The ILGWU in 1930s San Antonio
In the 1930s, the garment industry grew in San Antonio as manufacturers left industrial centers on the east coast for cheaper, non-union labor. Garment workers, who were almost all women and, in San Antonio, almost all Mexican American, worked under poor conditions, including low pay, long hours, and poorly-regulated homework. So, in 1933, garment workers began to organize, and in 1935 the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) chose garment worker Myrtle Zappone to become the city’s organizer and former teacher Elizabeth Taylor to run the educational department. The San Antonio ILGWU gathered members and called strikes and seemed to be an opportunity for Mexican American women to participate in an organization that would represent their interests and help their community. The San Antonio ILGWU was a unique opportunity for multiple reasons: the ILGWU was one of few unions that represented majority women workers; the ILGWU was the first union in Texas to have an educational component for workers; the San Antonio local was the only ILGWU local in Texas with majority Mexican American workers; and the San Antonio local was one of the only unions in 1930s San Antonio that was backed by a national-level organization like the International.With the chance for union-provided education, institutional support and representation, and better working conditions for the Mexican-American women workers, the San Antonio ILGWU represented a lot of promise. Unfortunately, the ILGWU only somewhat fulfilled that promise in San Antonio.
This section of the exhibit will look at the potential for organizing and consciousness-raising through a large and established union. Union education, which was strong in the ILGWU, was an opportunity for consciousness-raising, but was only somewhat successful in San Antonio. The union could have provided representation and leadership opportunities for its workers, but high-up ILGWU leadership refused to appoint Mexican American women and the San Antonio local expelled workers with radical views. Finally, the union did achieve better wages and hours for workers in some cases, but that was limited by the union strategy of appealing to business owners. The San Antonio ILGWU demonstrates that joining established institutions can provide resources, but anyone who does is also limited by the existing beliefs and strategies within that institution.