Economy Furniture Strike Honored
movement folk tales
The Economy Furniture Strike (1968-71) was an epochal event in Austin, Texas. It was the longest strike in Austin history. Actually, it was the longest in Texas history. It was even one of the longest in U.S. history. Quite the epic story for little ol’ Austin.
Plus…It was successful!
The Upholsters International Local 456 won a contract.
The strike fostered a series of leaders who ultimately constituted the core of the Hispanic elected political club…many of the strikers or strike support team were the Firsts of their heritage to hold a number of various elected offices.
The Economy Furniture Strike also forged an effective and unique electoral coalition of University anti-war radicals with East Austin civil rights activists.
The strike started in November 1968 and lasted into 1971. Cesar Chavez supported the strike and visited Austin in 1971. The Economy Furniture Strike was the only strike that Chavez publicly supported other than his own Farmworker efforts.
There is finally an Austin monument honoring that strike.
Michael Barnes has been covering this issue in the American Statesman. Please read the articles.
What the articles don’t talk about is the strike support offered by THE RAG underground newspaper. The RAG was often the only source for actual information, as the Austin American Statesman coverage was spotty at best, partisan at worst. Milton Smith, the owner of Economy Furniture Company, was an important local businessman and sat on the city Human Rights Commission.
The RAG also offered partisan coverage. The RAG fully supported the worker’s efforts. Ragstaffers, being the exact opposite of non-partisan, participated in strike activities, walked picket lines and delivered food and water to the workers and the worker’s families.
You can read about this part of the Economy Furniture Strike in Celebrating The RAG Austin’s Iconic Underground Press. And your ever vigilant historian here at PHIT is listed as one of the editors.
You can purchase it here
Glenn Scott, a founding member of PHIT, wrote the introduction to the labor section of the book.
“The Economy Furniture Strike was covered in THE RAG for the entire three years of the strike. Yet it was virtually ignored by the mainstream media. In the December 8, 1968 issue, Judy Smith, Ragstaffer and SDS activist (and women’s rights activist) wrote the first article about the struggle. Judy Smith outlined the hypocrisy of owner Milton Smith, who had been appointed by City Council to the Human Relations commission to hear complaints about discrimination while discriminating against his own workers.”
The people at PHIT also assisted in the making of a documentary on the Economy Furniture Strike. The documentary was produced by Center for Public Policy and Political Studies. Dan Rather narrated it and it uses the oral history format. It is not widely used. But you can find it here.