When Mexican American miners at a small Hanover, New Mexico zinc mine walked off their jobs in 1950, the Mine, Mill and Smelters Workers Union knew this was an important strike that might set the standard for upcoming contracts in the Southwest mining belt. Nobody back then could have imagined, however, that the Empire Zinc Strike would go on to inspire and teach generations of labor, women and Chicano activists. The classic epic labor epic film Salt of the Earth, filmed on location by blacklisted Hollywood filmmakers, immortalized the strike for the benefit of all who seek to throw off their chains.
Salt of the Earth Labor College was founded in the early 1990s in Tucson, Arizona in the copper mining belt. It happened due to the generosity of Felix Padilla and Arvilla Jackson, who bequeathed their home and library with the desire they be used for a workers’ school. Choosing the name was easy. Our founding group included several former copper miners including Lorenzo and Anita Torrez, veterans of the Empire Zinc Strike and the movie. We thought that, like the movie, the school should teach working people that class struggle is not only the battle between workers and boss on the shop floor, but also the struggle for class unity. Like the movie, the school should help working people see how a strike action by workers along with women’s struggle for dignity and equality and the civil rights struggle of Chicanos are all part of the working class’ struggle against corporate rule.
Our governing committee decided to make the school an independent workers’ school not formally affiliated with any party or organization. That decision has made it more comfortable for trade unionists to participate as lecturers and as students. It has also enabled other organizations and institutions to approach us about co-sponsoring educational forums and symposia. These contacts have helped broaden participation in our classes. The school is also a venue for meetings, community gatherings and social events.
Salt of the Earth Labor College opened its door in the fall of 1993 and has just completed its tenth year of classes. We hold two semesters a year consisting of a series of Saturday classes. We try to choose topics that are relevant to Arizona working people. We’ve had presentations on “Organizing the Unorganized,” the “Role of the Rank and File: The Backbone of the Union,” and the “Struggle for National Health Care.” One of our most interesting presentations was made by Navajo coal miners about how they led the struggle to repeal their reservation’s “Right to Work” law.
Every February we do a program honoring Black History Month, and in March we celebrate International Women’s Day, sometimes with a showing of Salt of the Earth followed by discussion.
Keeping the school going has required lots of hard work. Our operating committee meets regularly year round. Work includes publicity, preparing programs, conducting classes and maintaining the building. We pay careful attention to fund raising. The school has been able to raise enough to pay for building maintenance and air fare for one speaker per semester. We utilize Arizona talent, mostly, but have also welcomed guest lecturers like Tony Mazzocchi, George Meyers and Bea Lumpkin. Last February we invited Jarvis Tyner, executive vice-chair of the CPUSA to talk about the legacy of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois.
Our fundraising efforts have been enhanced the last three years by the many 50th anniversary observances for the Empire Zinc Strike and for the movie. These events, which have taken place in several New Mexico and Arizona cities, have been a great place to make new contacts, gain supporters and sell our T-shirts and cards. Some of our classes have been attempts to help start up new local affiliates of labor formations like the Coalition of Labor Union Women, Pride at Work and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. Some, like CBTU, became functioning organizations.
Contacts made at the school have also led to at least one workplace getting organized and winning a contract. Many new activists who learned about Tucson’s Job with Justice Coalition at one of our classes have strengthened that organization.
Another aspect of our work is on the cultural front. We have had local folk singers teach labor songs, working class poets read their work, artists explain the role of art in struggle, labor storyteller Gail Ryall and many labor video showings, especially those by Tucson’s Pan Left Productions. We have shown Salt of the Earth every year and are pleased that we continue to get a good turnout.
When we started out we had decided not to create a Communist Party or a Marxist school. We figured that we needed to be broader if we were going to reach large numbers. In the last few years we have changed our policy somewhat. Since the Fall of 2000 we have had a few explicitly Marxist classes. They were our best-attended classes. We’re learning that working people hunger to learn to understand our society. We’ll have to do more Marxism.
When we first opened we were happy to have 20 folks at a lecture. The last few years class attendance has averaged over 30. Our largest turnout was 53 for a Marxist perspective on US Imperialism by Arnold Becchetti in January 2002. Our participation, of course, depends on the class subject.
We always have a half dozen from our core group that’s been with us for ten years. We usually have some retirees who welcome the chance to keep their minds sharp. Besides our work in Tucson, Salt of the Earth Labor College also sponsored Becchetti’s and two other presentations in Phoenix. We hope to do much more outreach to the Phoenix area where two-thirds of Arizonans reside.
Our mailings go out to about 1,000 Arizonans, and we reach many more by e-mail so we can always count on some folks from these lists, trade unionists or peace activists who we met on the picket line or signed up when we tabled. We also make phone calls. Always there are a few new people. Some come only once, but many keep coming for a year or two and then sporadically, as though they have graduated, but need to keep in contact. Their donations keep us going. Many of our new attendees are encouraged in class to join a union, register to vote or get involved. For many, the school has been a road into involvement in the class struggle.
--Joe Bernick is a contributor to Political Affairs.
