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Somma waterbed workers win back pay
Read more: Somma waterbed workers win back payIn 1984, workers at the Somma waterbed factory in East Los Angeles began organizing fellow workers at neighborhood soccer games and decide to join the ILGWU. Most of the workers were immigrants from Mexico and Central America, many without documentation. Their employer was Angel Echevarria, a prominent figure in the Latino community and in Los Angeles politics. In January 1985, Somma workers voted 117-48 for a union. The company refused to negotiate with the workers…
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“Springsteen Strikes a Chord With Laid-off Steelworkers”
Read more: “Springsteen Strikes a Chord With Laid-off Steelworkers”In November 1984, Bruce Springsteen made an unusual stop on his “Born in the U.S.A.” tour: a Food Bank near a shuttered steel mill in Maywood, CA. The Food Bank had been established after the Bethlehem Steel Corporation shuttered its mill there in 1982, resulting in job losses for thousands of workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 1845. With funds from the union’s Oldtimers Foundation and the support of dozens of volunteers, most of whom…
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CODIL General Assembly
Read more: CODIL General AssemblyAfter years of fighting deportation sweeps in Los Angeles, activists associated with the Centro de Acción Social Autónomo (CASA) formed special committee to address workplace raids by the INS and to advocate for the rights of undocumented workers generally. The Comité Obrero en Defensa de los Indocumentados en Lucha (CODIL, or in English the Workers Committee in Defense of the Undocumented in the Struggle) joined with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and a group of…
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Claiming the right to full union membership
Read more: Claiming the right to full union membershipIn 1978 members of HERE Local 11 launched a campaign to unseat long-time union leader Andrew “Scotty” Allan. United Workers of Local 11 ran a multiracial slate of men and women committed to greater member participation in the 20,000 member union. Their candidate for the office of secretary-treasurer was Daniel Ruiz, a resident immigrant and respected leader among the workers at the Hyatt hotel. However, the election committee of Local 11, citing the constitution of…
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United Workers of Local 11
Read more: United Workers of Local 11During the 1970s, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union (HERE) Local 11 in Los Angeles was losing power as restaurant owners dropped their union contracts and hotels cut wages and benefits. In 1978 a multiracial group of members calling themselves United Workers of Local 11 challenged the union’s long-serving leader Scotty Allan. The group distributed campaign flyers accusing union leaders of making backroom deals with employers and ignoring the concerns of the Spanish-speaking majority of…
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Bert Corona explains the mission of CASA
Read more: Bert Corona explains the mission of CASAActivities of the Brotherhood of Immigrant Workers, C.A.S.A The purpose of the General Brotherhood of Immigrant Workers is to represent the real life interests of immigrant workers and their families. In so doing it has to fight for the real life interests of all of the workers since workers are in reality inseparable. This is not merely a cliche, an abstraction or generality but a very specific and concrete reality. When employers pit one set…
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Challenging Dragnet Immigration Raids: Loya v. INS
Read more: Challenging Dragnet Immigration Raids: Loya v. INSIn 1972-73, the Immigration and Naturalization service carried out widespread raids on workplaces, businesses, and homes in Los Angeles. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, in collaboration with the Center for Autonomous Social Action (CASA) and other allies in the Latinx community, filed suit to stop the raids–a case that became known as Loya v. INS. Founded in 1968 and led in its early years by Bert Corona, CASA provided social and…
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Pacific Coast School for Workers
Read more: Pacific Coast School for WorkersBetween 1933 and 1945, the University of California collaborated with California Department of Education and the California Federation of Labor to offer workers’ education courses through the University Extension. Known first as the Western Summer School for Workers, then as the Pacific Coast School for Workers, and finally as the Pacific Coast Labor School, the program trained hundreds of rank-and-file union members and set the stage for the founding of the UC Institute for Industrial…
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Fighting Mass Deportation during the Great Depression
Read more: Fighting Mass Deportation during the Great DepressionNon-Citizen Americans in the South West Caravans of Sorrow One hears much today about Hemisphere unity. The press sends special correspondents to Latin America, South of the Border songs are wailed by the radio, educational institutions and literary circles speak the language of cultural cooperation, and, what is more important, labor unions are seeking the road of closer ties with the Latin American working people. The stage is set. A curtain rises. May we ask…
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The “Student-Industrial Movement” of the 1920s
Read more: The “Student-Industrial Movement” of the 1920sStudent-Industrial Movement Proves Worth I first became acquainted with the idea of the student-industrial movement in 1922 at a weekend party conducted by the Young Women’s Christian Association. At that time I was not much impressed with its importance, and wished I would not be invited again; however, since then I have learned to appreciate the value of this movement. When students actually go into industry, not for financial help only, but for the purpose…
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