Marin-Graham-Cortez

Interviewer

Institute of Oral History

Project

Farah Strike

Summary of Interview

Their last names are is Marin -Graham -Cortez, and she was working at Farah in El Paso, Texas. She says that engineers were trained but they didn’t do their job the way they were supposed to do it. She mentions that everyone was complaining about the supervisors and how they do nothing about anything that affects the employees. He mentions that many people will work many hours and not get a rise or even some extra cents for the extra work. She says that most of the ditties were to sue pants and pockets and it was a demanding job. They all agree that the supervisors and owners never cared about their employees. She says that the strike was a way to show how they felt and they wanted things to really change for the benefit of the workers. They say that many workers will get injured because the safety conditions weren’t appropriated at all. They are saying that many coworkers as well as them were tired of the conditions they were working at. The Union was not being supportive to them and many people have the same issues and they were about to lose the patience. She says that most of the strikers did work in Farah but many other came because they had family members working in there. They said that the rules at the union were absurd and they were being very strict on them and at the top of that they were working a lot. When they wanted to complin about something, the company was always “right” and they were tired of that because they couldn’t get things straight because of that. They said that looking back at the strike they don’t regret anything about it. They said that after the strike they were demanding better pay and better working conditions but these things weren’t granted to them. They said that many supervisors didn’t take their job seriously and that means that they didn’t help them at all and they were supposed to help them in everything they need, they were just doing things harder for the employees. They said that Farah was part of an agreement where they can do many things without getting in trouble. They said that the medical insurance wasn’t good at all, because if you get pregnant and you want to pay with your salary, there was no way they could afford a good hospital and they didn’t have a dental insurance. Overall, they said that the medical care was very bad because the commandant wanted to spend more money. They said that the bills of people were rallied in the income from Farah and during the strike many people couldn’t stop working because they had to pay their rent, car payment, medical care and support their families. They said that the employees that did the strike were living out of nothing because they had lost their job but they knew that it was necessary for the people that worked anywhere, because other companies could see what they were doing. Many of them had families that had to be feed and needed a place to live but taking the risk was going to be worth it or at least that’s what they taught it was going to be. They said that many people were having a hard time financially and they wants to get a better income and the companies weren’t helping them at all including the union. Many people that were part of the strike were sad because they wanted to have better working conditions and sadly for them many didn’t got what they expected. Many of the people they knew did lost their job and it was hard for them and their families as well but they knew they could get up and keep working. They said that they want other kinds to get an education so that they don’t have to work in places like farah and they dais that they wish the same for all of their family members as well, and they said that you shoulnt concentrate in things like wathing television but in getting a degree and taking care of yourself.

Date of Interview

2-1-2023

Length of Interview

1 hour, 41 minutes

Tape Number

No. 1763

Transcript Number

No. 1763

Transcriber

Roberto Cristoforo

Interview Number

No. 1763

Terms of Use

Unrestricted

Comments

Roberto Cristoforo transcribed the coversheet of the interview. There is no transcription of the interview.

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