Economy Furniture Company Strike Collection, 1968-1972

Historical Note

The non-violent efforts of the Upholsterers' International Union (UIU), Local No. 456 of Austin, Texas, to win union recognition and a signed contract with the Economy Furniture Company was realized in 1971, ending a two-and-a-half-year strike by company employees who voted overwhelmingly (252-83) in favor of the union. Workers at the Economy Furniture Company, ninety percent of whom were Mexican-American, sought union representation to improve working conditions, increase salaries, and secure arbitration in labor disputes. Following the union election, the company's owner, Milton Smith, filed objections to the election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He refused later that year to comply with the Board's ruling which certified the union as the collective bargaining agent of the employees. In protest of the company's refusal to recognize the union, 252 workers walked out on strike on November 27, 1968.

The ensuing strike, also known as the “Austin Chicano Huelga,” received a wide spectrum of support from local as well as national labor, religious, and Mexican-American groups. UIU's decision to conduct a state- and nation-wide boycott of Economy Furniture Company products drew support from the United Farmworkers Organizing Committee's Lettuce Boycott and its leader, César Chávez. Chávez had first introduced a national boycott as a tool to secure collective bargaining rights for farmworkers in California. In support of the striking employees and their boycott, Chávez came to Austin on February 6-7, 1971, bringing together more than 5,000 persons at a march and rally at the state capitol.

Pickets were finally withdrawn after twenty-eight months following a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in January, 1971. The court declared the strike an “unfair labor practice strike,” and it enforced an NLRB ruling that Economy Furniture Company must negotiate with the union and reinstate the striking workers. Negotiations between the two parties were started, and a contract was approved on September 7, 1971. The contract agreement provided wage increases each year, an additional paid holiday, improved vacation, seniority, and arbitration.

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Scope and Contents Note

The legal papers of the attorneys for the UIU Local No. 456 include affidavits and questionnaires of striking workers (1970-1971), correspondence between Economy Furniture Company and UIU Local No. 456 attorneys and the National Labor Relations Board, law notes and memos, court actions, rulings of the NLRB and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and papers relating to the final negotiations and settlement of the strike.

The strike materials relating to the labor activities of the UIU Local No. 456 and its leaders include letters, brochures, and newsclippings belonging to strike and boycott leaders Victor and Jim Ruiz. In addition, a collection of newsclippings and issues of Texas and Austin community newspapers from 1967 to 1971, such as the Voice of the East, La Fuerza, the Lone Star Dispatch, El Papel Chicano(Houston), the Austin American Statesman, and the UIU Journal (the national organ of the Upholsterers' Union) are included. The collection covers both strike and Chicano related articles and news items.

Boycott materials include agendas and minutes, budgets, circular letters, strategy notes, and a Local No. 456 organizational chart with a statewide personal contact list. Internal publications include a report of César Chávez's visit to Austin in 1971, press releases, articles from 1969 to 1971, UIU newsletters and brochures, handbills, and leaflets relating to strike and boycott activities.

A collection of 165 black and white and color photographs document picket lines, marches, rallies, and local and national union leaders. Audiocassette tapes include a speech given by César Chávez in Austin in 1971, and speeches made by union members, supporters, state legislative representatives, and labor and civic leaders at a local 456 meeting at Montopolis Center in Austin.

A strike banner and sign comprise the memorabilia.

Union correspondence consists of outgoing state and national mail (1970-1971) belonging to Lencho Hernández, strike leader and boycott coordinator; outgoing mail (1970-1971) belonging to Janet Newton, publicity coordinator; correspondence related to César Chávez (1970 and 1971), Samuel Houston Clinton and Dave R. Richards, attorneys for the UIU Local No. 456 (February-May 1971), and other srike correspondence.

The external publications include various labor and Chicano/Hispanic newsclippings and printed materials, press releases, leaflets, and miscellaneous publications related to civil rights and community organization.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Unrestricted.

Use Restrictions

Standard copyright restrictions apply.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Economy Furniture Company Strike Collection, 1968-1972, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin.

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Box and Folder Inventory

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