Daniel Rivera Oral History Interview
Streaming Media
Description
Dan Rivera grew up in a Union family of Plumbers and Pipefitters. Rivera explains how New Mexican men who left the state during the Depression returned to work in their trade and "built the bomb" in Los Alamos. Rivera shares his work experience starting with his apprenticeship and licensing in UA Local 412 (United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 412) in 1972 through to retirement in 2009. Building a refinery in Lovington NM, he found his calling as an industrial pipefitter. He developed into a Union activist and also served as the executive director of the NM State Federation of Labor where he lobbied for Labor rights. He explains that the issues (basic human rights, immigrant rights, workers' rights) never change; they always need to be fought for. Rivera shared his garage Labor museum complete with picket signs and photos, posters and T-shirts. As a singer of Labor songs, Rivera cites "May the Work that I've done Speak for Me" as a favorite.
Publication Date
3-16-2017
Keywords
UA Local 412, camaraderie, Right to Work, human rights, general strike, Progressives, organized Labor, collective strength, community, Salt of the Earth film, Cesar Chavez, picket line
Disciplines
Labor History
Publisher
Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication, University Libraries, University of New Mexico
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Pinkey, Diane and Daniel Rivera. "Daniel Rivera Oral History Interview." (2017). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/wphnm/20
Comments
1920x1088; MP4; No institutional restrictions are placed on the use of this collection. Use of material is allowed for educational and research purposes. The University Libraries do not hold copyright.