DB: Where were you born? My parents are from the state of Sinaloa and migrated to Cananea when there weren't even roads to get from there to here. My father left then for the United States, and worked in the mines in Arizona. He worked in Superior for many years, and after the war, he got out. He died in Tucson from silicosis. I entered the mine at 16 years old, in , and I retired in I worked for 44 years. After that I returned to the company here, where I worked about months more.
But then they sold the company and I didn't return. DB: What work did you do? I started like everyone else, as an ordinary laborer. But after a while, I felt suffocated, and did different jobs as a result n all mine branches until I became a manager. After that, they promoted me to security, where I lasted there for 30 years. I didn't like it, but they told me to wait until they found an engineer to replace me.
They found him 30 years later, so that's how long I was in security. DB: What did you think about the work in all those years? Well, the first few years it was difficult. For the ones that started before me, during the years when the mine in Cananea was first operating, the situation was even more difficult.
It was a lot of work, with very little pay. As time passed, the situation started to change. The union formed and after that the mine was managed with much more justice. They gave Mexicans what they deserved. During those years, there were workers in the mine from the United States. The Mexican miner did not have access to a manager or a supervisor position. Later, they were given those jobs, after the union.
As the years passed, a bridge was opened so that Mexicans could even administer the business. In , the miners began asking that the union contract include those jobs, so that Mexicans would have access to them. But it wasn't until when they were allowed to advance into manger and supervisor positions, known as boss divisions.
