Interviewer
Institute of Oral History
Project
Farah Strike
Summary of Interview
She mentions that the companies were demanding the same quality of work and they were not realizing the amount of work they were giving to the workers, and it was an excessive amount of it. She says that the strikes separated people because it was a movement that had different opinions, but in the end they were fighting for the same thing. The union was created to support employees but the workers realized that that wasn’t true at all. When the strike first started she couldn’t ever imagine that the strike was going to be as big as it was, because there were tons of people involved in this movement.
When she was working at the gateway, she said that it was not as good people were saying it was, because they realized that the union was close to there. She decided to join the union before they said that they were going to help workers, but at the end all on that changed. She says that the union started as a small union but once it got more people in the union the things started to change a lot. She once was told that in lunch she couldn’t complain about the union with other people that worked there, and she answered that she will try her best. She first started as a utility in the union and then she was moved to the line and she had a raise from 1dollar to 1.75 cents after 11 years working there. She didn’t like the meetings they had at the union because they didn’t address the thing that really mattered. When she started working in the union she liked it but the union changed their priority from people to their own. She was working at the time that everyone struck the union and at first it was all right but everything turned out really bad at first but at the end everything worked perfectly. Most of the people were saying that they were better without the union, than with the union, so they wanted to disappear the union.
The strike was something that helped her to realize many things such as helping others realize that they needed to strike the union, and saying why and that it was good for them and their families. When the union ended people were relieved from a huge pain and they knew that that was the best thing to do. She says that people that were on top of the union didn’t respect or care for their workers, they only care to benefit their own. When the union ended after the strike, many companies raised their wages, thanks to all of the efforts of the workers. The raised came with more strict supervisors because they were paying more they will see that that money is worth every cent with work. When she was working in the company she once was given a pink sleeve saying that she was going to be displaced in 10 days if she didn’t work better. Even though some supervisors were more strict, she and many other people were very happy because finally their voice was heard and they saw the power they have working together.
Date of Interview
2-1-2023
Length of Interview
37 minutes
Listen to the Interview
Tape Number
No. 1775
Transcript Number
No. 1775
Transcriber
Roberto Cristoforo
Interview Number
No. 1775
Terms of Use
Unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Interview with Jaramillo De Palacio by Institute of Oral History, 2023, "Interview no. 1775," Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso.
Comments
Roberto Cristoforo transcribed the coversheet of the interview. There is no transcription of the interview.