User:Hanlmoll/sandbox/draft1938pecanshellersstrike

The Pecan Sheller's Strike occurred between the 31st of January and the 9th of March 1938 in San Antonio, Texas. Between 8,000 and 10,000 workers at the Southern Pecan Shelling Company walked out over poor working conditions, with the catalyst to the strike being pay cuts from 6 to 3 cents per pound of whole kernels.

Although the strike is seen by most as a mixed success, historians such as George Sessions Parry and Gabriela Gonzalez have argued it laid the groundwork for Tejano and Chicano civil rights movements in the late 1960s, marking the emergence of a collective Mexican-American working class identity and struggle against discrimination. The strike is also notable for the notable role women played, both as organizers and strikers.

Background and conditions
In the first three decades of the 20th century, Pecan production in Texas grew exponentially. In 1925 the state had 2.5 million pecan trees, but by 1929 there were 6.6 million trees producing 9.5 million pounds of nuts for market. San Antonio in particular was an important hub; by 1930, over 400 shelling plants in the city were providing more than 50% of America's pecans.

Although many Pecan companies turned towards mechanisation in the 1920s, an abundance cheap Mexican labour in San Antonio was exploited by the Southern Pecan Shelling Company, established by Julius Seligmann in 1926. During the 1930s, Seligmann's "sweatshop shelleries" proved to be far more resistant to economic downturn during the Great Depression, as the cost of maintenance and upgrades to machinery proved to more expensive than the low-wages the SPSC paid to it's largely immigrant workforce. As the depression hit mechanised companies, Southern and it's contractors effectively gained a monopoly over maple production wages in San Antonio. By 1936 the company was making over three million dollars in profit, built on cheap labour and increasing growing areas.

Despite high profits, conditions for the workers remained poor. The shellers, who were mostly Mexican women, worked in cramped, dusty and unventilated conditions with little light and no plumbing. Housing was overcrowded, and there were high levels of Tuberculosis among the workforce. The average sheller earned just two dollars per week between the months of November and March, some of the lowest wages in San Antonio in 1938.

The strike
On the 27 January 1938, thousands of workers gathered in Cassiano Park, San Antonio, to hear James Sager, a local representative of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America speak against Southern's cut to wages from six cents to three cents per pound.

On the 31 January 1938, when Southern formally cut wages, approximately two thirds of San Antonio's 12,000 pecan workers walked out of their role. That day, Emma Tenayuca an established union organizer, was arrested for her involvement in the strike. Over 600 workers picketed outside the police station she was held in. On the 1 February Tenayuca was released, and elected the strike's honorary chair person alongside James Sager, a local representative of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America.

On the 2 February, Police Chief Owen W. Kilday denied the existance of the strike,