In May 1972, roughly 4,000 employees of Farah Manufacturing Company walked out of the company's San Antonio, El Paso, Victoria, and New Mexico plants. More than 85 percent of the strikers were Chicanas and Mexican American women, many of them single mothers or primary wage earners. Farah had grown into the largest manufacturer of men's and boys' trousers in the United States, employing approximately 9,500 to 10,400 people and ranking among Texas's largest employers. Yet sewing-machine operators were paid only slightly above the federal minimum wage—around $1.60 an hour, compared with a national average of approximately $2.50—and the average weekly take-home pay was below the poverty line for a family of four. Workers described arbitrary firings, favoritism in raises, sexual harassment and intimidation by supervisors, inadequate ventilation, illness caused by factory conditions, and production quotas that escalated to punishing levels. One worker who had begun with a quota of 18 bundles a day—each bundle containing a dozen pairs of pants—was eventually expected to produce 125 bundles daily before she could receive a raise.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
The Farah Strike: 4,000 Chicana Garment Workers Take on a Texas Pants Empire
Farah Manufacturing Company, Willie Farah, and Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America / 1970s
In May 1972, roughly 4,000 employees of Farah Manufacturing Company walked out of the company's San Antonio, El Paso, Victoria, and New Mexico plants. More than 85 percent of the strikers were Chicanas and Mexican American women, many of them single mothers or primary wage earners. Farah had grown into the largest manufacturer of men's and boys' trousers in the United States, employing approximately 9,500 to 10,400 people and ranking among Texas's largest employers. Yet sewing-machine operators were paid only slightly above the federal minimum wage—around $1.60 an hour, compared with a national average of approximately $2.50—and the average weekly take-home pay was below the poverty line for a family of four. Workers described arbitrary firings, favoritism in raises, sexual harassment and intimidation by supervisors, inadequate ventilation, illness caused by factory conditions, and production quotas that escalated to punishing levels. One worker who had begun with a quota of 18 bundles a day—each bundle containing a dozen pairs of pants—was eventually expected to produce 125 bundles daily before she could receive a raise.
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