¡Huelga! (Strike!)

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Tampa’s Cigar Industry Began in 1885 when Vicente Martínez Ybor moved his cigar factory from Key West to Tampa (Tampa had a bay for shipping, railroad links, and a humid climate perfect for tobacco leaves). Martínez Ybor built hundreds of “casitas” (small houses) near his factory for his cigar workers. Casitas Ybor’s 1 st Cigar Factory

Soon, other cigar companies followed..

José Martí & cigar workers in Ybor City

Early Days of Ybor City

By 1919… Tampa’s cigar production reached its peak, 410 million cigars per year, producing more Cuban tobacco cigars than Cuba itself Ybor City was a bustling town of immigrants from Spain, Italy, and Cuba There were about 125,000 cigar workers in the city Tampa had earned its nickname of “cigar capital of the world”

Ybor City, early 1920s

Types of Cigar Workers ❶Stripper ❺Packer ❻Lector ❷Wrapper ❸Cigar Maker ❹Picker

Almost from the beginning, workers and factory owners had disputes... Salary disputes Work hours Practice of “El Lector” Closed v. Open Shops – Closed shop: a factory that employs labor union members only – Open shop: a factory that does not require its employees to be union members

Strike! April 14, 1920: about 6,400 workers from 27 of the largest factories walked off their jobs; 4 more factories joined them on April 15 th April 17, 1920: the factory owners posted new conditions of employment that included: – working hours would be 10 hours per weekday, 9 on Saturday – complete freedom to employ anyone they wanted – wages would be negotiated with the cigar makers, not the union May-June, 1920: the strike continued July 6, 1920: owners announced that factories would reopen July 8 under the conditions announced April 17; union leaders rejected the announcement July 9, 1920: owners reported that many workers showed up for work; union leaders reported that a total of 30 workers showed up August, 1920: reluctantly, some workers started to return to the factories, having run out of savings and food assistance

September, 1920: thousands of Tampa cigar workers left the city to find employment elsewhere October 14, 1920: a workers’ meeting is called and they vote in favor of continuing the strike; the Tampa Tribune called closed shops “un- American” December 29, 1920: local leaders decide to ask Congress to exclude Cuba from a bill that would suspend immigration (so workers could be brought in from the island)

Ending of the Strike February 4, 1921: unionists are forced to agree to the open shop and the owners’ rules of employment The 10-month strike was the longest and most expensive in the Tampa cigar industry

What was the strike’s impact on the unions? More than $1,000,000 in strike benefits were paid Union members from all over the United States, Canada, Cuba, and Puerto Rico sent thousands of dollars to help support the strike Unionism became severely weakened

What was the strike’s impact on the workers? Tampa workers lost millions in wages and the untold human cost to workers and their families Some went to work in other industries (e.g., sugarcane fields of St. Cloud, phosphate mines of Polk County)

What was the strike’s impact on the factory owners? Some lost their factories. F. Lozano and Sons Building Gardiaz-Annis Cigar Factory

Closure : (In groups of 4-5) Create a document or poster to address one of the items below. What could the workers have done differently that would have changed the outcome of the Cigar Workers Strike? Draft a letter of demands that present the cigar workers’ position to the owners. Create a pamphlet to gain support from fellow cigar workers. What would you do to overcome a shortage of food or money during the strike? Offer a solution to both parties (workers and owners) as an outside arbiter or professional mediator to the strike. Write a letter to the editor defending either “open shops” or “closed shops.”