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Murphy, Bette (audio interview #5 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This fifth interview with Murphy was conducted after almost a year's hiatus. First, she was consumed by pending strike negotiations, and then she suffered several health problems. Despite these problems, she was her usual exuberant self during the interview session, and we recorded for a full three hours. The long hiatus did not seem to affect the rapport that had been established with Murphy from the start of the relationship almost two years earlier. 10/26/1981
- Date
- 2021-04-12
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- Campus
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- Notes
- *** File: rrrbmurphy17.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-7:05)... Murphy's first exposure to union activities occurred in 1938 when she joined the AFL Culinary Workers Union while working as a waitress. She describes her experiences picketing in front of a small restaurant located on Beacon Street in downtown San Pedro. (7:05-9:31)... She began attending UAW national conventions in the late 1940s. She first met the president of the UAW, Walter Reuther, when he came to Long Beach during the 1951 strike. Her contact with him became more frequent as she moved up in the union ranks and began attending high-level conferences where he also was in attendance. (9:31-16:25)... At a certain point during the 1951 strike, contract negotiations were conducted in Washington, DC with UAW/CIO representatives. Each member of the Bargaining Committee was responsible for working on specific sections of the contract. When the contract was finished, it was reviewed by the Executive Board and submitted to the UAW/CIO representatives in Washington. Murphy talks about her interaction with international representatives. Unlike the men in her local, she was worried that challenging union officials would ruin her career. She was more concerned about representing the people than risking her political career with the union. (16:25-19:43)... Murphy opposed contract negotiations during the 1951 strike by organizing the letter-writing campaign and the wildcat walkout in March 1951. She also expressed her disapproval of the contract by writing a "minority report" detailing the reasons why the contract was insufficient in satisfying the needs of Douglas employees. The union leadership placed obstacles in her way to hinder her from discussing the report at the final election. Even though she was not happy with the contract, she encouraged people to support it because it was the "best that we could do under the circumstances." (19:43-26:15)... She notes that the union allows people they consider dissidents to move up in the ranks of leadership in an attempt to temper their activities. This also happens to unionists with a lot of support from the lower ranks. Murphy believes that her trip to Sweden was one example of how the UAW leadership "wooed" her with the intention of shutting her down. Although she expected that her trip to Europe would provide her with opportunities to educate others and suggest changes to her local, she was never even allowed to write a report about her experiences when she returned to Long Beach. To a certain extent, gender played a role in the way she was treated in the union. Even though her male counterparts respected her, they probably also resented her presence in the upper ranks of union leadership. (26:15-27:23)... Initially, the collaboration and interaction with other women in leadership positions was unorganized and informal. End of tape. *** File: rrrbmurphy18.mp3 (0:00-3:33)... As chair of the Community Services Committee, Murphy was responsible for approving strike expenditures and establishing eligibility requirements for funds. Some organizations and businesses, including the Red Cross, refused to help the local during the strike. However, churches, banks, businesses, and the Salvation Army provided aid to the local. Sears & Roebuck, for example, permitted the local to open charge accounts so that its members could purchase clothing and other items for their families. Although a strike fund was not set up, the international office of the UAW/CIO was supposed to deposit $500,000 in the local's bank account to pay for strike services. (3:33-7:24)... The UAW received support from the Independent Press Telegram , which pressured Douglas to accept the UAW's demands. Douglas was probably the largest employer in Long Beach and economic hardships facing employees affected small businesses in the community. As a result, these businesses supported the strike and believed that the UAW demands were reasonable and fair. Murphy thinks that this kind of support is absent from today's strikes because unions call unnecessary strikes and make unreasonable demands. (7:24-9:23)... Murphy believes that had she been elected chairman of the Bargaining Committee, the 1951 strike would have ended much sooner. She was impatient and was constantly making proposals to the chairman. However, he always told her to relax. (9:23-13:24)... Although there were men on the Community Services Committee during the strike, a lot of the responsibilities on the committee paralleled roles traditionally assigned to women. There were few women who occupied high offices in the local similar to Murphy's position. However, during the strike women did work as picket captains and Lodi Mae Bickerstaff was in charge of the soup kitchen. She digresses regarding her activities during the Pacific Bell strike. (13:24-15:59)... The UAW organized eighty percent of the labor force at Douglas. Only thirty-one people crossed the picket line during the 1951 strike. The UAW issued passes to employees who belonged to different unions because their work contributed to the company's overhead and, thus, helped the UAW. This also benefited the UAW because those with passes could inform picketers what was happening in the shop during the strike. Picket passes were never given to UAW members. (15:59-18:43)... The 1951 strike spearheaded women's progress in the UAW. They played an important role during the strike, and moved into union offices after the strike. Murphy talks about one woman (Hoppy Farmer?) to illustrate the changes both during and after the strike. In some cases, union leadership pushed women into shop steward positions in order to pick up female votes during elections. (18:43-21:33)... She created the "lesbian goon squad" in her local, which consisted of only two women. They were large and did not appear too feminine. However, very few people knew about their sexual orientation and there were no problems during the strike. In fact, the women were commended for their willingness to play this role in the local. After the strike, however, employees began to complain about the women because they could not keep their hands off of each other while in the shop. (21:33-25:23)... When the 1951 strike ended, Murphy occupied a position on the Bargaining Committee and as chief shop steward. She then ran and held office as recording secretary, which she did not consider a challenging role, but a political maneuver in order to get her into a trustee position with the Executive Board. End of tape. *** File: rrrbmurphy19.mp3 (0:00-4:41)... Murphy ran for trustee of the Executive Board in 1953. She was nominated both by her own political caucus and the Black political caucus in the plant. She did not lobby for a spot on the Black slate and did not know why they chose her as their candidate. The International office looked askance at her presumed alliance with Black workers. In contrast to the other political caucuses in the plant, Murphy's was composed of young "up and coming" people who were not closely tied to the International office. The other caucuses, particularly the "hatchet gang", were old guard labor politicians with allegiance to the International office. Red baiting was one tactic used by the old guard to "quiet me down because I was one of the most vocal." (4:41-7:16)... Soon after Murphy was elected trustee of the Executive Board, she decided to run for vice president of the local. Her husband complained about her busy schedule and she decided to curtail her union activities in an attempt to save her marriage. However, it became apparent that personality conflicts were the main cause of their problems, not her career. (7:16-8:39)... Murphy talks about her experiences learning the political system in the union. By the time she ran for trustee and vice president of the local, she was comfortable with her ability to politic for office. At the time she ran for these offices, the leader of her political caucus, Alex Groulix who also was the chairman of the Bargaining Committee and president of the local. (8:39-13:35)... The International office of the UAW/CIO was not happy with Murphy's decision to cease her union activities because they invested a lot of time in her career. Although her coworkers supported her decision, many did not expect her marriage to work because of conflicting career paths with her husband (he was management). Over time, she learned to ignore the snide comments made by people, but it was very hurtful in the beginning. Her social life changed once she decreased her union activities. After they married, her husband stopped being as sociable as he was when they dated and entertaining guests in their home occurred very infrequently. Many of the women she met through her husband befriended her so that they could relay information back to her husband. At the time, she considered these women her close friends. Murphy describes the social activities she enjoyed with her girlfriends. (13:35-17:38)... Murphy discusses her involvement with the Civil Air Patrol. She was in the process of learning how to fly and logging flight hours when her husband told her that it was too dangerous for her to continue. She was flattered by his obvious display of concern, but later learned that he was jealous of her activities. (17:38-22:27)... After Murphy divorced her husband in 1956, she immersed herself in union activities once again and ran for recording secretary of her local. Her political caucus came into power at that time, displacing the "hatchet gang." The chairman of Murphy's caucus, Alex Groulix, was elected president of the local. He was a laid back leader and savvy negotiator. The two frequently disagreed over issues and he once accused her of attempting to build a political caucus in opposition to him. Murphy was not happy working as recording secretary because it involved a lot of paperwork and not enough action in terms of bargaining and grievances resolutions. She received release time at work a couple days a week to attend membership meetings, during which time an alternate lead took her place in the shop. (22:27-24:09)... She describes her responsibilities as lead of the spares department at Douglas. After the war, leads were no longer placed in those positions based on their job classification. (24:09-29:02)... The Women's Council [Women's Committee is used interchangeably] was formed around 1957. It started out as a small, social group. Meetings were held in the union hall once a month and the membership grew to about sixty women. The purpose of the Women's Council was to address women's issues in the shop and provide a platform for them to discuss their problems. As the group grew larger, men in the UAW saw the Women's Council as an untapped resource of organizing power, and encouraged them to establish a formal organization. The committee included a chair and a secretary. Murphy discusses how the Women's Council functioned and collaborated with UAW local representatives. End of tape. *** File: rrrbmurphy20.mp3 (0:00-6:34)... The members of the Women's Council were divided into three political caucuses: Murphy's caucus, the hatchet gang, and the Black caucus. But women were loyal to each other rather their political caucuses. Murphy was not extremely active in the Women's Council because she was busy with other committee responsibilities. She supported the Council, but did not approve of women who said that they only represented the women and not the men in the local. She felt that this stance threatened the progress for which women had fought in the local. After about six years, the Women's Council lost its power and became dormant. During its heyday, the Council was a powerful group that served as a training ground for women who moved up in the ranks of the UAW. (6:34-17:10)... The Women's Council of Local 148 (Douglas) walked out of the conference that the UAW/CIO International sponsored in protest to the delegate chosen by the International office. The other delegates at the conference were surprised by their actions, but supportive once they learned the reason for the protest. (17:10-18:30)... The Women's Council of Local 148 (Douglas) disbanded after a few years because of political conflicts within the UAW. The women became disenchanted with the way they were being used by the union leadership. With the burden of family and work responsibilities keeping them busy, many women felt that it was not worth their time to remain involved in an organization that did not treat them fairly. (18:30-24:22)... Following the protest at the women's conference, the delegate that had been chosen by the hatchet gang announced at a local meeting that the protest was a communist tactic. Because Murphy spearheaded the walk out, she was accused of being a Communist. Murphy describes the courtroom antics that took place during her trial. Even though she was exonerated, the woman who made the accusations was not punished for her behavior. (24:22-26:50)... After her October 1957 trial, Murphy returned to the Bargaining Committee. The 1960s was a relatively stable period for labor and for Murphy's political caucus. Although they remained in power, they were continually oiling their political machine. It is during this period that Murphy became entrenched in labor politics and "learned things the hard way." End of tape. *** File: rrrbmurphy21.mp3 (0:00-1:35)... An outline is established for the interview. Murphy briefly discusses her collaboration with community services during the 1951 strike, indicating that businesses and social groups learned that if they wanted the support of Douglas they had to approach the labor force as well as the company. (1:35-6:40)... Murphy describes the types of work she did at Douglas in the late 1950s, early 1960s. She served two, nonconsecutive terms as recording secretary for the local. In the interim, she returned to the Bargaining Committee. When she was elected recording secretary the second time, there were other women serving in positions on the Executive Board. Murphy had no qualms about working with someone from an opposing political caucus. There was mutual respect among political caucuses serving in administrative positions at the local; however, she mentions that she was recently the target of an opposing political caucus. (6:40-8:35)... Murphy did not develop a support group with the other women in union offices who were members of opposing political caucuses. However, she learned that it was important to cultivate amicable relationships with her opposition. She describes an incident that occurred at an arbitration hearing when her co-counsel showed his party allegiance by discrediting her in court. (8:35-10:27)... After she left the Bargaining Committee, she attended very few national conventions. She was active at state conferences and also increased her activities in political movements outside the UAW, particularly during the Kennedy administration. (10:27-16:13)... When Murphy left the Bargaining Committee for a management position at Douglas, she took an honorable withdrawal from the UAW and was not permitted to attend local meetings. She was hesitant to take a management position, but felt that it was the best thing for her and her family. She describes her position as factory specialist, which then led into an assistant foreman position. She was the first and only woman promoted to this position. She was told that she had to wear a tie and slacks. Her first day on the job she wore her husband's tie to work. After that experience, she decided to wear bow ties or sequined ribbons around her collar. (16:13-21:39)... Although she eventually adjusted to a management position, she occasionally encountered difficulties with the chain of command. She talks about an incident that resulted in her being reprimanded for following orders. She refused to sign the reprimand and when she notified management that she sent a letter to the vice president of Douglas apprising him of the situation, the company backed down and withdrew the reprimand. (21:39-28:43)... As assistant foreman, Murphy was the only woman assigned to a developmental and experimental task force designed to develop control centers and resolve engineering and production problems on various military and commercial projects. In July 1967, she received a commendation for her work on the DC9 project at the Palmdale plant. During this period, she married her fourth husband. They dated for nine years and were married for only one year when he had a heart attack and died in 1968. When Murphy finished the Palmdale project, she returned to Long Beach and was placed on a task force for the DC10. With hesitation, she accepted an assistant foreman position on the DC10 "iron bird" development. End of tape. *** File: rrrbmurphy22.mp3 (0:00-0:37)... Murphy supervised two or three hundred employees when she was an assistant foreman at Douglas. She was the only woman at Douglas serving in an assistant foreman capacity. The women who moved into assistant foreman positions after Murphy went into the electrical departments. (0:37-3:06)... Murphy was despondent over her husband's death in 1968. For the first time in her life, she thought that she had finally found the perfect man and their relationship was wonderful. Around the same time, she was assigned to an assistant foreman position in the developmental and experimental department of the DC10 or "iron bird" production. She was reclassified as an engineer and received a substantial increase in pay, making her one of the highest paid employees at the plant. (3:06-9:17)... Murphy details her progression at Douglas and the various projects she worked on as assistant foreman. When a new Douglas facility was constructed (on Wardlow Street), Murphy oversaw production in that facility. In the early 1970s, Douglas began laying off engineering crews. She was offered a choice between assistant foreman in the shop or assistant foreman of production control. However, she decided to "go back on the clock" so that she could back into union activity. She was assigned to the vertical section of the DC10, which required that she work on a gantry, which is seven stories high. Her crew consisted of four men and one woman. She experienced difficulty with one man because he was a redneck who hated women and any type of authority. It took about six weeks before she felt comfortable on the gantry. She was also responsible for production on the tail cone section of the DC10 because she had helped engineer the part; and the company knew that these production areas were trouble spots and were confident that Murphy could resolve the problems. (9:17-17:21)... Note: an outline for the rest of the interview is established in the beginning of the segment. Murphy describes how she met her fourth husband. After they met, he left his wife and moved in with Murphy. His wife harassed Murphy and as a result of the stress, Murphy was admitted to the Long Beach Memorial Hospital for psychiatric care. She took a leave of absence from Douglas for approximately six months while she was being treated. Murphy talks about her husband's family background and his career. They were finally married in 1967 and he died a year later from a heart attack. Her husband was very supportive of her career at Douglas and her union activities. Their relationship was accepted and supported by both their families. (17:21-22:49)... It was much easier for her to move into a management position because she was supported and encouraged by her husband. Although there were some people in the union who scoffed at her decision to go into management, the majority of people in the local were supportive and knew that she union ideals would not be corrupted. Even when she was in management, she was involved in union matters, albeit indirectly. She contributed funds to the political caucuses and coworkers frequently told her what was happening in the union. When she returned to a lead position, she immediately re-joined the union. She attended a meeting a month later and was completely disgusted with the political caucuses, including her former caucus. For this reason, she did not get involved in union politics for quite a while. (22:49-27:02)... While she was in management, her life revolved around work and family. She socialized with some of her union friends, including the president of the local. There was a mutual respect between Murphy and the people in the local because "I proved that I would not change when I was in management." She digresses regarding an incident involving a woman on her crew who threatened to file a grievance against Murphy. Murphy explains that people tried to take advantage of her because of her union background. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Bette Murphy was one of those women who eagerly joined the ranks of defense workers in 1942, pleased to be patriotic and to leave her lower paying service job. Born in 1918 to a military family, she spent her childhood in the Philippines, Virginia and San Francisco, before the family settled in Los Angeles in the 1930s. She married an Army dental technician when she was only eighteen, and by the time they separated two years later, her daughter had been born. Murphy went to work first as a waitress, and then as a practical nurse. When the war broke out, she and her daughter were living with a family in Washington, and she served as a "nanny." When she heard about the jobs opening up at Douglas, Long Beach, she returned to southern California to seek work there. She remained at Douglas, with only a brief period of layoff after the war, until her retirement in 1978. From her earliest days at Douglas, Murphy began to recruit her fellow workers to join the union (UAW). Over the next thirty six years she held various posts in the Local and at the time of the interview she was an officer of the Retirees chapter. Because of her extensive involvement in the union, a very long oral history was undertaken with Murphy, whose bright red hair earned the nickname, Red. (In all 14 hours were recorded in the course of six interviews.) Because of her busy schedule, it took a full nine months to complete the first four interviews, Then, an impending strike in 1980 and various health problems led to a one year hiatus in the interviews. Despite the long interruption, the rapport that had been established initially, made the resumption of interviews relatively easy. The interviewers own union activity contributed to this rapport, and to Murphy's candor about the problems she had with her union over the years. TOPICS - Culinary Worker's Union; Walter Reuther; relationship with international representatives; 1951 contract negotiations; wildcat walkout; reaction to contract; relationship UAW International and Local; and gender relaCommunity Services Committee and strike services; newspaper coverage; Bargaining Committee; gender relations in the local; women's roles during the strike; women's changing status in the union; lesbian goon squad;election to Executive Board; red baiting; internal union politics; third husband and marital relationship; social activities; Civil Air Patrol; role and responsibilities in union; and Women's Council;Women's Council of Local 148; women's roles in local; women's conference; political conflicts within UAW; and red baiting and Murphy's trial;production work at Douglas; union politics; management roles and responsibilities; work clothing; jobs at Long Beach and Palmdale plant; and fourth marriage;management roles and responsibilities; husband and marital relationship; social life; internal union politics; and relationship with the local while in managerial position;
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