Voicing solidarity : the Ladies' Auxiliary and the retelling of the Empire Zinc strike

Abstract

I will examine the representations in the film Salt of the Earth, which depicts an adaptation of the International Union Mill, Mine Smelter Workers, Local 890 strike against the Empire Zinc Corporation in 1950-1952. I highlight the active role mujeres in The Ladies Auxiliary played in the two-year strike, which ended in an historic victory. My methodological framework of oral history and feminist ethnography, I conducted interviews with four surviving mujeres involved in the strike. The mujeres' voices recall the private consequences of speaking out and challenging the patriarchal hierarchy within Mexican-origin families.