and and my English has never been so great. So

00:55:55.830 - 00:56:14.580

I always used to write my my speeches. Before And then, you know, read because I, I didn't have the memory to keep in mind, you know, it was not a I'm not a speaker though, uh, but uh, you know, I was so mad at the time

00:56:14.580 - 00:56:31.229

and, and we were so felt so helpless that that, you know, it gave me a lot of courage to, to be doing this stuff because it's not easy to stand in front of all these educated people and make a big speech. You know, I'm thinking that

00:56:31.550 - 00:56:52.659

you were a floor leader in the plant before the strike. Yes. You must have been accustomed to Showing some leadership, you know, uh, having people listen when you spoke, it wasn't completely new to you. Because I always treated the workers with respect and they liked me

00:56:52.659 - 00:57:10.929

and then, you know, they used to give me a lot of production because I treated them, you know, equal. I treated them like with respect. And that's why, you know, it was so. Amazing that they chose me for their strikers committee because, you know, the floor

00:57:10.929 - 00:57:30.110

leaders are not the most popular people, right? Did you get attacked because of that? I mean, for instance, did some people say, oh, why are we putting this supervisor person in charge of this? You know, nobody, nobody said that not even T to you, no. And

00:57:30.110 - 00:57:52.939

you actually ran, uh, did you run against Joe Fahey in the election in November of 1985? Yeah, and, um, and then I still believe till these days that they did something with the votes because they, uh, since they won, you know, uh. Sergio never liked me

00:57:53.500 - 00:58:12.040

and he was running a, a very dirty campaign against me saying that, uh, all this lady wants, you're gonna have to put at a beauty shop inside and all kinds of stuff, you know, and so, you know. I I was still I was second on votes,

00:58:12.080 - 00:58:32.919

you know, so I still believe that uh when they one of the um one of uh the That I think it was Henry Cebi that stepped down, it should have been me going there and they put Pamela. Well, your brother, right, your brother was going to

00:58:32.919 - 00:58:49.800

um run against Sergio initially, wasn't he? Yes, and, uh, Chabelo is the one that made it. And actually Alex was the one who told me that he kind of talked him out of it. He said, you know, you're a good guy. You do a good job,

00:58:49.909 - 00:59:05.760

but it'll be easier to work with the international mad, got really mad, yeah, because they used to tell him, Oh, you sold yourself, or you know, people were really mad at my brother. I remember you told me you, you know, he chickened out was the way

00:59:05.760 - 00:59:19.260

you put it. I mean, do you, do you understand why he Why he made the decision he did or were you angry at him? I was kind of angry at the time and I had a talk with him, but he said it's for the best of

00:59:19.260 - 00:59:39.229

the people because I don't have, you know, he thought that the surge was. was, you know, knew what he was doing, and, and then that's why he did it, but the people didn't see it that way. Um, now it must have been difficult first that election,

00:59:39.320 - 01:00:03.629

which was a disappointment. They were, you were part of a slate, weren't you? Who else was on the slate? Reyes Jimenez from another plan from Crocetti. It was Chabelo Moreno. And with um I think it was Guillermina Ramirez too. I remember seeing a lot of Germina

01:00:03.629 - 01:00:24.199

at the very beginning of the strike and then not so much later on. Did she stay active after the election? No. No. She worked at Watsonville. They are real active all through the strike, right? Yes, but she wasn't active in trying to be leadership or, yeah,

01:00:25.239 - 01:00:41.080

she actually had an interesting. She was interviewed in unity at the beginning of the strike. And She, she said a couple of things that interested me. One is that she would go to the, you know, all through before the strike, she would go to the union

01:00:41.080 - 01:01:01.639

meetings once a month and would just come home angry and frustrated, uh, and the strike was good because she finally felt good about what was happening and, um, the other thing she said I guess was that after at Solidarity Day she met uh Manuel's mother, uh,

01:01:01.699 - 01:01:17.179

Reyna, you know, from San Jose. And Rayna was asking her all sorts of questions that she couldn't answer, you know, who's doing security, who's taking care of this, who's taking care of that. And that was what made her realize that we need to have our own

01:01:17.179 - 01:01:38.120

leadership here. um, I don't think you were in that interview actually. I don't believe you were um. But did you, was that your experience also? Did you talk to Rayna, uh, uh, at that time, Manuel Diaz's mother? Yeah. No. Yeah, you didn't know her. You just

01:01:38.120 - 01:01:53.800

knew Manuel, um. And uh But you, you didn't have quite as much frustration as Guilina did with the union before the strike, I, I gather from the way you were talking. I mean, you, you went, uh, the meetings weren't a lot of fun, but at least

01:01:53.800 - 01:02:11.300

you were getting a decent paycheck out of it. Yeah, that the contract was good. Um How are you changed? I mean, all of a sudden you were put in this position where you were responsible for a lot of A lot of people, uh, making a lot

01:02:11.300 - 01:02:28.709

of decisions about when do we pick it, how do we deal with the with the courts, with the police really hard, you know, because you have all this, uh. People attacking and, you know, especially TDU people, you know, attacking, you know, and, and stuff and putting

01:02:28.709 - 01:02:51.929

things in the people's heads. Against the striker committee and stuff. Something's the matter with we were used to clear up everything in the meetings, yeah, yeah. But apart from the fact that you would get. You know, attacked by TDU. Did you find that just the responsibility

01:02:51.929 - 01:03:08.379

of figuring out who do I give money to, uh. What if we get arrested when we have this picket line up? How, how should we deal with the scabs? I mean that, and there were 11 of you. Yes, it was a lot of a lot of

01:03:08.379 - 01:03:24.860

decisions to make. Did it change? Did the, did you have different people on after Richard Shaw settled, or did they continue to have representation on the strikers Committee? They were, they were still going to the to the picket lines and help, right, yeah. Were they still

01:03:24.860 - 01:03:43.379

on the striker committee? Yes, yeah, so Aurora and they were, they were there right till the end. Uh, nobody questioned their being there. Yeah, it was, it was all one fight, um. And did you get, you, you felt that you got a lot of help from

01:03:43.379 - 01:04:05.389

the shaw workers after they went back they continued to support, uh-huh, did they, um, uh. Did they make donations? Did they, uh, they shared, they shared their some of their pay, you know, since you were being paid and you weren't. Oh boy. Oh, Gloria, can you

01:04:05.389 - 01:04:25.409

hear me all right? OK, yeah, these headphones are acting up. Um, OK, that's better. Uh, So it must have been demoralizing when the election went the way it did and then Shaw settled right after that. Did people begin to have doubts, you know, early in, uh,

01:04:25.419 - 01:04:38.620

1986 that that you might not be able to to do it and then you knew that at the end of the summer they were going to consul was going to try to decertify you. Did that have a, was that a problem for morale? Did people start

01:04:38.620 - 01:05:01.149

to lose heart? No, no, you just kept right on, yeah, yeah. Um, feeling was that you just, you just couldn't go back with what he was offering you. Um, they left the doors at all. They never. They always they were always there. Now Shaw settled for

01:05:01.149 - 01:05:16.419

what, $585 an hour and your wages had been cut at the beginning of the strike to $7. So Shaw settled for more than $1 less than you were making when you were when you went out on strike. And console wasn't even satisfied with that. He wanted

01:05:16.419 - 01:05:35.020

to take it down to $5.05. Am I, are my numbers right there? Yeah. Um, So he wasn't even and and there was a clause in the Shaw contract that if a console settled for 505 that the Shaw workers should also get 505. Yeah, I mean that

01:05:35.020 - 01:05:55.350

was. That really kept the Shaw workers involved in your strike because they knew they would get a pay cut if you lost. Yeah, I just wanna make sure I have my facts straight there, um. And uh When did you first become aware of that the union

01:05:55.350 - 01:06:17.830

might be decertified that if you were out on strike for 12 months? Then we were out, yeah. When did, when did you first uh learn about the need to have this vote to keep the union in the plant, the recertification vote? Just prior to the to

01:06:17.830 - 01:06:40.580

the meeting, it was so this was well into the summer of of yeah this was after Jesse Jackson came to town and made that speech, yeah. Um, How much time did you have to contact everybody and bring them back to town? For the last meeting? Yeah,

01:06:40.770 - 01:06:59.729

well, for the, for the vote for the recertification vote. Uh I believe only a couple of days or it was that quick. I, I remember hearing that some people had to come back from Mexico to vote to cast that vote. I mean, that must have been

01:07:00.780 - 01:07:16.030

How did you find people? How did you track them down? We had a list of people. We had their phone number. We had their addresses. So anytime anybody left town, they let the strikers know where they where they were going to be, uh, even before you

01:07:16.030 - 01:07:26.149

knew you were going to need them to come back and vote in this recertification vote, you knew that you wanted to stay in touch with them, keep them abreast of so that if there was a, for instance, if you had a settlement and they needed to

01:07:26.149 - 01:07:41.850

vote on that, they could come back. Yes, we used to go to the union hall and take over the phones, right, and call everybody, right, and you did this regularly, not just for the vote, but, yeah, so you'd be calling people in Coachella Valley or, uh,

01:07:42.189 - 01:08:03.219

everywhere, everywhere. How, I mean, where, where did people go when they left Watsonville? Where were some of the places that people went to? Oh They left to Fresno, Bakersfield. But you had, you had phone numbers for all of them. You had addresses for many of them.

01:08:04.360 - 01:08:18.879

I'm just wondering if there are people in Watsonville now. We still had a lot of people, yeah, but people who are living in Watsonville now who went away to find work elsewhere during the strike. Who could talk to me about, you know, where they went, where

01:08:18.879 - 01:08:44.229

they got work, and how they, how they stayed in touch. Can you think of anybody offhand that that that left town? And then came back after the strike was settled. Oh I don't recall because a lot of people that live there were so many. Yeah, there

01:08:44.229 - 01:09:08.810

were so many uh-huh. But you didn't have any trouble getting people back for that vote. Um, How did people feel when Jesse Jackson came to town? Everybody was Happy. I was kind of a Angry because you know he was trying to help the people and we

01:09:08.810 - 01:09:23.669

still had to pay him to come and do the speech. Oh yeah, I didn't realize that. Yes, but you know he knew we were trying to survive. He still, you know, we still had to pay him to come to our town, but it was, I mean,

01:09:23.810 - 01:09:45.240

people were really happy and then. We attract a lot of attention to strike, right, um, right, right, it just kind of stuck in your craw a little bit, um, he shouldn't have charged you. You probably shouldn't have. I'm, I'm, I'm supposed to be, you know, the

01:09:45.240 - 01:09:58.899

objective interviewer here, but I'll, I'll throw that out, you know, that, that wasn't right. I mean, I know he went to a lot of picket lines and he helped a lot of people out, but he, he shouldn't have asked for money. I guess it takes money

01:09:58.899 - 01:10:19.620

to run for president. Now more than ever, um, anyway, back, back to the, um, were you surprised at the outcome of the vote on the recertification? No, no, you knew that you were gonna win it. Tell me about the scabs. Um, a lot of effort went

01:10:19.620 - 01:10:21.459

into trying to keep them out of the plant.