Female workers at the Kitayama Floral Corporation chain themselves to the plant's gate

Description

In July of 1968, a labor strike erupted at a small floral plant in Brighton, Colorado. Employees at the Kitayama Corporation, primarily Mexican American women, had been subjected to miserable working conditions. In addition to long hours and no overtime pay, the employees were forced to work in a humid, muddy floral nursery, often leading to accidents and health complications. After eight months of striking, the women decided to make a last-ditch effort of nonviolent protest, chaining themselves to the gate of the Kitayama plant. In response, Weld County police officers showed up at the plant. Under the orders of Ray Kitayama, the officers proceeded to cut the chains and spray tear gas on the striking women. “Through our veil of tears,” Guadalupe Briseño said in an interview with Falcón, “you could not see our broken hearts.” After 221 days of striking, Briseño and the other women decided to call it off. Although they did not achieve every goal of theirs, the strike was relatively successful. Working conditions at the Kitayama plant did improve, Briseño said in an interview, but they did not get a union. Nevertheless, the Kitayama strike had implications that went beyond the strikers themselves.