WEBVTT
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Hi everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is Unknown,
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a podcast where we talk about Latin American history. Sometimes
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it's horrible and deals with tibe topics like racism, corruption,
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and genocide. But more than that, it's about power, resistance
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and community. Uh, it's Labor Day at the time of recording.
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This is going to come out Thursday, Like, what is
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that the fourth I believe? So yeah, yes, but I
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figured because today's Labor Day at the time of recording,
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the best topic to talk about today is one of
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the most historic labor movements involving Mexican American women. Oh,
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the Farah Strike. In May nineteen seventy two, four thousand
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garment workers walked out of the Farrah Manufacturing Company, which
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at the time was the largest manufacturer of men's and
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boys hands in the United States. And of those four
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thousand workers that walked out, eighty five percent were Chicanas
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or Mexicanas. Okay, sly and I see Chicanos because they
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directly identified as Chicanas, right, because otherwise I would have
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said Mexican American, because not everybody identifies as Chicana. So yeah,
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it was mostly Mexican American and Mexican workers and most
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most of them were women. This was during the seventies. Now, yes,
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nineteen seventy two, Okay, I was gonna say a lot
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of that's when the Chicano movement it was in full throttle,
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full speed. Yeah, so a lot of Mexican Americans identified
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as Chicanos and Chicanos began to Yeah, and these mostly
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women were standing up against one of the biggest employers
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of the US and for sure the biggest in at Baso,
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Like one of seven at Baso residents were employed by
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this manufacturing company. Oh wow, that's how big it was.
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And again, this was in the nineteen seventies, so like
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a time of social justice movements, the black rights movement
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had been ongoing since the nineteen sixties, inspiring everyone else.
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Really and again, these fights have been going on for
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a very very long time, regardless of like this decade
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of social movement that just really blew up. But like
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the LGBTQ rights movement was, you know, growing during this time.
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Of course, the Chicano movement, you know, Puerto Rico and
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the Young Lords, all of this was like exploding during
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these years has been off. Yes, and again we've already
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talked about the history of the Southwest, like Mexicans and
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Mexican Americans have faced injustice after injustice in these areas,
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especially Texas. So it's no surprise that one of the
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biggest strikes to date involving Mexican Americans and Mexicans what
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happened in Texas like that, that's to me. So the
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Paraoh Manufacturing company, it was owned by Willie Farrah, and
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there was eleven plants spread out across at Baso, San Antonio,
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and Victoria, all in Texas, and then there's also more
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plans in New Mexico. And across those eleven plants there
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were ten four hundred employees and half of those employees
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were in Enbaso. That's how big tech plants in Lbaso were.
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There was five plants also in Elbaso. Wow, and that
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of course made El Baso one of the central parts
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of the strike, like areas where the strike was taking place.
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And like you know, we know that workers they don't
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strike for just like for fun, right, for no reason,
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just for usually, Yeah, it's usually the last straw because
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striking especially it's hard, it's hard to plan, organize. Yeah,
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you were not getting income especially back then when people
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used to get killed for striking. Yeah, I mean I
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don't know about if it was as much in the seventies,
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but for sure before that, right, Yeah, in the US,
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I mean, you know, people using like trucks as weapons,
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like bramming. That was big for unions, union striking. That's
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what they would do, hit them with trucks, which we
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saw even during like our coverage of SISA Chavis and
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the uf W, Like, yeah, that was often what they did. Anyway,
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that's another where was I sorry if you can hear
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my children, Okay, Yeah, they don't track for fun, That's
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what I was saying. Right, There's always a reason, or
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multiple reasons, and so conditions have to be so bad
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that workers feel that they have no choice but to
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stand up for their rights. And this of course applies
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to Ferah Manufacturing. So the owner, Willie Farah, he only
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had one concern and that was how many pair of
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pants can be produced and how fast. Nothing else mattered
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to him. And so while his profits sorted, his workers
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were basically paid pennies while the demand for them to
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produce more and more just continue to increase, but their
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pay was not increasing. Their average take home pay was
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sixty nine dollars a week, which today would be like
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four hundred and three to three dollars. Oh and so
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in like back then money, this would have been a
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yearly salary of three thousand, five hundred eighty eight dollars
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today twenty seven thousand, seven hundred and twenty nine dollars.
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Definitely on the lower end, extremely well below the poverty
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line back then and today. Yeah, like, their wage was
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one sixty in an hour and the national average at
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the time was two to fifty an hour. Oh wow.
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And on top of the horrendous pay, there was zero
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job security. Workers never knew what day would be their last.
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Left and right, people would get fired for absolutely no reason,
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which included talking while working, well, no valid reasons, i
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should say, for whatever reason Pharaoh wanted to fire them.
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These reasons included talking while working, taking too long in
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the bathroom, or for women refusing to date a supervisor.
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Oh my god, it's like everything was ridiculous and had
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no basis, but that constitutes like sexual harassment abuse. Wow, yes, yes,
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And the lack of job security wasn't the only issue.
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There was also no benefits at all, no sick days,
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and if an employee happened to get sick while on shift,
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they had to go to the on site clinic. That
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might sound like a like, oh, that's a good thing.
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They're taking care of their workers. No, wrong, that urin
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was better, My bath was yeah, we'll keep that one,
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we'll cut mine. So you know, it wasn't a good thing.
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It was more like they had to go to the
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clinic because they weren't allowed to go home right right,
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And to be seen at the clinic, a worker had
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to take a number like you used to do at
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the DMV. I don't know because I only do DMV
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things online now, but yeah, you used to have to
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take a number. And so they would have to take
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a number, go back to work, and then wait for
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their number to be called. So like just working waiting,
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my god. Yeah, And then once they were called to
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be seen by the doctor in the clinic, they were
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not paid for that time. Of course, they had to
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clock out, yes, and see the on site clinic doctor
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and then this doctor. All they did was to hand
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out pills and misdiagnosed illnesses to keep people working. The
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one thing that this doctor and the clinic did do
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was practically force women to take birth control bills. Willie
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Ferre's views on this was quote, why should they be
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delivering babies when they can be delivering pants at this factory?
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End quote I actually hate that, but the hell kind
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of I actually fucking hate what heja said. We're kind
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of dumb as, We're got a dumb as sentence? Is that?
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What the wow? Yeah, on the topic of delivery, there
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was also no maternity benefit of course, of course, not
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alone paternity benefits, right, yeah, I mean that's barely becoming
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a thing now, that's not even a question. But yeah,
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of course, if a pregnant employee took time off after
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giving birth their they lost their job. Yeah. Their position
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was not guaranteed. It was more like, if the supervisor
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liked you, then they gave you your job back. They happened.
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If they happened to get their job back, any supurity
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that they had gone was lost. Yeah, gone, and their
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wage started all over again as a new higher wage,
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which was the win sixty. Wow. And for this reason,
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many workers waited until the last possible minute to give birth,
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many giving birth on the floor. Oh that's just horrible. Yes.
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There was also no real retirement benefits, despite the company
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saying there was there was not like they would say, yeah,
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we have retirements. But like over the fifty years of
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this manufacturing, gene company, pants company, whatever, existing, not a
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single employee had received benefits a retirement benefit. Wow, Because
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they would force people to quit when they reached retirement age,
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or right before they reached retirement age, so that then
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they wouldn't receive this benefit that they pretended existed. Of course,
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one employee who eventually did join the strike stated, quote
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with one older woman Ferris, speed up wasn't driving her out?
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Oh sorry, speed up. Let me define that really quick.
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Speed up means ramping up the production demands of a worker, like, oh,
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you made one hundred jeans yesterday. Tomorrow you have to
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make two hundred. That's what speed up is. So now
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let me share the quote quote with one older woman.
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Farah's speed up wasn't driving her out fast enough, so
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he had a supervisor standing over her every day, and
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so she couldn't take it anymore. That's terrible. Yes, she
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was forced to sign a form saying she quit on
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her own end. Quote. Wow. And if all this wasn't
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horrible enough already, Women at Farah Manufacturing faced even more discrimination.
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Many other women working at Farah were single mothers, often
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the only earner in their household, and it was mostly
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the women who were paid that one sixteen hour wage,
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and in order to make more money, they were forced
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to date their Anglo supervisors. Oh my god. And if
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they didn't do that, then they faced harassment because they
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didn't agree to day these supervisors. It's like, no matter what,
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it's not good. Yeah, damned if you do, if you don't.
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Whatever that's saying is right. I think I said sexual
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harassment edition, yes, allah, sexual harassment. Yes, it's not funny.
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I'm laughing because it's terrible. Yeah. Anyway, supervisors often snap
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their fingers at employees' faces. They would bang the machines
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that they were working on and even push the workers.
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Oh my god, I just know they were like wanting
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to square up with them so bad. I know, I know,
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but you can't because you know that's the only the
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main employer of the town. Mm hmm, that's your livelihood. Yeah.
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The conditions in the plants also horrible health problems. Numerous
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film workers contracted bronchitis from working directly under huge air conditioners.
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That we're not good also there was like a lack
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of ventilation moisture. Yes, and women were more prone to
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UTIs because they refused to go to the bathroom because
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they had to meet these insane production quotas. Very amazon
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like today. Yeah yeah, and unions are good, okay, Like,
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what's your very pro unions? Oh well yeah, because today people,
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there's still like a ton of places trying to unionize.
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Even though most big unions started off racists didn't want
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to fight for their coworkers of color. Even though that's
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the case, they still fought the good fight and the
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workers rights that we have today. You know, we can
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think names for that. And the US government and the
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people in power are actively trying to destroy and have
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done a lot to destroy union and union organizing. And
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I especially hate sorry to go on this tangent, but
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I especially hate this one. I think it was a
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Premium Corps decision. I don't remember which one. I think
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five four did an episode on it. Though this was
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fought the Supreme Court, and ultimately what happened was that
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now people at their jobs don't have to join unions,
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but they benefit from the union and bullshit. It's the
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biggest bullshit ever Now I'm like, that's like, what is that.
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That's like having your cake and eating it too. Yeah,
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because you don't you don't have to contribute, because obviously
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it costs money to organize to fight for this you
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know shit, to protect workers' rights. It costs time and money.
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And first of all, those workers that take the time
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to be leaders in the union, that's like amazing, because
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it's time consuming besides the job you already have, besides families,
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you might have a whole other job exactly. Yeah, And
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most workers don't, you know, join the leadership, you know,
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aspect of it, but you support financially and then you
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go when you can to meetings and blah blah. Yeah yeah, yeah.
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But those stupid people that don't contribute financially, they should
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get paid less. They shouldn't get the same and benefits. No, No,
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they shouldn't. No, because so many places, like it's because
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of the union that they have like a set amount
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of vacation days or set amount of protections. Even the
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biggest piece of shit jobs like police officers have unions
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that are too strong. Actually, actually the one union I
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advocate against anyway, Okay, go back, go back to your
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epecs to this, bancks to this, we go on about that. Yes, yes, okay.
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So in the nineteen sixties, the quota was one hundred
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and eighty zippers on the zipper machine. Within five years
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of that, the quoto was over two hundred and twenty
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zippers on the zipper misis, many employees were originally started
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out handling one machine for zippers. Then they would end
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up with like two because their production demands doubled or more,
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and if that quota wasn't met, their wages were reduced.
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And it's like, no, you're supposed to start a job
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with a certain set pay and that's not supposed to change. No,
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that's I can't even matter what that that's wild that like, oh,
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well today you didn't like sell enough of this, so
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you actually got paid half of Like I'm taking half
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of your money, Like what the fuck? Yeah no, And
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so in the fall of nineteen sixty nine, workers had
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enough and they began trying to organize and bring in
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the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union and already existing
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union that would come into places garment factories and unionize
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the workplace. We're going to call them ACWA because that's easier,
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and so so you know, they began trying to do
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this work of organizing, which takes a while. So in
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nineteen seventy, the workers overwhelming voted for the union to