Bracero Railroaders by Erasmo Gamboa

Author:Erasmo Gamboa [Gamboa, Erasmo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, Pacific Northwest (OR; WA), Social Science, Ethnic Studies, American, Hispanic American Studies, Transportation, Railroads
ISBN: 9780295998312
Google: W0f3DAAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2017-05-01T22:15:15+00:00

Chapter 8

The Deception Further Exposed

Over the course of the U.S.-Mexican railroad labor program, bracero workers made it through the daily threats of injuries or death on a daily basis. They were thrust into an unfamiliar social setting and a different work culture, under the strict supervision of foremen. Not all track crew supervisors disregarded the workers’ rights as spelled out in the bracero contract or trampled over their basic human rights. Some crew foremen were compassionate supervisors. In some cases, they pushed the railroad companies to provide adequate housing and did their best to see that the workers had suitable and sufficient food. However, the dereliction of other foremen, railroad companies, and the compounded failure of both governments to live up to the spirit and guarantees spelled out in the braceros’ contracts put these men in distressing situations.

With regard to the braceros’ right to seek relief or redress from abuse, the binational agreement between México and the United States gave workers the right to join together to elect their own spokesmen to deal with the employer or with any duly authorized representative of the craft of employees or with other interested parties, concerning matters arising out of the interpretation or application of their contract. According to the individual work agreement, the braceros also had the right to join with other Mexican laborers to negotiate with their employer. The language of the individual work agreement and the binational covenant empowered the braceros with the right to negotiate and seek arbitration over any violations of their rights as contracted workers in the United States.

Moreover, since the Mexican railroaders technically belonged to the class of track workers represented in the United States by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE), they had some additional protection under the collective bargaining agreement negotiated with the railroads and further strengthened by the National Railway Labor Act. It could be said, therefore, that the braceros had protections well beyond those enjoyed by some domestic track workers.1 Yet, as described in chapter 7, the braceros experienced high levels of exploitation. Despite these seemingly ironclad protections, why did these employment and human rights violations occur? How did the Mexican and U.S. administrative officials react to these mistreatments and, more important, how did the braceros themselves respond? Even though many limitations were placed on these men (being in an alien political and social space), these men began to break down some of the ubiquitous racial assumptions regarding Mexican workers by marshaling their own inherent power to self-advocate.

Between May 1943 (the beginning of the bracero railroad program) and November 1944, the braceros lacked any dedicated Mexican official (outside of a few conscientious consulates who took the responsibility of protecting their citizens seriously) to investigate and resolve grievances or to ensure that employers complied with the provisions of the individual work agreement. The necessity for such a dedicated person to respond to the workers’ grievances became evident just three months after the first bracero track worker arrived in the United States.

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