Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87
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Overview
“How 1,000 Latina workers in Watsonville, California won an 18-month long strike . . . an inspiring tale” (Mae M. Ngai, author of Impossible Subjects and The Lucky Ones)
On September 9, 1985, a predominately Mexican group of one thousand women workers in Watsonville, California, the “frozen food capital of the world,” were forced out on strike in response to an attempt by Watsonville Canning owner Mort Console to break their union.
They returned to work eighteen months later. Not one had crossed the picket line. A moribund union has been revitalized, and Watsonville’s Latino majority emerged as a major force in local politics.
At a time when organized labor was in headlong retreat, the Watsonville Canning strike was a dramatic show of the power of women workers, whose struggle became a rallying point for the Chicano movement.
Apart from its sheer drama, the strikers’ story illuminates the challenges facing a group of ordinary working people who waged a protracted and ultimately successful struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.
On September 9, 1985, a predominately Mexican group of one thousand women workers in Watsonville, California, the “frozen food capital of the world,” were forced out on strike in response to an attempt by Watsonville Canning owner Mort Console to break their union.
They returned to work eighteen months later. Not one had crossed the picket line. A moribund union has been revitalized, and Watsonville’s Latino majority emerged as a major force in local politics.
At a time when organized labor was in headlong retreat, the Watsonville Canning strike was a dramatic show of the power of women workers, whose struggle became a rallying point for the Chicano movement.
Apart from its sheer drama, the strikers’ story illuminates the challenges facing a group of ordinary working people who waged a protracted and ultimately successful struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.
- Title: Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87
- Author: Peter Shapiro
- Publisher: Haymarket Books
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 237
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781608467495, 9781608466801, 1608466809, 160846749X
- Resource ID: LLS:9781608467495
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-21T11:37:42Z
Peter Shapiro: Peter Shapiro is a retired letter carrier and longtime labor journalist. His union paper was repeatedly honored during his tenure as editor, and he has published in Labor Notes, Labor Studies Journal, Unity, and The Nation.