Garment Workers Strike Mexican Working Strikers Los Industry

In the early 1930s, the "garment" (clothing) industry was one of the fastest-growing industries in Los Angeles. The industry had a high "demand" (want and need) for female workers, and many of the women who worked in the garment factories were Mexican immigrants, but the women were paid very little for their work.

"Unions" (organized labor; groups of workers who cooperate to get better wages and better working conditions) were becoming increasingly common, but they rarely worked with "minorities" (people who are not a member of the majority cultural group). In 1933, a woman named Rose Pesotta began organizing the Mexican garment workers, and they began their "strike" (a period of time when people stop working in order to force employers to give them what they demand) in the fall of 1933. The strike mostly focused on Mexican American workers, but organizers also used "bilingual" (in two languages) materials to reach out to other workers.

The garment workers were demanding a "minimum wage" (a minimum amount of money that is paid for each hour of work), a 35-hour workweek, and safer working conditions, among other things. The strike lasted 26 days, and it was sometimes "violent" (causing harm or death to people, and/or damage to property). Strikers shouted and "attacked" (physically fought with and hurt) their co-workers who were not participating in the strike, and 50 of the strikers were "arrested" (put in jail).

"In the end" (finally), the strikers "prevailed" (won). They received the things that they had demanded, and they returned to work as part of a union called the Dressmakers Union Local 96.