Gutierrez, Willie C. (Albuquerque, NM), part 2

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Document Type

Audio

Publication Date

6-26-1984

Comments

Continued: The Timber Company strike and the establishment of the workers Union as a result of the continuous labor exploitation and low wages. He mentions he had a lot of documents of the Union for the interviewer to study. Lack of training and arbitrary dismissals in the Timber company was a common practice executed by the 'Mayordomos' [supervisors]. Workers were not protected against those labor abuses and there was a point where workers started to talk about unionizing, but they had to face a lot of challenges and threats by the company owners. The union leaders and organizers were persecuted and harassed by the owners. After the Union was established, the Company had to follow standards and regulations that the Union set up, so defrauding practices in the company stopped. Memories of his colleagues and mentors who taught him how to cut and clean timber: Felipe Chavez, Frank Candelaria, Juan Barajas, and Catarino Gutierrez. Stories of his time as a lumberjack in the Sierra [mountainous area away from town]; the long journeys and cutting trees away from home, how they used to reheat their meals in the wild, encounters with wild animals: bears and wild cats. Accidents while doing their work and simple entertainment they used to play during their breaks: El juego de la herradura. Memories of how his father used to make beer out of potato peeling. His opinion on raising children in the past compared to how children are raised now with no discipline or  respect for their elders. He stated that laws have changed and distorted the idea of disciplining the children. People in the communities in the sierras used to help each other and share, so nobody starved. More on his anecdotes as a young man and his time in the Timber Company.

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