The company said the shutdowns were the result of the nationwide boycott of Farah pants. A spokesman said the decision was reached reluctantly and was forced on the company because of the boycott's negative effects.
Some 600 workers were employed at the two plants. An estimated 7,500 are employed in the remaining plants - the bulk of them in El Paso. However, according to strikers, for the past three months the main El Paso plant has been in production only two and three days a week.
The organizing initiative at Farah came from the workers themselves. On the picket line we met Adam Gonzáles, a member of the initial organizing committee. A veteran, he went to work in the Farah shipping room in 1968. He soon saw the need for a union and began talking with other workers.
On the picket line, Gonzáles talked about the impact of the boycott on Farah and said, "I think we're getting close...maybe by Christmas."
December 6, 1948
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 28 - The Pacific Coast maritime strike
which began on Sept. 2 appeared near settlement yesterday as
6,000 members of the CIO International Longshoremen &
Warehousemen's Union in this area voted overwhelmingly to
accept a contract. The new agreement underwritten by the
national CIO, extends until June 15, 1951. It continues the
rotary system of hiring through the union hall that has been in
effect since 1934, recognizes the principle of the six hour day
and limits the work day to 9 hours (except when ships are ready
to sail and work can be completed in 11 hours), raises the wage
scale 15 cents an hour, bring the straight-time rate to $1.82
for six hours (overtime rate of $2.73 is payable after six
hours and/or after 5 p.m.), and provides for an annual wage
review on Sept. 30 each year. Also gained is a vacation clause
providing for one week with pay after 800 hours work, two weeks
for 1,344 hours. Hereafter, the starting time for work shall be
8 a.m.; and longshoremen will get one day off each week, at
least two Sundays a month.
These are the gains longshoremen voted to accept. Inasmuch as the employers undertook to small the maritime unions on this coast and restore open-shop conditions, this is considered victory after nearly three months on the picket line.