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United Voices for Immigrants held a meeting on April 10. The UNITE! union on Walnut Hill Road in Dallas provided a meeting room. Activists from Dallas and Johnson County discussed some of the major issues facing immigrant workers today. They planned a big, public, workshop for May 8. Here are some of the problems facing immigrants
Margarita Alvarez spoke of her concerns about voter apathy. She said that she could see patterns in the United States that reminded her of Guatemala. People there ignored the fight for their own democracy, she said. The government took advantage of the volatile situation and used war and violence to maintain their power.
North Texas union men and women joined commemorations of the great Farmworker leader, Cesar Chavez, on the occasion of his birth, March 31, 1927. On the 27th, members of the Civil Rights Committee of UAW Local 276 and Local 848 joined in the annual parade in Ft Worth.
On Wednesday, March 31, State Legislator Roberto Alonzo spoke to all North
Texas about Chavez from the studios of KNON, 89.3 FM radio, on the "Workers
Beat" program. From 8 to 9, Alonzo joined host Gene Lantz to remember
the many fights that the United Farm Workers of America fought. They recalled
that farm workers in the past were regularly sprayed with pesticides from
crop duster airplines. They used the infamous "short hoe," about
12 inches in length, to cultivate fields all day. They had no restrooms available
while whole families toiled in the fields and had to relieve themselves on
the ground. Sanitary facilities were lacking in their ramshackled living quarters.
Alonzo also remembered the contributions of Pancho
Medrano of Dallas and the United Auto Workers. 
While Chavez and the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) fought to improve conditions, they also taught the American labor movement many lessons about organizing, using volunteers, and working with allies outside the unions. Those lessons are being implemented today by many unions. All of us are in debt to Cesar Chavez, and we acknowledge what we owe every year on March 31.
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These Civil Rights Organizations Want You
Coalition
of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU)and A. Philip Randolph Institute
(APRI) need you. Both organizations are open to union members of all ages, genders,
and races. Rank and file union members pay $30/year for CBTU. Angela Johnson
of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is pictured. Contact
us to join
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The Labor Committee for Latin American Advancement (LCAA) helps focus the efforts of union members. Membership costs only $15/year. Gerardo Contreras of the United Auto Workers is pictured. Contact us to join
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CLUW Needs U!
Cindy Fitch
of CWA 6215 has been elected President of the Dallas Coalition of Labor Union
Women (CLUW). She told the Central Labor Council that more women are needed
at their regular meetings at 6 PM every Second Monday at 1408 N Washington in
East Dallas. CLUW is one of the most active of all AFL-CIO organizations.
The Coalition of Labor Union Women recently launched its revamped website at www.cluw.org. Visitors will find a site "that all working women—especially union women--can turn to on a regular basis for news and information about working women and to take action on legislative issues of particular concern to them," said CLUW President Gloria Johnson. CLUW also is building an e-activist network for working women. For more information, visit the website or e-mail Renee Barnes at rmbarnes@cluw.org
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Does Coca Cola Discriminate as Well as Refresh?
Try www.cokediscrimination.com
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Pancho Medrano, Sr., left a rock quarrying job to begin working at North American in 1941. The workforce had been almost totally Caucasian as he remembers. Racism against the few workers of Mexican descent was so prevalent that Medrano could not find a partner to join him in a two-man riveting operation. He had to invent a method whereby one person could perform the team task.
It was even worse for African Americans. As Medrano recalls, nearly all of them were assigned to cleaning restrooms. They had only one restroom assigned for their use. Everything, even the punch clocks, were segregated. Most of the Mexican Americans were assigned the least desirable jobs. He remembers only one or two Mexican Americans assigned to run machines. "Throughout the war," he remembers, "I don't think there was ever a Black at any machine at North American Aviation."
Medrano was a renowned boxer. During lunch breaks, he fought in a boxing ring constructed just outside the southwest corner of what is now called "Building One". His prowess with his fists and his devotion to the union recommended him highly. Local 645 elected him Sergeant at Arms. It was the beginning of an illustrious union career.
In 1960, when television began to change the visibility of the American Civil Rights Movement, UAW President Walter Reuther commissioned Medrano as a special UAW International Representative for Civil Rights. Medrano then participated in virtually all of the landmark events of that great movement. He walked with King, with Tijerino, and with Chavez through those historical years.
When he retired in Dallas, he continued as an active member of UAW Local 848’s retiree group. He attended the March meeting and was making plans to attend the April meeting when death took him. For photo layout on Pancho, to go www.uaw848.org
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