Recruitment of Mexican laborers

This is a clipping from La Prensa, a newspaper that was run out of San Antonio, Texas. In the early 1920’s Bethlehem Steel was faced with labor shortages. In 1923 Eugene Grace decided to advertise for Mexican workers in the San Antonio area and workers that were still in Mexico. Nearly 1000 Mexican workers came to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to work. These workers and their families were put into labor camps located on the ground of the coke works. Conditions at these camps were poor however the Mexicans were mostly pleased by their new community because it was better than what most people had experienced back home.

They were promised good pay and equal rights as other workers. When the workers arrived they were put to work in the coke works, one of the most grueling jobs at Bethlehem Steel. Management at Bethlehem Steel made it extremely difficult for these Men to be promoted and made sure that they were stuck working in one of the toughest jobs. Eventually many of these workers were angry at the broken promises made by Bethlehem Steel and they left the company after a few short years.

Immigrants in the Unions 

Here is a photo of Bethlehem Steel union leaders. Although these unions helped gain benefits and better working conditions for steel workers, they did not help all workers. Many immigrants, including Mexicans, were discriminated against and not allowed to join. While Mexicans were working in the harshest conditions at the coke works, they weren’t able to unionize with other immigrant workers because of massive language barriers. The coke works and other grueling jobs at Bethlehem Steel consisted of workers who spoke a vast amount of languages. Bethlehem Steel knew that it would be extremely difficult for these diverse workers to speak up about conditions because they could not effectively communicate with one another.

 

Jose Esteves and Bethlehem Steel

Jose Esteves emigrated from Portugal in 1922. Shortly after his arrival he made his way to Bethlehem Steel and began working in the coke works. Shortly after beginning at Bethlehem Steel Jose left due to dissatisfaction with the company. During times of downturn in the steel industry workers received lesser hours. It was during these times where he would leave Bethlehem Steel and go find work in various construction jobs and mines. This was a cycle that continued until 1936 when Esteves came back to work for Bethlehem Steel until he retired in 1968. After Jose came back for good he struggled again with receiving hours to work. Jose claimed that the foreman were choosing “married men” to receive the hours (Esteves, 1975). Jose knew he was being discriminated against so he was fed up and decided to speak with management about this issue. He said to the superintendent “I came here to get a job, and stay here, because I’m tired of construction work, and be outside in all kinds of weather and stuff like that. But I can go back, and make more money than I’m making here. So I came here to stay as long as you need me. if you don’t need me, you don’t have to fire me. I go on my own, if these things are continuing”(Esteves, 1975). The superintendent listened to Jose and began to distribute the hours more fairly. However, the foreman were angry that he spoke out against them. Jose says that the foreman tried to make work harder for him for the rest of his tenure because of this (Esteves, 1975).

 

Here Jose is asked about his involvement with the union.

 

Herman Landrock: 

Herman Landrock was a German immigrant who came to Bethlehem in 1906. Not knowing how to speak English, Herman surrounded himself with workers who spoke Pennsylvania Dutch in order to maintain a job. Herman began working in the Central Machine Shop making firearms (Landrock,1974). Herman quickly rose through the ranks at Bethlehem Steel and just after three years he found himself at a foreman position. Shortly after he became the head of the Plating Department. As a white man, his experience with job mobility was much different than those of other immigrants. The Mexican workers were stuck in the coke works, the most dangerous job, for years and years with no hope of advancement. Landrock was also privileged with great job security. He even said that during the Great Depression  “There were several strikes that I went through. I was one of the men that was constantly kept on”(Landrock, 1974). Herman didn’t have to constantly worry that he was going to be let go as workers like Jose Esteves did.

Herman was an important member of a union. He also rose through the ranks of the union as his position in the company rose (Landrock, 1974). Mexican workers and other immigrants did not have the ability to join unions like Herman so easily did. This is an example of how certain immigrants were discriminated against.