All language subtitles for Salt.of.the.Earth.1954.1080p.BluRay.x265-RARBG

How shall I

begin my story that
has no beginning?

In these arroyos,
my great-grandfather

raised cattle before
the Anglos ever came.

Our roots go deep in this
place, deeper than the pines,

deeper than the mine shafts.

This is my village.

When I was a child, it
was called San Marcos.

The Anglos changed
the name to Zinc Town.

Zinc Town, New Mexico, USA.

This is our home.

The house is not ours.

But the flowers--
the flowers are ours.

My name is Esperanza.

Esperanza Quintero.

I am a miner's wife.

18 years, my husband
has given to that mine,

living half his life with
dynamite and darkness.

The land where the
mind stands, that

was owned by my husband's
own grandfather.

Now it belongs to the company.

Who can say when
it began, my story?

I do not know.

But this day, I remember
as the beginning of an end.

It was my saint's day.

I was 35 years old.

A day of celebration.

And I was seven months
gone with my third child.

And on that day, I
remember, I had a wish.

It felt so simple.

It felt so evil that
I prayed to the Virgin

to forgive me for it.

I wished-- I wished that my
child would never be born.

No, not into this world.

- Are you sick, Mama?

- No, Estellita.

Are you sad?

Are we going to church
for the confession?

- Fighting again, with
those Anglo kids?

- Aw, they think they're tough.

- But you promised
me you wouldn't.

- Papa says if an Anglo makes
fun of you, to let him have it.

- Never mind what your
Papa-- hold still.

Does it hurt?

- Nah.

How come the cake?

- Never mind the cake.

Go get your father when
he comes off shift.

Tell him to come straight home.

Hear you had a
little trouble, Quintero.

Defective fuse?

Well, you're all in one
piece, so what's the beef?

- You know the beef,
this new rule of yours

that we work alone.

We're taking it
up with the super.

- Super's busy with your
negotiating committee.

- So much the better.

- Now wait a minute.

Super's the one made the rule.

He ain't gonna give you no help.

- He will if he wants
us to go on blasting.

- Read your contracts-- or get
somebody to read it for you.

It don't say nothing
about no help.

- Listen, Mr. Barton,
there's blood in that mine,

the blood of my friends, all
because they had to work alone!

- That's how you get
splattered over the rocks,

when there's nobody to
help you check your fuse.

- And nobody to warn the
other men to stay clear.

- Warning's the
shift foreman's job.

- Foreman wants to
get the ore out.

Miner wants to his
brothers out in one piece.

- You work alone, savvy?

You can't handle the job,
I'll find someone who can.

- Who, a scab?

- An American.

- Mama.

Shh!

Not a word about the cake, hear?

- Papa, is there
going to be a strike?

- Ramon, I don't
like to bother you,

but the store lady said that if
we don't make another payment

on the radio this month,
they'll come and take it away.

We are only one payment behind.

I argued with her.

It isn't right.

- It isn't right, you say?

Was it right that we bought
this-- this instrument?

But you had to have
it, didn't you?

It was nice to listen to.

- I listen to it every night when
you are out at the beer parlor.

- No money down.

Easy term payment.

I tell you something--
this installment plan,

it's the curse of
the working man.

- Where are you going.

- Got to talk to the brothers.

This water's cold again.

- Oh, I'm sorry,
the fire went out.

- Forget it.

- Forget it?

I chop wood for the
stove five times a day.

Every time, I remember it.

I remember that
across the tracks,

the Anglo miners have hot water
in pipes, in bathrooms inside.

- Do you think I like
living this way?

What do you want of it?

- But if your union--
if you're asking

for better conditions,
why can't you

ask for different plumbing, too?

- We did.

Got lost in the shuffle.

- What?

We can't get
everything at once.

Right now, we have
more important demands.

- What's more important
than sanitation?

- Safety of the men.

That's more important.

Five accidents this week,
all because of speedup.

You're a woman.

You don't know what
it's like up there.

First we gotta get
equality on the job.

Then we'll work on
these other things.

Leave it to the men.

- I see.

The men.

Your strike may be for your
demands, but what wives want,

that comes later, always later.

- Now don't you start talking
against the union again.

- What has it got me, your union?

Esperanza,
have you forgotten

what it was like
before the union came,

when Estella was a baby
and we couldn't even

afford a doctor
when she was sick?

It was for our families
we met in graveyards

to build that union.

- All right, have your strike.

I'll have my baby,
but no hospital

will take me because
I'm a striker's wife.

The store will cut
half our credit

and the kids will go hungry.

We'll get behind
on the payments,

and they'll come and
take away the radio.

Is that all
you care about?

That radio?

Can't you think of
anything except yourself?

- If I think of myself, it's
because you never think of me.

Never

- Stop it.

The children are watching.

Stop it!

That's a problem that
has to be taken care of.

The company will always
tell you those things.

We know it's not safe
for miners to work alone.

But they don't work
alone in another mines.

Anglos always work in pairs.

So why should I risk my
life, 'cause I'm a Mexican?

- That's in the demands.

- We're negotiating.

- Three months of
negotiations, nothing happens.

Even with Brother Barnes
here from the International,

what have we got?

No raise, no seniority,
no safety code, nothing!

- Take a drink.

Calmate.

I say we gotta
take action, now!

- The rest of the men
feel the way you do?

- He talks for all of us.

- Did you ever stop to think
maybe they want us to strike?

Don't horse me!

Not with a war boom on!

- Then why is the
company hanging tough?

They signed contracts
with the other locals.

Why not this one?

- Because most of us here
are Mexican American.

Because we want equality
with Anglo miners--

the same pay, same conditions.

- Exactly.

And equality's the one thing
the bosses can't afford.

The biggest club they have
over the Anglo locals is,

well, at least you get
more than the Mexicans.

- OK.

So discrimination
hurts the Anglo too.

But it hurts me more, and
I've had enough of it.

- But you don't pull a strike
when the bosses want it,

so they can smash your union.

You wait till you're
ready, so you can win.

- Do the bosses wait?

No sanitation, so
my kids get sick?

Did the company have to wait?

$20.

So we miss one payment on the
radio I bought for my wife.

Does the company store wait?

Pay or we take it away.

Why is the boss's
store in such a hurry?

They're trying to
scare us, that's why,

to make us afraid to move.

To hang on to what
we got and like it.

Well, I don't like it,
and I'm not scared.

And I'm fed up to here!

- Hey, Ramon.

Te buscan!

- What are you doing here?

Something wrong with Mama?

- I thought maybe you forgot.

- Forgot what?

- It's Mama's saint's day.

- What a kid.

He can't wait.

It's my, uh, wife's saint's day.

I was going to ask you brothers,
how about a mananita, huh?

- What time?

- For a mananita, the
later the better.

Why are they singing?

- They are singing for me.

- Can we light the candles?

- Yes.

Now we can light the candles.

- Happy birthday!

- Happy birthday!

- I did not mean to weep again.

Why should I weep for joy?

- I'm a fool.

- No, you aren't.

Was it expensive, the beer?

- Antonio paid for it.

- Forgive me for saying
you never thought of me.

- I did forget.

Luis told me.

All the next week,

I kept thinking
about my mananita.

I had never had so nice a party.

It was like a song
running through my mind.

- One, two, three.

A daydream

to lighten the long day's work.

We all forgot our troubles
at the mananita, even Ramon.

I couldn't dance that
night, not in my condition.

But I wasn't really
jealous when he

danced with the others,
because it was good

just to see him smile again.

And then one morning,

I was hanging out my wash.

And while we were
talking, the ladies came.

- Buenos dias--

They
were kind of a delegation.

It was about the
sanitation, they said.

The Anglo miners had bathrooms
and hot running water.

Why shouldn't we?

I know.

I spoke to Ramon about
it only a week ago.

He said they dropped it
from the union demands.

- We've got to make
him understand, make

the men face up to it.

Show her the sign.

- We'll make a lot
of signs like this.

Then we'll get all
the wives together

and go right up to the mine.

- To the mine?

- Sure, where they're negotiating
in the company office,

we'll go up there
and picket the place.

- Then both sides will
see we mean business.

- A picket line of ladies?

- Sure!

Why not?

- You can count me in!

- Luz!

- Listen, we ought to be
in a wood chopper's union.

Chop wood for breakfast.

Chop wood, wash his clothes.

Chop wood, heat the iron.

Chop wood, scrub floors.

Chop wood, cook his dinner.

And do you know what he
will say when he comes home?

"What have you been doing all
day, reading funny papers?"

- Come on, Esperanza,
how about it?

We got to.

- No, no, I can't.

If Ramon ever found
me in a picket line--

- He'd what?

Beat you?

- N-no.

No.

Accidente!

- It's Mr. Kalinsky.

- Easy now.

Let me see, let me see!

Let me see!

Let me see!

Darling, he's all right!

Let's go, he'll be all right.

- How did this happen?

- They wandered into a drift
when that fellow was blasting.

- I told you it would happen!

It's bound to happen
when a man works alone.

- Why didn't you give the
man a warning signal?

- Your foreman says
that's the foreman's job.

- I checked the drift
just before he blasted.

Was all clear.

- They must have been
asleep or something.

- You weren't even there!

You were back at the station.

Kalinsky told me!

- You're a liar, Pancho.

A no-good, dirty--

- You there!

Get a hold on yourself!

A man's been hurt.

I'm as sorry about
it as you are, savvy?

Accidents are
costly to everyone,

to the company most of all.

Now I see no reason to treat the
occasion like a paid holiday.

Suppose we all get back to work.

Martin?

- All right, now that
the excitement's over,

let's get to it!

- What are they saying?

- No savvy.

- Well, Barnes, what about it?

Tell the men to
get back to work.

- They don't work for me.

I work for them.

- Luis.

- It's up to you, brothers.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Si.

- Cente!

Apagalo!

That night

the men held a
union meeting, just

to make the walkout official.

It didn't take them long.

They voted to strike, 93 to 5.

And Teresa said now was
the time for us to go in.

I didn't want to.

I had never been
to a union meeting.

But the others said,
one go, all go.

The meeting

was nearly over when we came in.

Charley Vidal was
making a speech.

He said there

was only one issue in
this fight-- equality.

But the mine owners
would stop at nothing

to keep them from
getting equality.

He said the bosses
would try to split

the Anglo workers and the
Mexican American workers,

and offer rewards to one man if
he would sell out his brothers.

- Yes, uh, you ladies
have an announcement?

Well, it's not
an announcement, I guess.

Only, the ladies wanted me to--

Louder!

Consuelo, will
you speak from over here?

- The ladies have been
talking about sanitation.

And we were thinking, if
the issue is equality,

like you say it
is, then maybe we

ought to have equality
in plumbing, too.

I mean, maybe we could
make it a strike demand.

Some of the ladies thought
it might be a good idea

to have a ladies' auxiliary.

Well, we'd like to
help out if we can.

- I think I can speak for
all the brothers in saying

we appreciate the
ladies offering to help.

But it's getting late, and
I suggest that we table it.

The chair will entertain
a motion to adjourn.

I so move.

Second!

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed?

So ordered.

- It's just a question of when.

- Why didn't you support her?

You're the worst of the lot.

- But Teresa, you can't
push these things too fast.

- You were pushing, all
right, pushing us right back

in our place.

- Why didn't you check
this thing with me?

It's embarrassing.

- At least you didn't make a
fool of yourself, like Consuelo.

- It's not a bad idea to make
sanitation one of our demands.

- But honey!

- Or why don't you just
put a sign outside?

"No dogs, no women allowed."

And so it began, much

like any other strike.

There would be no
settlement, the company said,

till the men returned
to their jobs.

But their back-to-work
movement didn't work.

And so the company recruited
a few strike-breakers

from out of town.

But they usually
lost their nerve

when they saw the size
of the picket line.

The sheriff's men
were always there.

They stood around,
showing off their weapons.

But the men only marched.

Day after day, week after week.

At first it was an unwritten
rule that women stay at home.

The union gave us
rations, and we

had to figure out how to
feed our families on them.

But then one
morning, Mrs. Salazar

went to the picket line.

Her husband had been killed
in a strike many years before,

and she wanted to be there.

Nobody remembers
just how it happened,

but one day, Mrs. Salazar
started marching with them,

and she kept on
marching with them.

After a while, some
of the other women

began to bring coffee
for the husbands,

and maybe a couple of
tacos, because a man

gets tired and hungry
on picket duty.

It was about that time
the union decided maybe

they'd better set up the
Ladies' Auxiliary after all.

I didn't come to
the lines at first.

My time was near.

And besides, Ramon
didn't approve.

But Ramon is a man
who loves good coffee,

and he saw the other ladies
made it taste like zinc sludge.

So one day, I made the coffee.

- Prieto, Sebastian Prieto?

- Haven't seen him
for three days now.

- Hey, Ramon, listen to this.

Chief foreman come
to me last night,

said he'll make a
shift foreman out

of me if I start the
back-to-work movement.

"Jenkins, why string along
with them tamale eaters?"

I just said I'd come
to like tamales fine.

- Two scabs got through on
the other side of the hill.

We chased the rest back.

- Recognize them?

- Anglos from out of town.

But they're not miners,
I could tell that.

They don't know
zinc from shinola.

- OK, take five.

Get yourself a cup of coffee.

Hey, Ramon,
here comes the super.

- Morning.

How's it going?

Well, those new fellows
you hired from out of town,

we brought them up here
by truck this morning.

They took one look at that
picket line, turned tail.

- They don't look so rough to me.

- Well, Mr. Hartwell, they've
got some pretty tough hombres

there.

Especially that picket
captain-- what's his name?

Ray?

Raymond, something or other.

- Oh, yes, I know that one.

That's their main picket line.

They have another post on the
back road and roving patrols

all over the place.

- On company property?

Why don't you have
them thrown off?

- It's all company
property, Mr. Hartwell.

The store, the housing
area, everything.

Where are you gonna throw them?

And who does the throwing?

Well, are they
going to let us pass?

- Eventually.

This is just a little ritual
to impress us with their power.

- Now why don't you let
these gentleman pass?

Don't you know
who's in that car?

It's the paymaster
from Moscow, with our gold.

- No, no!

It's the president of
the company himself,

come all the way out here to
make Jenkins general manager.

- So why are you acting so mean?

- Childish.

- Well, they're like
children in many ways.

Sometimes you have
to humor them,

and sometimes you have
to take their food way.

Oh, here comes the one
we were talking about.

He's quite a character.

Claims his grandfather
once owned the land

where the mine is now.

- Want to go up to your
office, Mr. Alexander?

- Naturally.

You think I parked here
for a cup of coffee?

- You're welcome to one.

No thanks.

- The men would like to
know who this gentleman is.

- That's none of their affair.

- It's all right.

It's no secret.

My name's Hartwell.

I'm from the company's
eastern office.

- You mean Delaware?

- No, New York.

- New York?

You're not the company
president, by any chance?

- No.

- Too bad.

The men have always wanted to
take a look at the president.

Did you come out here
to settle the strike?

Well, if
that's possible.

- It's possible.

Just negotiate.

Are we talking
to a union spokesman?

- Not exactly.

But I wish he were one.

He knows more about
mining than those

pie-cards we've
had to deal with.

I mean it.

I know your work record.

You were in line for foreman
when this trouble started.

Did you know that?

Yes, sir, you had a real
future with this company.

But you let those
Reds stir you up,

and now they'll sell
you down the river.

Why don't you wake up, Ray?

Huh?

That's your name, isn't it?

Ray?

- My name is Quintero.

Mr. Quintero.

- Are you going to
let us pass, or do I

have to call the sheriff?

- There's nothing stopping you.

I was wrong.

They don't want Jenkins
for general manager.

They want me!

- You should have
heard that fellow.

What a line.

I was up for a foreman, he says.

Fijate!

What's the matter?

- It's nothing.

Just a little catch.

Papa!

Papa!

Over here!

- Is that Luis?

What is he doing,
playing hooky again?

Luis, come back here!

Papa, we seen the
two scabs over there!

- They're hiding over
there in the gully!

- Hold it, brothers!

You, Antonio, Alfredo,
Cente, come with me.

The rest of you
stay on the line.

Luis!

Ramon!

That's them over there!

There they go!

- Prieto!

Sebastian Prieto.

- Ramon, listen to me.

For the love of God--

- You?

You?

I'd expect it of an Anglo, yes--

- Ramon, I'm in a jam.

I had to get a job.

- You Judas!

Bloodsucker!

- Ramon, my kids--

- Tu!

Traidor a tu gente!

Rompehuelga!

Desgraciado!

- My kids don't
have enough to eat.

- You think my kids have
enough to eat, you rat?

- I know it's wrong.

Just let me go.

I'll leave town.

Just let me go!

- You think I was
gonna work you over?

I wouldn't dirty
my hands on you.

- Papa!

- Luis!

The baby!

Get the women, quick!

- Why do you stop?

- Want to have a
little talk with you,

why you slugged that
fella back there.

- But that's a lie.

I didn't.

- Now you know that's no
way to talk to a white man.

- Oh, no, no!

Go back and get a blanket, you
idiots, so we can carry her!

- Hey, Vance, I thought you
said this bullfighter was

full of pepper.

Don't look so peppery now.

- Oh, but he is.

He's full of chili, this one.

- Unh!

- He likes it hot.

His chiquita makes it good and
hot for him, don't she, Pancho?

Aaah!

- Sheriff, we need
a doctor quick.

There's a woman
going to have a baby.

- What do you take me
for, an ambulance driver?

- There's a company doctor.

We don't have a car--
if you'll just get him.

- Are you kidding?

Company doctor won't
come to no picket line.

- We can't get her home.

There isn't time.

Take her inside!

- Hold your head up, Pancho.

That's no way to sit.

- I'll outlive you all, you lice.

How's that?

What's that spic talk?

- Unh!

- Oh, God, forgive me for wishing
this child would never be born.

Ay, Madre--
Oh!

- Have mercy on this child.

Let this child live.

- Ay!

- Oh my god, Esperanza!

- Ramon!

Aaaahhhh!

Ramon
was in the hospital for a week,

and then in the county
jail for 30 days, charged

with assault and
resisting arrest.

But I made up my mind to
postpone the christening

till he got out of jail.

We christened him Juan.

That night we had a
double celebration,

Juanito's christening,
Ramon's homecoming.

And we put all the children to
sleep in the bedroom, as usual.

And the men took over
the parlor, as usual.

- $5,000.

That beats.

- Raise you $10,000.

- You dog.

All right, let's see 'em.

- Aces, wired.

Come to papa!

- Hear those deputies
slugged Cente.

- Yeah.

Been lots of provocation lately.

They figure if they can
lock up the leadership

on some phony charge, maybe
they can bust the strike.

- Are we gonna let them
play poker all night?

I want to dance.

- With whose husband?

- With any of them, even my own.

- If you dance with
my husband, you'll

have to put up with this.

- And another thing-- your
attitude towards Anglos.

If you're going to be a leader--

- What attitude?

- You lump them all together,
Anglo workers and Anglo bosses.

- He's a guest in
my house, isn't he?

- You're even suspicious of him.

- Maybe.

I think he's got a few things
to learn about our people.

- Go on.

Spill it.

- Well, you're the organizer.

You work out strike strategy,
and most of the time,

you're dead right.

But when you figure everything
the rank-and-file's to do down

to the last detail,
you don't give us

anything to think about.

Are you afraid we're too
lazy to take initiative?

- You know I don't think that.

Maybe not.

But there's another thing.

Like when you came
in tonight, I heard

you ask your wife, "Who's
that, his grandfather?"

That's Juarez, the
father of Mexico.

If I wouldn't know a picture
of George Washington,

you would say I was
an awful dumb Mexican.

- I've never seen it fail.

Try to give Ramon a
friendly criticism

and he kicks it right
back in your face.

- No, he's right.

I got a lot to learn.

Makes you
feel any better, he's

got even less use for women.

- What are they talking
about in there?

- Discussing each
other's weaknesses.

- I didn't know they had any.

- Right now Ramon's
on the receiving end.

- If we shut out the women
from the life of the union--

Come on, bet!

- Let's break up that game.

- We can't think of them just
as housewives, but as partners.

And we have to
treat them as such.

- Well, look who's talking.

A new world's champion
of women's rights.

- Oh, cut it out, Ruth.

- Me?

I'm a camp follower, following
this organizer from one mining

camp to another--
Montana, Colorado, Idaho.

But does he ever think
to organize the women?

No.

Wives don't count in the
Anglo locals, either.

- Not that I like the way
you treat your wife, Ramon.

I think you're all wrong.

But when Dr. Barnes
here gives you

his cure-all for
female problems,

just ask him if he's
tried it at home.

- Hey, Esperanza?

- Esperanza's nursing the baby.

- There goes the game.

- Good.

Consuelo, turn up the radio.

Come on, Papa, on your feet.

- Look at him.

A fighter, huh?

- He was born fighting,
and born hungry.

- Drink.

Drink, Juanito.

You'll never have it so good.

- He'll have it good.

Someday.

What were they saying
about you in there?

- They say I'm no good to you.

- You are no good to me in jail.

I'd in my
cell, in my cot,

and I couldn't sleep, with
the bugs and the stink

and the heat, and I'd say to
myself, think of something

nice.

Something beautiful.

And then I'd think
of you, and my heart

would pound against the
cot for love of you.

Not just Juanito.

You'll have it good
too, Esperanza.

We're going to win this strike.

- What makes you so sure?

- Because if we lose, we
lose more than a strike.

We lose the union,
and the men know it.

And if we win, we win
more than a few demands.

We win something bigger-- hope.

Hope for our kids.

Juanito can't grow
strong on milk alone.

This the Quintero place?

What do you want?

We've got a court order.

You can't come in
here without a warrant.

We got the warrant, too.

We don't want no trouble.

All we want's this radio here.

We hate to break in on
you folks like this,

but this here fella
owns the radio store,

and he got himself a
repossession order.

- Don't touch it.

- We don't want no
trouble, Mr. Quintero.

We got orders to
repossess this machine.

- I said, don't touch it.

- Let him take it.

- Over my dead body.

- I don't want your dead body!

I don't want you
back in jail, either.

- But it's yours.

I won't let them!

- Can't you see they want
to start a fight so they

can lock you all up at one time?

What are
you so sad about?

- Let's have some real music.

The strike did not end.

It went on into the fourth
month, the fifth, the sixth.

The company still
refused to negotiate.

They printed lies about
us in their newspapers.

They said that all
the Mexicans ought

to be sent back
where they came from.

- How can I go where I come from?

The shack that I was born in is
buried under company property!

- Why don't nobody
ever tell the bosses

to go back to where
they come from?

There wouldn't
be any bosses

in the state of New
Mexico if they did.

- Brother, live to see the day.

- Jenkins ain't no boss.

You mean we're gonna let
people like Jenkins stay here?

- You can't send him
back to Oklahoma.

It would be inhuman!

- But I was borned in Texas.

- Oh, no!

- That's even worse!

And
the seventh month came.

We couldn't buy food
at the company store.

By now, the strike
fund was nearly gone.

A few families couldn't
take it any longer.

And where they went,
we do not know.

And so it was
decided by the union

that hardship cases should
seek work in other mines.

The strikers who found
jobs divided their pay

with the union so the
rest of us might eat.

Ramon was not a hardship case--
only three children to feed.

Even so, the mine owners
might have starved us out,

were it not for the help we
got from our International

in Denver and from
the other locals.

And we, who thought no
one outside our county

knew of our troubles, or
cared if they did know,

found we were wrong.

Letters came from our own
people of the Southwest,

from far away-- Butte,
Chicago, Birmingham, New York.

Messages of solidarity and
the crumpled dollar bills

of working men.

We women were helping, and
not just as cooks and coffee

makers.

A few of the men
made jokes about it,

but the work had to be
done, so they let us stay.

No one knew how
great a change it

was till the day of the crisis.

The sheriff was smiling, so
we knew he brought bad news.

The company had got
a court injunction

ordering the strikers
to stop picketing.

A Taft-Hartley injunction,
they called it.

It meant heavy fines and jail
sentences for the strikers

if they disobeyed.

A decision had to
be made at once

whether to obey
the order or not.

If we obey the
court, the strike will be lost.

The scabs will move in as soon
as our picket line is gone.

If we defy the court, our
pickets will be arrested.

and the strike will
be lost anyway.

So there it is, brothers.

The bosses have us
coming and going.

I just want to say this.

No matter how you
decide, the International

will back you up as it's
always backed you up.

This is a democratic union.

The decision is up to you.

- Brother Chairman,
if we give up now,

if we obey this
rotten Taft-Hartley,

we are fools and cowards.

There is only one
way-- fight 'em.

Fight 'em all.

Ramon, we
don't gain nothing.

They'll arrest us.

Que nos arresten.

The men quarreled.

They made brave speeches.

But it seemed that
Brother Barnes was right.

The company had them
coming and going.

It seemed the strike was lost.

- Brother Chairman, if you read
the court injunction carefully,

you will see that they only
prohibit striking miners

from picketing.

We women are not
striking miners.

We will take over
here your picket line.

Don't laugh.

We have a solution.

You have none.

Brother Quintero
was right when he

said we'll lose
50 years of gains

if we lose this strike,
your wife and children, too.

But this we promise.

If women take your places
on the picket lines,

the strike will not be
broken, and no scabs

will take your job.

- If that's a motion--
only members of the union

can make a motion.

- I so move.

- Second.

- You have heard the motion.

The floor is open for debate.

Luz
asked which was worse--

to hide behind a woman's
skirt or go down on his knees

before the boss?

- Brothers, we don't count
enough on our women.

The bosses don't
count on them at all.

- Will the bosses win
now because there

is no unity between the men,
their wives, and their sisters?

Carlotta Sanchez

said she didn't think picketing
was proper for ladies.

It wasn't nice,
maybe even a sin.

I say let's give
the sisters a chance.

- And what will happen
when the cops come

and beat our women up?

Are we going to stand
there and watch them?

No.

We'll take over
anyway, and we'll

be right back where we
started-- only worse.

Even more humiliated.

Brothers, brothers, I beg
you-- don't allow this.

- Call the question.

- All right.

The question's been called.

You brothers know what
you are voting on,

that the sisters
of the auxiliary

take over the picket line.

All those in favor
will so signify.

Brother
Chairman, point of order!

I, uh, I
don't know anything

about these questions
of parliament.

You men are voting on
something the women

are to do or not
to do, so I think

it's only fair that the
women be allowed to vote.

Especially if they
have to do the job.

Brothers and
sisters, it would be

unconstitutional to permit women
to vote at a union meeting.

If there's
no objection,

we could adjourn this meeting.

No!

No!

No!

- No, no, no, no, wait, wait.

And reconvene this meeting
as a community mass meeting,

with every adult
entitled to a vote.

- I so move.

- All right.

On the motion to adjourn,
all those in favor

will raise their hands.

Aye!

All those opposed?

The ayes have it.

Now every adult is
entitled to a vote.

- On the original question.

Question!

Question!

Question!

- All those in favor that the
sisters take over the picket

line will so signify it
by raising their hands.

Aye!

All those opposed?

The motion has
carried, 103 to 85.

And
so they came, the women.

They came from Zinc
Town and the hills

beyond, from other mining camps,
women we had never seen before.

Women who had nothing
to do with the strike.

Somehow they heard about
the women's picket line,

and they came.

And the men came, too.

I think they were afraid, afraid
the women wouldn't stand fast,

or maybe afraid they would.

But not all the women
went to the picket post.

Some were forbidden
by their husbands.

- It's not fair.

I should be there with them.

After all, I'm the one who
got the women the vote.

- The union don't run my house.

Those Anglo dames stirred you
up to make fools of yourselves,

but you don't see any
of them down there.

- Yes, I do.

There is Ruth Barnes.

She's the
organizer's wife.

She's got to be there.

No, she
wants to be there.

And there is Mrs. Kalinsky.

There's Jenkins' wife.

You don't see her
on no picket line.

Anglo husbands
can also be backward.

- Can be what?

Backward.

Can't I even put
in an appearance?

With a baby in your arms?

- The baby likes to be walked.

It helps him burp.

Hey, girls.

Wait a minute, don't
you wanna see my pistol?

- Shut up!

- What's so amusing?

They're flaunting a court order.

- Oh, I'm not so sure
about that, Mr. Alexander.

Letter of the law, you know.

All that injunction says
is no picketing by miners.

- Whose side are you on, anyway?

- Ah, don't get excited.

They'll scatter like quail.

Well, let's get
at it, before another 100

dames shows up.

- All right, boys.

- What about these?

- Forget it.

They'll scatter like quail.

- They're beating up my wife!

- Get back!

They're
beating up my wife!

- They'll start shooting!

They'll throw you in jail.

Get back!

- Push them back!

Why are you
standing there?

Do something!

- Relax.

- But women are getting hurt.

We've got to take over!

They're
doing all right.

Anyway, looks like you
got your hands full.

The
union is our leader,

we shall not be moved.

The union is our leader,
we shall not be moved.

Just like a tree that's
standing by the water,

we shall not be moved.

- Papa, I'm hungry.

- So am I.

- Where's your mama?

- She's coming.

Charley Vidal gave her a lift.

Boy, did you see the way
Mama whupped that deputy?

Knocked the gun right out of--

- I don't want you hanging
around there, hear?

You all right?

- Sure.

- Must have been some
experience for you, huh?

- Yes.

- I guess you got enough
today to last you a lifetime.

- I'm going back tomorrow.

- Listen, you might get hurt.

- I might.

- If you think I'm going to
play nursemaid from now on,

you're crazy.

I've had these kids all day.

- I've had them since
the day they were born.

- I'm telling you, I don't stay
home with these kids tomorrow.

- OK.

Then tomorrow I take the kids
with me to the picket line.

And so I came
back the next day,

and every day for
the next month.

I kept Juanito in
the coffee shack.

And when the weather
was good and there

was peace on the line, I
brought his crib outside.

Estella played with
the little ones,

and Luis-- Luis was in school.

Ramon came every
day, just watching.

The ladies, well,
they criticized Ramon

for not keeping the kids.

For a while, the
sheriff's men left us alone.

But then they cursed
us, insulted us,

called us foul names.

It started again.

They used tear gas again.

This time the wind
was against us,

and I took the baby away from
the danger, as we had planned.

Quickly!

Get out of--

We
spread out as we had planned.

- Form your line!

But
they couldn't break our line.

They couldn't break it.

- Well?

- I've tried everything
but shooting them down.

- You haven't tried
locking them up.

- You want them all arrested?

- No, just the ringleaders,
the-- the fire-eaters.

And the ones with big families.

Barton, where's that boy?

- Hey, you.

Come here.

- All right, girls.

I'm going to give you a choice.

You can go home or go to jail.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

Get off the picket
line or get arrested.

OK.

Point them out.

- That one, Teresa
Vidal, she's the leader.

- You're under arrest.

Home or the hoosegow,
what'll it be?

- Keep marching, sisters.

Let's show some discipline.

But Teresa--

- They'll charge us
with resisting arrest.

Keep marching, sisters.

Keep marching.

Mrs.
Salazar, the old one.

Chana Diaz, that one
in the blue dress.

Luz Morales, this one.

Mrs. Kalinsky, the Anglo.

Ruth Barnes.

She's the organizer's wife.

And Lala Alvarez,
the pretty one.

And that one.

- With the baby?

- She's Ramon Quintero's wife.

He doesn't like her being here.

- We'll take care of
the baby, Esperanza.

Don't worry
about Juanito.

We can take
care of Estella, too.

- No.

The baby stays with me.

The
union is our leader,

we shall not be moved.

The union is our leader,
we shall not be moved.

Just like a tree that's
standing by the water,

we shall not be moved.

Shall not be moved.

We shall not, we
shall not be moved.

We shall not, we
shall not be moved.

Just like a tree that's
standing by the water,

we shall not be moved.

Queremos banos!

Queremos banos!

Queremos comida!

Queremos banos!

Queremos comida!

Queremos banos!

Queremos camas!

Queremos comida!

Queremos banos!

Queremos comida!

- Let us out!

Queremos camas!

Queremos comida!

- Be quiet!

I told you ten times,
we have no food.

We have no beds.

We have no beds.

So will you please,
please shut up!

Queremos comida!

Queremos banos!

- He can't drink this milk.

It will make him sick.

He's on a formula.

I was a fool.

I shouldn't have--

- Don't you worry.

We'll get some action.

- The baby can't drink
this store milk.

We want his formula.

- You want the what?

- The formula.

The formula.

- We want the formula.

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

Well, you can get

the JP to swear out peace bonds.

Or you can hike the bail high
enough to keep them in jail.

- Keep them?

What am I supposed to do, feed
them out of my own pocket?

What I
want to know, Mr. Hartwell,

is when are you gonna
settle this thing?

You won't negotiate with them.

What do you want, anyway?

- The company has other mines.

You've got to see
the larger picture.

Once these people
get out of hand--

- What you doing here?

Ain't you seen enough of me?

- I come for my kids.

They're in your jail.

But you've played

every trump in your hand.

They're not dead yet.

Not every trump.

Such as what?

- I can't shut them dames up.

They keep yelling
about a formula.

- A what?

- A formula for the
baby or something.

His kid.

- Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

Now lookee here.

I got you some
milk for the baby,

so what's all the
bellyaching about?

- That milk is no good.

Queremos la formula.

Queremos la formula!

- Queremos la formula.

- If Juanito gets sick,
you'll be responsible.

Yeah!

Yeah!

- I am not running a drugstore.

You girls got only
yourselves to blame for this.

You'd be back with your
families in an hour.

All you got to do
is to sign a pledge

not to go back on
the picket line.

- Don't sign nothing
for the stinker!

No!

No!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

- Where'd that fellow go?

- Hey, Pancho, come here!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

We want the formula!

All right,
where's his baby?

And the little girl?

- Queremos comida.

Queremos camas.

Queremos banos.

- Will you kids get
out of those baskets?

- Como va?

- Esto no tiene fin.

Three hours just to heat enough
water to wash this stuff?

I'm telling you something, if
this strike is ever settled,

which I doubt, I'll never go
back to work for that company

unless they install hot
running water for us.

It should have been a union
demand from the beginning.

- You're telling me?

- It's like Charley Vidal says.

There's two kinds
of slavery-- wage

slavery and domestic slavery.

The woman question, he calls it.

- Woman question?

- Yeah.

The problem is,
what to do about it?

So?

What does he want
to do about 'em?

He says,
give them equality.

Equality in job, equality in
home, and also sex equality.

- What do you mean, sex equality?

- You know.

Lo que es bueno para el
hombre es bueno para la mujer.

He's some organizer,
that Charley!

He can sure organize a wife
right out of your home!

- Papa, can't I leave now?

There's a meeting of the
Junior Shop Stewards.

- The what?

- The Junior Shop Stewards.

There's lots of
ways we can help.

- Don't I have enough problems
without them shipping you off

to reform school?

- But you need all
the help you can get.

You've got to
help around the house.

But you've got
me doing everything.

Mama never used to
make me dry the dishes.

You should have helped
her without being asked.

Good night, Esperanza.

Hasta manana.

- How do you feel?

- I'm OK.

- Four nights!

How did you sleep?

- We raised so much fuss,
they finally brought cots in.

I nearly lost my
voice, yelling so much.

How's Estellita, and the baby?

- They're asleep.

Did you have to
sign a pledge not

to go back to the picket line?

- No, no, we wouldn't do it.

- But if you go back,
they'll lock you up again.

- No, no, the sheriff's
had enough of us.

We drove him crazy.

Buenas noches, Luz.

- Hi.

- Hi there.

Que tal, Teresa?

Hello.

Well?

- It's all set.

Consuelo's squad can take
the day off tomorrow.

We're taking over.

- All right.

We'll work it out.

- We've got to have
a talk, you and me.

- All right, but later.

We have got a meeting now.

- A meeting?

- Yes, to plan for the
picket line tomorrow.

You can sit in, if you want.

Now let us see, who's available?

Chana's husband is
out of town on that delegation

to see the governor.

- And there are a
whole lot of men

going on a fuel-hunting
expedition tomorrow, 30 or 40

of them, so their
wives are out, too.

- But we can ask them to keep
our kids so the rest of us--

- What are we going to
do about him, Esperanza?

- It's about time
he was housebroken.

Maybe if a delegation
of us talked to him?

- I have to work it
out with him myself.

- I got a friend, he's got a
friend in the Bureau of Mines.

You know what he says?

They ain't never gonna
open that mine up again.

- How come?

- Oh, he says that the ore's
gone out, so help him.

Bull.

Lot of bull.

That's a rich mine.

I know.

What's the difference?

They'll never settle
with us-- never.

Hey!

What do you know?

It's him!

It's him, el presidente!

The president of the company!

- Let me see this.

Listen to this.

"Man of distinction, J.
Hamilton Miller, financier,

business executive, board
chairman of Continental

Factors, and president of
Delaware Zinc, Incorporated--"

- Let me see it.

- Wait a minute,
wait a minute, now.

"An enthusiastic sportsman and
expert marksman, Mr. Miller

manages to find time every
year for an African safari.

He leaves this month
for Kenya, where

he hopes to bag his 13th lion."

- I'm gonna frame this.

Look, Ramon!

- Got to look at
the larger picture.

So the
guy's a lion hunter.

- What'd you expect
him to hunt-- rabbits?

- Boy, oh, boy, would I like
to get me some venison.

I ain't tasted
meat in four weeks.

- How about it, Ramon?

Let's take off for a
couple of days, huh?

- Why ask me?

Am I running this strike?

If you want permission
to go over the hill,

go ask the Ladies' Auxiliary.

- I waited up till midnight.

- You weren't waiting for me.

- That meeting only
lasted 10 minutes.

The first night I am home,
you run to the beer parlor.

What is it?

Can't you bear the sight of me?

Be still.

- But you wanted to talk.

Tell me.

Tell me.

- We can't go on this way.

I just can't go on living
with you, not this way.

- No, we can't go on this way.

We can't go back to
the old way, either.

- The old way?

What's your new way?

What's it mean?

Your right to neglect your kids?

- Where are you going?

- Hunting.

- When?

- Sun up.

- Alone?

- No.

- Ramon, you can't.

- Why not?

I'm not needed here.

- But you are needed,
especially now,

with most of the other men away.

You are the captain
of the standby squad.

- Sure, the standby squad.

Stand by for the funeral.

- Whose funeral?

We are doing all right.

There hasn't been a scab near
the picket line for three days.

- And you know why?

Because the company knows
they can starve us out,

even if it takes them
another two or three months.

What's it to them if the mine's
shut down a little longer?

- It's a lot to them.

They'd do anything
to open that mine.

- Ah, they've got other mines.

You don't see the
larger picture.

They've got millions.

Millions.

They can outlast us,
and they know it.

- You mean you are
ready to give up?

- Who said anything
about giving up?

I'll never go back to
that company on my knees.

Never.

- You want to go down
fighting, is that it?

I don't want to
go down fighting.

I want to win.

Ramon, we are not
getting weaker.

We are stronger
than ever before.

They are getting weaker.

They thought they could
break our picket line,

and they failed.

And now they can't win unless
they pull off something big,

and pull it off fast.

- Like what?

- I don't know.

But I can feel it coming.

It's like a lull
before the storm.

Charley Vidal says--

- Charley Vidal says!

Don't throw Charley
Vidal up to me.

- Charley's my friend.

I need friends.

Why are you so afraid to
have me as your friend?

- I don't know what
you're talking about.

- No, you don't.

Have you learned nothing
from this strike?

Why are you afraid to
have me at your side?

Do you still think you can have
dignity only if I have none?

- You talk of dignity after
what you've been doing?

Yes.

I talk of dignity.

The Anglo bosses look down on
you, and you hate them for it.

"Stay in your place,
you dirty Mexican."

That's what they tell you.

But why must you say to
me, "Stay in your place"?

Do you feel better having
someone lower than you?

Shut up!

You're talking crazy.

- Who's neck shall I stand
on to make feel superior?

And what will I get out of it?

I don't want anything
lower than I am.

I am low enough already.

I want to rise, and to push
everything up with me as I go.

- Will you be still?

- And if you can't
understand this,

you are a fool,
because you can't

win this strike without me.

You can't win
anything without me!

- Ahh!

- That would be the old way.

Never try it on me again.

Never.

I'm going to bed now.

Sleep where you please,
but not with me.

- So they had a little taste of
what it's like to be a woman,

and they run away.

With
Ramon, it's pride.

I spoke out of the bitterness
in me, and he was hurt.

- Anything worth
learning is a hurt.

These changes come with pain.

For other husbands,
too, not just Ramon.

You
mean you're ready to give up?

I don't want to
go down fighting.

I want to win.

Have you learned nothing
from this strike?

Ramon, we are not
getting weaker.

We are stronger
than ever before.

They are getting weaker.

I can feel it coming.

It's like a lull
before the storm.

And now they can't win, unless
they pull off something big,

and pull it off fast.

Brothers!

We've got to go back!

- Esperanza, where's Ramon?

Did he go hunting
with the others?

- Where?

Where can we find him?

Do you know?

- No.

- Deer hunters.

Deserters, that's what they are.

- Something's wrong?

Charley, tell us.

- The company has
an eviction order.

- Eviction!

Eviction!

- Where?

En la casa de Quintero!

- Eviction!

- Donde?

- En la casa de Quintero!

- Eviction!

Eviction!

Eviction!

Eviction!

- Don't worry.

Quintero's gone hunting
with the others.

Evict him first, the
rest will be easy.

Let the neighbors watch.

It'll scare some
sense into them.

Can't
we do something?

- All right, girls.

Get back, get back.

- What's up, huh?

- Eviction at the Quintero place!

- Come on!

- Let's go!

Hey, hey, hey, hey!

- Get 'em!

Hey!

Leave them brats alone!

Come on!

Let's get our work done.

Don't pay any attention to 'em.

Go back and get the
rest of the stuff.

This is what
we've been waiting for.

- What are you saying?

This means
they have given up

trying to break our picket line.

Now we can all fight
together-- all of us!

Go get the kids.

Pick up the stuff.

- Go!

Come on!

- Now see here, Quintero, these
women are obstructing justice.

You make 'em behave, savvy?

- I can't do nothing, Sheriff.

You know how it is.

They won't go listen
to a man anymore.

- You want me to
lock 'em up again?

- You want 'em in
your lock-up again?

- Keep 'em out of the yard!

- Hey, the guys
from the open pit!

- Yeah, and the
guys from the mill.

- Got any more ideas?

- I don't make policy.

- I'll talk to New York.

I think maybe we'd
better settle this thing.

For the present.

We did not

know then we had won the strike.

And yet our hearts were full.

And when Ramon said--

- Thanks, sisters and brothers.

Esperanza, thank you.

You were right.

Together we can push
everything up with us as we go.

Then I knew

we had won something they could
never take away, something

I could leave my children, and
they, the salt of the earth,

would inherit it.