1913 El Paso smelters' strike

1913 El Paso smelters' strike
Photo of Smeltertown & ASARCO Plant in the 1910s
Date	April 10 – June 30, 1913[note 1] (2 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Location	El Paso, Texas, United States
Caused by	Increasing tensions between Mexican workers and smelter management
Goals	Daily wage increase from $1.40 to $1.75 Eight-hour day Changes to company store policy Replacement of the company physician Union recognition
Methods	Strike action Walkout
Resulted in	Strike crushed after company began to bring in strikebreakers and evict strikers and their families from company-owned housing
Parties
Smelters Industrial Workers of the World Western Federation of Miners El Paso Mill and Smelter Workers Local Number 78 American Smelting and Refining Company
Casualties
Death(s)	1

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The 1913 El Paso smelters' strike was a labor strike involving workers of the American Smelting and Refining Company's copper smelting plant in El Paso, Texas, United States. The workers, almost entirely Mexican Americans, went on strike on April 10, primarily seeking a pay increase, among other demands. The strike collapsed by the end of June, with many of the strikers leaving El Paso in the aftermath.

During the early 1900s, the smelting plant in the border town employed about 3,000 workers, primarily recent immigrants from Mexico. El Paso during this time was a hotbed for radical political activity, and Mexican workers in the city engaged in numerous labor strikes wherein they demanded better wages and improved working conditions. In 1907, the smelting plant was hit by a strike that was partially successful, resulting in pay increases, but also the firing of many strikers. By 1913, tensions had again mounted in the plant, with many workers pushing for a pay increase from $1.40 to $1.75 per day. Additional demands included a reduction in working hours from 12 to 8 per day, changes to the company store policies, and the replacement of the company physician. On April 10, about 100 workers performed a spontaneous walkout, and within the next few weeks, about 1,000 workers were on strike.

During the labor dispute, both the Industrial Workers of the World and the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) fought to recruit strikers to their labor unions, with the latter going as far as creating a local union, though neither group gained full control over the strike. The company benefitted from having the support of local law enforcement officials and, later, the Texas Rangers, and within a few weeks, they began to bring in strikebreakers. In late April, the Texas Rangers and strikers were involved in several confrontations that resulted in a Ranger shooting and killing one striker and injuring another. The strikebreakers damaged the strike, and the strikers were further hurt when the company began to evict strikers and their families from company-owned homes in the Smeltertown neighborhood surrounding the plant. By late June, the strike had been broken. While many strikers attempted to get their jobs back, many were not rehired, and the WFM organized new metallurgical jobs for many workers in places throughout the Southwestern United States.

While the strike ended in failure for the workers, several historians have noted the significance of the strike, with historian Monica Perales stating in a 2010 book that, "[a]lthough it ultimately failed, the action represented a critical moment in border labor history and revealed that the Mexican workers were willing to risk their jobs and their lives to be respected as smelter men". Additionally, historian Philip J. Mellinger speculates that many of the strikers who left El Paso after the strike may have been involved in future labor disputes involving Mexican Americans in the region. At El Paso, the WFM local union barely survived the strike with a few dozen members, but it would not be until the 1930s and 1940s that the Congress of Industrial Organizations succeeded in organizing the plant, later leading a strike in 1946. In the 1970s, residents of Smeltertown were forced to relocate after environmental studies revealed dangerous amounts of lead in the area due to the plant.

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