Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983
Files
Document Type
Book
Description
Hundreds of families held the line in the 1983 strike against Phelps Dodge Copper in Arizona. After more than a year the strikers lost their union certification, but the battle permanently altered the social order in these small, predominantly Hispanic mining towns. At the time the strike began, many women said they couldn't leave the house without their husband's permission. Yet, when injunctions barred union men from picketing, their wives and daughters turned out for the daily picket lines. When the strike dragged on and men left to seek jobs elsewhere, women continued to picket, organize support, and defend their rights even when the towns were occupied by the National Guard. "Nothing can ever be the same as it was before," said Diane McCormick of the Morenci Miners Women's Auxiliary. "Look at us. At the beginning of this strike, we were just a bunch of ladies."
Publication Date
1989
Publisher
ILR Press
City
Ithaca
State
NY
Award
2011 Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Creative Writing | History | Nonfiction
Repository Citation
Kingsolver , B. (1989). Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
