Last May 3rd, workers went on strike at the San Antonio plant of Farah Pants to protest the company’s history of unfair labor practices, which included the firing of several workers who had engaged in legal union activities. Farah is a leading manufacturer of modish slacks for young people.
The strike quickly spread to the seven other plants owned by Farah, and today close to 3,000 of the 8,500 employees have joined the struggle.
85% of the workers employed by Farah are women. Many more of these women would like to strike, but represent sole support of their family and cannot afford to lose the small income they earn (the union strike fund pays only $30 a week plus electric and water bills) or to risk getting fired for supporting the union.
The average worker at Farah’s earns $60 per week. Raises are given on the basis of production rather than seniority.
The quota for a person sewing on belts, is 3000 belts per day—which is over 6 belts per minute. The women say that it is only possible to sew 5 belts per minute. As long as they sew no more -than 3000 belts per day, they cannot get a raise.
Obviously, the company tolerates production at the rate of 5 belts per minute. They are getting maximum production without having to give raises. But this system of determining wages has made the women feel that they are being treated as machines rather than humans.
The plants themselves are one of the most modern around, and are made for maximum production. One observer describes it: “The plant seemed cleaner than a hospital ward. And the workers displayed an ant-like industry. The women at their machines never seemed to relax. They seldom looked up. Nobody smiled; nobody spoke. The only sound, except machine noises, came from the piped-in music, much of it Mexican.”
The workers are given coffee, doughnuts, and bus service to work. To the Chicano workers, though, these are just final insults to their dignity.
An employee at Farah’s does not qualify for hospitalization until she has put in five years on the job. The company offers no maternity insurance either. Retirement benefits are so low—$20 a month—that workers know of no one who has ever retired.
Last May, mass arrests of strikers were made in the middle of the night in El Paso. Close to 800 people were dragged out of bed, taken down to the police station and booked. Bail was set at $400 (the usual bail for those accused of misdemeanors in El Paso is $25).
The crime? An antiquated Texas law requires that pickets remain at least 50 feet apart. Since then, Federal courts have struck down this law as unconstitutional, but Willie Farah, owner of Farah Manufacturing, insists on appealing that decision.
The National Labor Relations Board has agreed to a hearing, set for October 2 in El Paso, on a complaint that the company, among other illegal acts:
- *used unmuzzled police dogs and armed guards to intimidate the striking employees, who were engaged in peaceful picketing outside the plant;
- fired workers known to be union supporters and then refused to hire them for their former or equivalent jobs;
- kept a close surveillance of various workers to intimidate them and prevent them from supporting the union;
- Curtailed all talking among employees during work time;
- Threatened the workers with “harsh treatment” if they became active in union affairs;
- Photographed employees engaged in picketing and demonstrations.
Farah insists that Farah Manufacturing will never be unionized. But company officials privately admit that the strike has hurt the company financially. In the quarter immediately following the first days of the strike, a net loss of over $5 million was reported. Farah attributes this to in-plant sabotage.
But strike leaders attribute the loss to the nationwide boycott which has been launched by the AFL-CIO, UAW, and the United Farm Workers.
Pete Goldstein of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers said that all stores carrying Farah pants have been contacted and asked not to put in a spring order with Farah. Many of the stores contacted were receptive, Goldstein said, and have agreed to cooperate.
J.L. Hudson Jr., however, agreed only to send a letter to Farah saying that he didn’t approve of Farah’s tactics, but did place a spring order.
On Monday, Dec. 11, a nationwide demonstration was staged across the country to publicize the boycott. Hudson’s downtown store was chosen as the location for the demonstration in Detroit.
Goldstein said that he does not expect any immediate results from the boycott, but expects to win the fight in the end. Hopefully, the strikers can starve out Farah by the boycott, because any results coming from the courts will take years.