Montoya, Alfredo Chavez

Alfredo Chávez Montoya was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 18, 1921. His parents were both originally from rural communities in the central part of the state, and his father worked for the Kennecott Copper mines in Grant County, New Mexico in the 1920s and 30s. Alfredo Montoya graduated from high school in Silver City in 1941, after which he attended the University of New Mexico. At the end of his junior year, he took a summer job working for the Bracero Program, the federal program to provide Mexican agricultural labor in the U.S. during WW II. Through contact with the Mexican laborers, Mr. Montoya was introduced to concepts of labor organizing and collective action. Instead of returning to college, he continued his work with the Bracero program in Colorado and then Oregon, where he met and married Virginia, who worked as a nurse for the Bracero program. After additional time at the University of New Mexico in 1948 and an early run for political office in Bernalillo County on the Progressive Party ticket, Mr. Montoya moved back into the labor organizing that would occupy the rest of his career, focusing on improving the lives of Spanish-speaking people in the Southwest and throughout the U.S. Alfredo C. Montoya helped found the Asociación Nacional Mexicano Americano (ANMA) in 1949, when it was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. As president of ANMA, Montoya traveled the Southwest, setting up local chapters, promoting an international Latin-American perspective, and developing a broad program focused on social issues, discrimination, police brutality, immigrant and migrant labor, and political representation for Spanish-speaking communities. ANMA worked closely with labor unions, including the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill). ANMA eventually moved to Denver, where Mine Mill had its headquarters. ANMA was declared a subversive organization by the McCarthy-era U.S. government in 1953 and dissolved the following year.

Mr. Montoya next went to work for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill), the progressive labor union that grew out of the Western Federation of Miners. Mine-Mill represented thousands of Spanish-speaking workers in the El Paso, Texas and Grants, New Mexico areas alone, and was at the time the largest union in the non-ferrous metals industry. The struggles of Mine Mill against Empire Zinc in the early 1950s are the subject of the classic labor film, Salt of the Earth. In 1953, Mr. Montoya moved to El Paso to work on a successful campaign to defeat a Steelworkers raid on the Mine Mill membership there. The assignment turned into a position with Mine Mill in El Paso as an International Representative. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, Mine Mill's work was instrumental in getting federal mine safety legislation passed, in eliminating regional wage differentials in the industry, and in winning basic insurance and pension benefits for its members. Mr. Montoya and Mine Mill also worked to register Mexican Americans voters, and they became an important political force in regions like El Paso and Grants. In 1967, Mine Mill merged with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) of the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Alfredo Montoya began as a staff person for the USWA in El Paso and worked for them and the AFL-CIO for the next decade. His work concentrated on supporting the locals in their grievances and arbitrations, and with increasing involvement with the Texas AFL-CIO. He was named Vice President of District 13 in 1975. In this capacity, he interacted with numerous unions, including the United Farm Workers and Amalgamated Clothing Workers. In addition, Mr. Montoya became intensively involved with politics through labor's political action committees (PAC's), and Committee on Political Education (COPE). He helped organize major voter registration drives in El Paso and elsewhere, often turning out swing votes in favor of Spanish-speaking and Democratic candidates. In 1972, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Montoya also worked extensively with local government and charities in the El Paso area in his position as Staff Representative.

In 1973, a new organization, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) was formed with support from the AFL-CIO. LCLAA was formed by U.S. trade unionists "of Latin descent," to promote "participation by Hispanic trade unionists in a more responsive labor movement" (lclaa.org). Montoya served as one of the organization's first executive directors in Washington, D.C. from1977 until 1997, when he retired to El Paso, Texas.

Alfredo Chávez Montoya was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 18, 1921. His parents were both originally from rural communities in the central part of the state, and his father worked for the Kennecott Copper mines in Grant County, New Mexico in the 1920s and 30s. Alfredo Montoya graduated from high school in Silver City in 1941, after which he attended the University of New Mexico. At the end of his junior year, he took a summer job working for the Bracero Program, the federal program to provide Mexican agricultural labor in the U.S. during WW II. Through contact with the Mexican laborers, Mr. Montoya was introduced to concepts of labor organizing and collective action. Instead of returning to college, he continued his work with the Bracero program in Colorado and then Oregon, where he met and married Virginia, who worked as a nurse for the Bracero program. After additional time at the University of New Mexico in 1948 and an early run for political office in Bernalillo County on the Progressive Party ticket, Mr. Montoya moved back into the labor organizing that would occupy the rest of his career, focusing on improving the lives of Spanish-speaking people in the Southwest and throughout the U.S.

Alfredo C. Montoya helped found the Asociación Nacional Mexicano Americano (ANMA) in 1949, when it was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. As president of ANMA, Montoya traveled the Southwest, setting up local chapters, promoting an international Latin-American perspective, and developing a broad program focused on social issues, discrimination, police brutality, immigrant and migrant labor, and political representation for Spanish-speaking communities. ANMA worked closely with labor unions, including the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill). ANMA eventually moved to Denver, where Mine Mill had its headquarters. ANMA was declared a subversive organization by the McCarthy-era U.S. government in 1953 and dissolved the following year.

Mr. Montoya next went to work for the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers (Mine Mill), the progressive labor union that grew out of the Western Federation of Miners. Mine-Mill represented thousands of Spanish-speaking workers in the El Paso, Texas and Grants, New Mexico areas alone, and was at the time the largest union in the non-ferrous metals industry. The struggles of Mine Mill against Empire Zinc in the early 1950s are the subject of the classic labor film, Salt of the Earth. In 1953, Mr. Montoya moved to El Paso to work on a successful campaign to defeat a Steelworkers raid on the Mine Mill membership there. The assignment turned into a position with Mine Mill in El Paso as an International Representative. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, Mine Mill's work was instrumental in getting federal mine safety legislation passed, in eliminating regional wage differentials in the industry, and in winning basic insurance and pension benefits for its members. Mr. Montoya and Mine Mill also worked to register Mexican Americans voters, and they became an important political force in regions like El Paso and Grants.

In 1967, Mine Mill merged with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) of the American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Alfredo Montoya began as a staff person for the USWA in El Paso and worked for them and the AFL-CIO for the next decade. His work concentrated on supporting the locals in their grievances and arbitrations, and with increasing involvement with the Texas AFL-CIO. He was named Vice President of District 13 in 1975. In this capacity, he interacted with numerous unions, including the United Farm Workers and Amalgamated Clothing Workers. In addition, Mr. Montoya became intensively involved with politics through labor’s political action committees (PAC's), and Committee on Political Education (COPE). He helped organize major voter registration drives in El Paso and elsewhere, often turning out swing votes in favor of Spanish-speaking and Democratic candidates. In 1972, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Montoya also worked extensively with local government and charities in the El Paso area in his position as Staff Representative.

In 1973, a new organization, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) was formed with support from the AFL-CIO. LCLAA was formed by U.S. trade unionists "of Latin descent," to promote "participation by Hispanic trade unionists in a more responsive labor movement" (lclaa.org). Montoya served as one of the organization’s first executive directors in Washington, D.C. from1977 until 1997, when he retired to El Paso, Texas.