Author : Peter Shapiro
Publisher : Haymarket Books
ISBN 13 : 160846749X
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (84 download)
Book Synopsis Song of the Stubborn One Thousand by : Peter Shapiro
Download or read book Song of the Stubborn One Thousand written by Peter Shapiro and published by Haymarket Books. This book was released on 2016-10-10 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “How 1,000 Latina workers in Watsonville, California won an 18-month long strike . . . an inspiring tale” (Mae M. Ngai, author of Impossible Subjects and The Lucky Ones) On September 9, 1985, a predominately Mexican group of one thousand women workers in Watsonville, California, the “frozen food capital of the world,” were forced out on strike in response to an attempt by Watsonville Canning owner Mort Console to break their union. They returned to work eighteen months later. Not one had crossed the picket line. A moribund union has been revitalized, and Watsonville’s Latino majority emerged as a major force in local politics. At a time when organized labor was in headlong retreat, the Watsonville Canning strike was a dramatic show of the power of women workers, whose struggle became a rallying point for the Chicano movement. Apart from its sheer drama, the strikers’ story illuminates the challenges facing a group of ordinary working people who waged a protracted and ultimately successful struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.