Patch and writing by Hannah

¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!

The people united will never be defeated!

This patch can by no means do the story(ies) justice.  I have read so many inspiring stories of women occupying buildings (and specifically union women occupying garment factory buildings where they work), to demand dignity and justice on the job and in every aspect of their lives.  Their commitment to justice is unwavering, even as they often undergo much personal trauma in having to choose between putting attention towards work or towards family.

The specific story that inspired this patch comes from Guatemala. Maria de los Angeles, a poor single mother of three young children, led a three-week factory occupation that ended in negotiations and a promise that nobody would be fired after the vice-president of the country stepped in.  I have articulated on the patch some of the themes of the women’s demands: justice, work, truth, dignity, and peace.  All loaded issues; all important themes within women’s movements all over Latin America. 

Fewer than 10 women actually occupied the factory for the three-week period, although management thought all workers who supported the strike were present.  Indeed, the women had much support outside of the factory walls: people brought them food and drink, other unions protested in front of the factory, university students came to wish the mothers a Happy Mother’s Day… But inside, fewer than ten women sat, creating bonds that would last far beyond the three weeks of the occupation.  The symbolic (and therefore real) power of these women did not end with management’s (mis)perception of their numbers; at the end of the strike, the government ordered the women to hand over the keys of the factory to the management, but “in fact, the factory had been open the whole time.  It was just that they had been afraid to enter.”[1]

Maria discusses the internal conflict each woman felt in “abandoning” the home for three weeks.  Maria’s mother took care of her children but constantly reminded her that although her struggle was important, her kids should be more important.  Furthermore, Maria’s grandmother died during this period.  The fact that the strike went through Mother’s Day profoundly affected the women as well.  They appreciated the support they received from university students who came to sing to them and otherwise cheer them up, but most women were certainly sad that they could not be with their children.  Still, Maria makes her purpose clear in saying that “I’m involved in the struggle because I hope that some day in the future when my kids, or one of my relatives, has to look for work, they won’t have to suffer like I have at this factory.”[2]

I dedicate this patch to all women who have actively struggled for dignity in the garment factories of Latin America, and all those who have had to struggle merely to survive.  I dedicate it to the brave women who have awakened to the realization that if people in this world can die for no reason at all, then if they also have to die, “…it will be for something worthwhile, something that I shall have done.”[3]  And finally, I specifically dedicate this patch to all the women I met in the Matagalpa area of Nicaragua who work in Presitex Factory and were willing to share some of their stories with me: María Azucena, Patricia, Luz de Fatima, Darling, Dulce, Ibed, Norma, Zorayda, Jamileth, Felipa, Susana, Karen, and Emilia.  May their strength carry them through, and may this patch add love and hope to the world.