lang: en
Summary
In October 1950, Mexican-American miners in Silver City, New Mexico, struck against the Empire Zinc Company to end discriminatory working conditions and the dual wage system. After eight months of picketing, a court injunction led miners’ wives to take over the picket lines, expanding demands to include better living conditions. The strike ended in January 1952 with an agreement for better wages, benefits, and hot water for company town homes. The struggle was later depicted in the film Salt of the Earth.
Background
The Empire Zinc Company owned a company town and zinc mines in Silver City, New Mexico, where Mexican and Mexican American workers faced discriminatory working conditions and a dual wage system that paid them less than white workers. On 17 October 1950, Local 890 of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers decided to strike to end these inequities and improve insurance benefits.
What happened
Miners picketed the company gates for eight months until June 1951, when a court injunction threatened jail time for picketing. [source: nv-database] In response, miners’ wives took over the picket lines and expanded demands to include better living conditions and indoor plumbing. [source: nv-database] Local police arrested and harassed women protesters, sometimes jailing children, and strikebreakers injured three women and shot at picketers, wounding one. [source: nv-database] News of the violence spread to other mining areas, leading many workers in other mines to join the protest. [source: nv-database] On 21 January 1952, Empire Zinc Corporation agreed to provide better wages, benefits, and hot water, ending the strike. [source: nv-database] In 1953, blacklisted filmmakers shot a fictionalized film about the strike, Salt of the Earth, which was banned in the United States in 1954 but later revived by feminist and Chicano activists and added to the National Film Registry in 1992. [source: nv-database]
Key people & organizations
- International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers
- Virginia Jencks
- Clint Jencks
- Empire Zinc Company
Tactics used
The strikers used picketing and a strike to disrupt production, and when an injunction blocked their picketing, the tactic of women taking over the lines maintained pressure while avoiding jail for the men, expanding the campaign’s demands and community involvement. [source: nv-database]
Outcome
Verdict: partial.
The campaign achieved 5 out of 6 points for success, securing better wages, benefits, and hot water, but did not fully end all discriminatory conditions. The strike survived and grew as other miners joined, and the cultural legacy of the film Salt of the Earth amplified the story’s significance. [source: nv-database]
Lessons
- When legal injunctions block one tactic, shifting the lead to a different group (e.g., women) can sustain momentum and broaden demands.
- Violence against nonviolent protesters can galvanize wider community support and solidarity from other workers.
- Cultural products like films can preserve and amplify the memory of a struggle, inspiring future movements.
Sources
- Global Nonviolent Action Database —
[[nv-database]]
Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.
Sources & verification
nv-database— grounding: primary — license: link-only- Rewritten: 2026-06-25 via
worker_casestudies_v2.py