They walked the line

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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2010
VOL. CXXX, NO. 305
75 Cents
At height of influence decades ago, unions made impact that still matters
Enterprise file photo
Southeast Texas has a long history of labor unions fighting for their members, as in this strike at the Texas Company refinery in Port Arthur in the late 1940s.
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� Texas Civil
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director on
unions’ hard-won
gains: 8A
� Associated Builders
and Contractors CEO on the
need for strong companies: 8A
� Work as a labor of love: 9A
Labor, back in the day: SE Texas workers first became force to be reckoned with in 1930s
SOUTHEAST TEXAS TALES
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[email protected]
(409) 880-0743
On June 20, 1950, a crowd of
2,000 gathered at the main gate of
the Texaco plant in Port Arthur,
which had been closed for almost
three months.
Union oil workers picketed to
raise safety standards and add
benefits to their contracts. Texaco
officials attempted to open the
plant, but few workers crossed the
picket line.
Later that week, a union
worker’s home was stoned and
a picketing worker was struck by
a car entering the Texaco plant.
Federal mediators were called to
help negotiate to no avail.
It would be more than a month
before a headline topped the
Beaumont Journal’s front page,
“Country’s Longest Strike to End.”
At 114 days, the record-setting
Get a break on appliances
Texas plans another round of energy-efficiency rebates
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[email protected]
(409) 838-2876
Texans who missed out on the
Energy Star appliance rebate program in April will have a second
shot at it in December or January
— with no frustrating busy signals
or frozen websites standing in
their way.
Texas has $10 million left over
from the original $23 million of the
Energy Star rebate program, said
Texas Comptroller’s Office spokesman Alan Spelce.
Though the office does not have
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details set for the second round,
the main feature will be a mail-in
rebate reservation, Spelce said.
“This will be a traditional,
straightforward program,” Spelce
said. “If you purchase the item,
you mail in the rebate form.”
The availability of rebate forms
is a detail that will be worked out
with a vendor to be selected by the
comptroller.
In the April program, the vendor, Helgeson Enterprises of White
Bear Lake, Minn., was blamed for
failing to provide adequate access
REBATES, page 6A
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@Play .................. 1B
Applause ............. 4A
To qualify
for a rebate,
appliances
must be
bought after
the program
begins. The
comptroller’s office
says that
will happen
in December or January.
Guiseppe
Barranco/
The Enterprise
Classi�ed ............ 8B
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Section designed and copy edited by Vic Odegar and Samantha Borger, [email protected]
strike against Texaco by the Port
Arthur chapter of the Oil Workers
International Union would not be
surpassed until 1980.
The activity of the Southeast
Texas labor movement has waned
since its heyday in the 1930s and
LABOR, page 7A
BeaumontEnterprise.com
Monday, September 6, 2010
7A
Enterprise file photos
Union members picketed the Texaco asphalt plant in Port Neches in 1983. Half a century earlier, Texas saw 18 new local union chapters, more than half of all founded in the South in 1933.
������ First oil worker unions formed soon after Spindletop started gushing in 1901
Continued from page 1A
’40s, but scholars say unions
left an indelible impact on
the economy of the region.
“Unions were really the
economic engines that created a middle class, especially in places like Port Arthur
and Beaumont,” said John
Tisdale, associate director of
Texas Christian University’s
journalism program who
wrote an article about the
1950 strike for The Texas Gulf
Historical & Biographical Record. “It was an integral part
of your everyday life.”
Unions no longer are the
powerful and pervasive
groups they once were in
Southeast Texas, but they
have a storied history that
dates back almost as far as
the founding of Labor Day
itself, which was declared a
federal holiday in 1894 with
the aim of alleviating tension
between the government and
striking workers.
Historically, a variety of
professionals came together
to form unions in Southeast
Texas — from dock hands to
electricians to shoe salesmen
— but unions in the refineries and chemical plants were
among the most powerful
and vociferous. The first oil
worker unions formed soon
after Spindletop started gushing in 1901.
They clamored when wages were cut while profit margins for the oil companies
soared.
But unions in the region
were relatively unsuccessful
on that score in the early decades of the 20th century.
Rarely did they get the
wage increases they wanted
and companies refused to
recognize their existence.
Scholars generally attribute
their failure to the scattered
structure of the oil industry
and the higher-than-average
wages paid to workers.
It wasn’t until the 1930s
that local unions became a
force to be reckoned with.
At the time, the federal
government passed legislation favorable to unions to
combat the economic instability of the Great Depression. The oil companies, such
as Gulf, Texaco and Mobil, no
longer could punish workers
An O.C.A.W. member pickets outside the Mobil refinery in
Beaumont during a 1988 strike.
for joining unions, bargaining collectively or striking.
Once workers no longer
feared being fired for union
activity, the groups experienced a huge membership
boom. According to Tisdale’s
article, union membership
across the United States more
than quadrupled to 14.8 million from 1930 to 1945.
That growth was evident
in Texas, too. For example,
in 1933 Texas saw 18 new
local union chapters, more
than half of all founded in the
South that year.
“It was a part of the culture
and fabric of the community,” Tisdale said. “You’d be
hard-pressed to find a family
without a union member.”
Groves resident Hertha
McKee worked for Pure Oil
and was a member of the
Port Neches chapter of the
Oil, Chemical, and Atomic
Workers International Union
in the 1970s.
Inspired by the stories of
labor activists she met who
lived through the growth of
unions earlier in the century,
McKee set out to compile a
Moods often got ugly on mass picket lines, as in 1979 at Arco Polymers in Port Arthur.
history of early Gulf Coast oil
worker unions. While taking
a class in labor law at Lamar
University in 1982, McKee
interviewed seven men and
women involved in the union
movement from the 1920s to
’40s.
She found the oil workers often joined unions
when they felt they had
been wronged by their employers. They were proud of
their work, and none regretted their involvement with
unions.
“The labor movement was
an outlet to channel needs to
benefits,” McKee said. “Some
of them believed that taking
a man’s job was like taking a
man’s life.”
McKee said she found the
union-related violence that
occurred in the northern industrial hubs was more severe than the violence union
members experienced in
Southeast Texas. But the region was not without its problems.
In the 1940s, production at
refineries soared as the Allies
fought World War II.
Port Arthur was highly
segregated at the time, McKee said, and through her
interviews she found that
African-American refinery
workers often were beaten
or threatened for joining
unions. White union organizers were beaten for going to
black communities to organize. Some of the violence
was reported, some was not.
These incidents, compounded by the popular belief that some unions had ties
to communism, gave organizers a bad reputation, McKee said.
“There was a lot of tension
in communities where there
were strikes,” Tisdale added.
“Your neighbor might be out
of work while your dad was
working and making more
money.”
It wasn’t until jobs started
to be outsourced in the 1970s
that oil worker unions declined.
As tasks became automated at the refineries, fewer
people were needed to work,
which meant fewer people
became union members. At
the same time, health-care
costs soared and companies
hired non-union workers because they said they no longer could afford to pay for the
benefits unions had won in
decades past.
Now, few unions even have
halls in Southeast Texas. The
Labor Day parades that used
to flood Beaumont and Port
Neches streets with union
workers every first Monday of
September are memories.
McKee blames the fear
of unemployment and the
outsourcing of work to other
countries for the decline in
union popularity. The Port
Neches union she once
held leadership positions in
Port Arthur police found their front tires slashed after they arrested a striking worker in an incident at a picket in 1979.
DECEASED
Shirley Temple Baker, 75,
of Nederland died Sept. 5,
2010, Broussard’s, Nederland.
Allene Helen Bennett, 77,
of Moss Hill died Sept. 4,
2010, Faith & Family Funeral
Services, Batson.
Constance Bruns, 61, of
Silsbee died Sept. 4, 2010,
Farmer Funeral Home, Silsbee.
Orvelyn Gant, 71, of
Beaumont died Sept. 5, 2010,
Comeaux Community Funeral
Chapel.
Elton Hubert, 87, of Port
Arthur died Sept. 5, 2010,
Clayton Thompson Funeral
Home, Groves.
Lynda Neel, 59, of Deweyville died Sept. 5, 2010, Dorman Funeral Home, Orange.
Delores Ann Oliver, 72,
of Fred died Sept. 5, 2010,
Farmer Funeral Home, Silsbee.
Ruthie Lee Thompson, 71,
of Beaumont died Sept. 5,
2010, Comeaux Community
Funeral Chapel.
SERVICES TODAY
Jimmie Nell Gaugh Gant,
Broussard’s, Nederland, 1 p.m.
Felicia Lechelle “Shelly”
McCaughn, Claybar Kelley-Watkins Funeral Home, 10 a.m.
Ruby Bee Walston,
Campground Baptist Church,
Woodville, 11 a.m.
doesn’t exist anymore.
She said the labor movement probably won’t advance in the United States in
the near future. It’s doing better in Third World countries
that have yet to secure the
benefits union workers got in
the early 20th century here,
she said.
“But in time, if workers are
treated badly enough, they
will organize,” she said.
Southeast Texas Tales is a weekly
Enterprise feature that examines
regional history.
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:P'$JHAA ,NbP# #PbH#P'P&b
bJ#PP ;P,#! ,L%- :P ?,! ,
N%#'P# #P!HRP&b %N <#%^P!
,&R ?%#DPR ,! , !P&H%# RP.
!HL&P# N%# @&LA%*,A H& bJP
:`&b!',& [PNH&P#;- :P ?,!
, 'P'*P# %N \H$PNHbbP#! 5%.
T,A UEM ,&R ,bbP&RPR bJP
>,H#R,AP !,$bH!b aJ`#TJ7%J&&; H! !`#^H^PR *; JH!
'%bJP#/ 4,#LHP 3PAA :%?P %N
<#%^P!/ JH! ?HNP \,b#HTH,
:%?P %N >,H#'%`&b/ JH! !%&
!#Hbb 5%?PAA :%?P %N "`!bH&/
JH! R,`LJbP# 6H'*P#A; 6,;
3HTJ%A!%& %N <#%^P! ,&R
N%`# L#,&RTJHAR#P&( <`&&,#/
a%Ab/ 4,RPA;& ,&R 6P&R,AA:P H! ,A!% !`#^H^PR *; b?%
*#%bJP#!/ [%TD; <AP&& ,&R
WHAAH,' :P&#; :%?P *%bJ %N
<#%^P!/ ,&R b?% !H!bP#!/
!#P&R, _,AP WHAAHP %N WHAAH!/
YV/ ,&R 5H**; "&& Z'HbJ %N
<#%^P!/ YVXH!Hb,bH%& ?HAA *P N#%' OBQ+
$' `&bHA FB++ $'/ Y`P!R,;/
ZP$b- I/ S+U+/ H& bJP Zb,##
0-++-#( )4-++$ 32&&-"%&
WHAAH,' C!HAA) YP&&H!%&/ IK/
%N ]#,&LP/ YP=,! RHPR Z,b.
`#R,;/ ZP$bP'*P# O/ S+U+/
,b JH! #P!HRP&TP>`&P#,A !P#^HTP! ?HAA *P
OBQ+ $-'- Y`P!R,;/ ZP$bP'.
*P# I/ S+U+/ ,b bJP ]#.
,&LPNHPAR :HLJ ZTJ%%A <;'.
&,!H`'- ]NNHTH,bH&L ?HAA *P
[P^P#P&R _,^HR 4HA&P#/
[P^P#P&R !%**; Z$#%!!/
,&R
!$P,DP#
[%*P#b
YJ%',!- !`#H,A ?HAA N%AA%? ,b
"`b`'& ],D! H& ]#,&LP/
YP=,!XH!Hb,bH%& ?HAA *P N#%'
MB++ G EB++ $-'-/ 4%&R,; ,b
aA,;*,# >`&P#,A :%'P H&
]#,&LP!%#& H& "&b%&/ YP=,!
%& 4,#TJ UQ/ UEQO/ !HAA ?,!
bJP !%& %N 5HAAHP 4,P 16PP&0
,&R WHAAHP :%*!%& YP&&H!%&:P J,! *PP& , 'P'*P# %N
bJP <HRP%&! 8&bP#&,bH%&,A
!H&TP UEIS- !HAA ?,! , RP,.
T%& ,&R 'P'*P# %N a,A^,#;
!,$bH!b aJ`#TJ/ ,&R ,
N%#'P# TJ,H#',& %N bJP A%T,A
[P$`*AHT,& \,#b;- :P !$P&b
SO %N JH! O+ bP,TJH&L ,&R
T%,TJH&L ;P,#! ,b ]#.
,&LPNHPAR :HLJ ZTJ%%A- _`#.
H&L bJH! bH'P JP ?,! #P!$%&.
!H*AP N%# %#L,&H9H&L bJP >PA.
A%?!JH$ %N aJ#H!bH,& "bJAPbP!
,&R bJP 5HbbAP _#H**AP#! $#%.
L#,':P H! !`#^H^PR *; JH!
?HNP %N MM 2P,#!/ _,#AP&P !YP&&H!%&(
!%&
,&R
R,`LJbP#.H&.A,?/ 7%J& ,&R
<,;P YP&&H!%& %N 3%#bJ
a,#%AH&,(
R,`LJbP#
,&R
!%&.H&.A,?/ !PTD; ,&R aPTHA
CZ$,#D;) Z$,#D! %N ]#,&LP(
!%& ,&R R,`LJbP#.H&.A,?/
7P##; ,&R 4PAH!!, YP&&H!%&
%N Z$#H&L( R,`LJbP#/ 4HTJPAAP
YP&&H!%& %N "AP=,&R#H,/ XH#.
LH&H,(
!%&
,&R
R,`LJbP#.H&.A,?/ 7H' ,&R YHN.
N,&; YP&&H!%& %N @`AP!!(
,&R US L#,&RTJHAR#P&/ 7%J&
_,^HR/ 4,#D "&R#P?/ \,`A
7%!P$J YP&&H!%&/ 6#H!bP&/
!#,&R%&/
,&R
a,!P;
Z$,#D!/ 4HbTJPAA/ a,!!HP/
"**;/ WHAA/ ,&R 4HT,J YP&.
&H!%&/ ,&R ZP^;& YP&&H!%&ZP#^H&L ,! \,AA*P,#P#!
?HAA *P 7%J& YP&&H!%&/ 7P##;
YP&&H!%&/ 7H' YP&&H!%&/
!#,&R%& Z$,#D!/ 4HbTJPAA
YP&&H!%&/ a,!P; Z$,#D!/
aPTHA CZ$,#D;) Z$,#D!/ ,&R
[%*P#b YJ%',!8& AHP` %N NA%?P#!/ 'P.
'%#H,A T%&b#H*`bH%&! T,& *P
',RP b% bJP <HRP%&! 8&bP#.
&,bH%&,A/ \-]- !%= UO+F++/
3,!J^HAAP/
YP&&P!!PP/
QISUO-