Pecan Sheller Strike of 1938
Abstract:
On January 31st, 1938, a group of protesters led by Emma Tenayuca began a walk-out strike against pecan companies in the San Antonio area. According to the Texas State Historical Association, pecan shelling was one of the lowest-paid jobs in the nation; workers were only making between two and three dollars a week, or about five to six cents a pound. After Pecan Shelling Companies in San Antonio announced a wage decrease in 1938, workers began to protest the poor working conditions and minimal pay. Newspaper reports, court cases, and petitions highlighted the mistreatment of strikers by San Antonio police and the working conditions of pecan shellers. This movement would become known as the Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938 and has been accredited as the largest strike in San Antonio's history. Comprising 12,000 workers, primarily Hispanic women, the strike lasted three months and ended when the workers received a pay increase.
Pecan Sheller Picketers on San Antonio Street. San Antonio Express-News.
Introduction:
Since the late 1920s, Pecan Shelling Companies within San Antonio had been extorting the labor of Mexican American women[1]. Throughout the next decade, these women pushed back against their employers. After the Southern Pecan Shelling Company announced a wage decrease on January 31st, 1938, workers immediately left their factory jobs. This walkout inspired other pecan shellers to leave their jobs[2]. In the ensuing strike, known as the Pecan Sheller Strike of 1938, Emma Tenyuca and the picketers successfully brought state and national attention to their issues as they fought for higher pay[3].
In 1926, Julius Seligmann and Joe Freeman formed the Southern Pecan Shelling Company. By 1935-1936, the company shelled one-third of all of the pecans in the United States, with the company’s gross income increasing by millions annually.[4] Unlike other pecan companies, Seligmann refused to utilize available machines to crack and pick the meats out of pecans. Instead, the key to Seligmann and other San Antonio pecan shelling companies' increased profits was their extortion of cheap labor from the Mexican and Mexican American communities living within the city[5].
During the 19th century, many Mexican immigrants moved to San Antonio for work. While many did not move to the United States to work in pecan shelling factories, immigrants and Mexican American communities struggled to find jobs elsewhere [6]. The lack of available employment meant many within these communities were more willing to accept jobs that paid minimal wages. Mexican women in San Antonio were particularly likely to accept pecan shelling jobs. Initially, workers could crack and pick pecan meats within their homes. This attracted many Mexican and Mexican American women as it allowed them to earn money while still watching their young children [7].
Despite the high profits of pecan shelling companies, Seligmann and other San Antonio companies refused to raise the wages of pecan shellers even when government organizations suggested pay increases[8]. In 1934 and 1935, strikes broke out in San Antonio as thousands of pecan shellers repeatedly protested for higher pay. These strikes did not result in higher wages, but the workers gained Union representation [9].
Following these protests, four years later, on January 31st, 1938, The Southern Pecan Shelling Company announced they would make a pay cut from 6 and 7 cents per pound to 5 and 6 cents a pound [10]. After hearing the news, thousands of shellers stopped working and left their jobs. They were led by Emma Tenyuca, a “fiery little Mexican Woman, about 20 years old”. In the following weeks, more than 1000 picketers were arrested on charges including “Blocking sidewalks” and “disturbing the peace.” [11]. Once in jail, the protesters were treated like wild animals; police officers regularly forced more than twice as many people into a cell as they were rated. The picketers were clubbed in the streets and then washed out with a fire hose in the jails. They did not stop, though. A significant controversy within the protest was Tenayuca’s ties to the communist party, the city officials claiming that there would be no end to the brutality because a communist woman was claiming to have set the walkout up.
Due to the harsh treatment by police, on February 5th, the union and protestors drafted a letter to the governor encouraging him to seek action against the local governmental officials. This sparked an investigation into the illegal arrests in the city, as well as into the sheriff who was abusing his power within the city. The protestors claimed that the police were seizing banners and were refusing to let the protestors congregate on privately owned property [12]. This letter made local headlines, which led the protests to keep pursuing the issues at hand, knowing they did have some legal backing with their case.
On February 11th, the violence escalated once again when police sprayed protesters with tear gas and arrested over one hundred picketers. This event was when protesters tried to get an injunction to prevent police interference. The following day, on the 12th, Governor James V. Allred used his power and instructed an investigation into violating civil liberties committed by the San Antonio police [13]. Later that day, strikers filed a lawsuit, Manuel Martinez V. Owen W. Kilday. Martinez and Ruiz were members of the Pecan Workers Union, Local 172. The lawsuit claimed the sheriff “arrested and filed complaints against, and are still arresting and filing complaints against…more than one hundred members of the said union without warrants, and lawful authority”[14]. The judge ruled that the Pecan Shellers did not employ the petitioners and were not arrested in the picket drives. The judge also defended police using tear gas to control the crowds[15]. Despite ruling against the picketers, the court ruling encouraged the protesters to continue their petition without remorse and brought more media attention to the striker's cause.
Following the Judge’s ruling, pressures from the news caused Governor Allred to persuade Seligmann and other San Antonio companies to meet with the Union and form an arbitration[16]. Finally, on March 8th, 1938, all parties agreed to meet at a board of arbitration where the two parties agreed that there would be elected union officials on the board. This arbitration board eventually settled, and the workers received a pay increase.[17]
Emma Tenayuca was a highly influential member of the Pecan Shellers Strike. Before the 1938 strike, Emma participated in a few other political activism campaigns, including the walkout of a 1934 cigar rolling plant. Growing up, Emma followed the political landscapes of both the United States and Mexico. Emma became an activist before even receiving her high school diploma. Emma’s work on civil rights issues predated that of Cesar Chavez. Tenayuca formed two separate International Ladies Garment Workers unions and her role in organizing the strikes against the pecan shellers industry [18]. Though there was controversy surrounding Emma's political alignment, she was a spearhead for the Mexican American Women in the strike, a young and persistent protester. Without her influence, the strike might have never come to pass.
The Pecan Shellers strike of 1938 was a highly influential case for women's rights as well as the rights of the Mexican American people. News of the strike spread far and wide, and newspapers around the country kept local citizens updated on the developments in south Texas. The movement proved that minorities and women could strike for increased wages and better working conditions. However, the harsh treatment of these workers was overlooked for so long that it, among other labor strikes, eventually led to the Fair Labor Relations Act of 1938. This act established a minimum wage for all workers, which was mandated by law. It also created mandatory pay for workers who worked over 40 hours a week [19]. Through the efforts of the pecan sheller strikers and leaders like Emma Tenayuca, Congress passed legislation that would prevent the exploitation of workers of future generations.
Discussion Questions:
1.How did members of the Union’s communist ties contribute to the treatment of protesters by San Antonio Police and the court system?
2.What did the Pecan Sheller Strike of 1938 contribute to labor movements across the United States, and how did it support labor rights legislation?
Endnotes:
[1] Kenneth P. Walker. “The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio and Mechanization,” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 69, No. 1 (1965), 46.
[2] Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid and Unemployed Mexican Labor, (United States Government Printing Office, 1940) 17.
[3] Zaragoza Vargus, “Tejana Radical: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Labor Movement
during the Great Depression,” Pacific Historical Review 66, no. 4 (1997): 556.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3642237.
[4] Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 8.
[5] Walker, “The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio and Mechanization,” 46.
[6] Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 4-5.
[7] Walker “The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio and Mechanization,” 46-47. Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 5.
[8] “‘5 Cents a Day Plenty for Mexicans’ Is Brutal Reply of Pecan Shelling Boss” Daily Worker,
May 31, 1934. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020097/1934-05-31/ed-1/seq-4/. Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 15-16.
[9] “Pecan Shellers Strike For Increase in Wages,” The Butler Country Press. July 27, 1934. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045012/1934-07-27/ed-1/seq-2/. “Pecan Shellers Strike at S.A. Again.” Brownsville Herald, March 19, 1935. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063730/1935-03-18/ed-2/seq-1/.
[10] Walker “The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio and Mechanization,” 46-47. Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 6.
[11] “San Antonio Pecan Labor Difficulties Bring Many Arrests,” Brownwood Bulletin, February 11, 1938. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1041100/m1/5/.
[12] “Pecan Shellers Ask Action by Governor.” Brownwood Bulletin, February 5, 1938. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1040449/m1/8/.
[13] “Claim Civil Liberties Violated in Strike.” The Abilene Reporter-News, February 13, 1938.https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1746036/m1/18/.
[14] Manuel Martinez vs. Owen W. Kilday, B-S9956. 45, (N.D. Tex. 1938). University of Houston, Gov. James V. Allred Papers, 1938.https://id.lib.uh.edu/ark:/84475/do3139x196w.
[15] “Bomb found in Bexar County Courthouse.” Henderson Daily News, February 27, 1938. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1331245/m1/1/.
[16] Selden C. Menfee and Orin C. Cassmore, The Pecan Shellers of San Antonio.The Problem of Underpaid, 18.
[17] “Arbitration Board Plans Are Made in San Antonio Strike,” Brownwood Bulletin, March 8, 1938. https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1040800/m1/6/. Memorandum of Agreement regarding a Board of Arbitration. University of Houston, Gov. James V. Allred Papers, 1938. https://id.lib.uh.edu/ark:/84475/do3549g5899.
[18] Zaragoza Vargus, “Tejana Radical’”556.
[19] U.S. Congress. House. i. 103rd Cong. 1 Sess. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/FairLaborStandAct.pdf.
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