President stands up to Foreign Oil Company, public cheers!
Read Time:1 Minute, 49 Second
No, not THAT president. And no, not THAT foreign oil company. And no, not THAT public. The president was Lazaro Cardenas, foreign oil was Royal Dutch Shell and Standard Oil of New Jersey, and it happened in Mexico in 1938. And the public was so supportive that a spontaneous six-hour parade erupted in Mexico City.
President Lazaro Cardenas was a social progressive who was elected president in 1934. He immediately halved his personal salary, deported corrupt officials to the United States and began a program of road building and social reform.
In 1937 the Petroleum Workers Union struck the foreign oil companies demanding a 40 hour work week and paid time off. The oil companies took a hard line, claiming they could not afford to meet the demands and brought in scab replacement workers. Mexico’s Arbitration Board went over the companies books and determined they were doing quite well and could easily meet the demands. In the meantime in spite of shortages the public overwhelmingly stood behind the workers. Cardenas as well looked upon the strikers with favor.
As the strike dragged on into 1938 both sides agreed to binding arbitration through the Arbitration Board. The board sides with the union and ordered the oil companies to repay 40 million pesos in lost wages. The companies declined to pay and petitioned the Mexican Supreme Court to overrule the Arbitration Board’s ruling. The court declined the petition and President Cardenas mediated personally, working with the union to reduce the back wages to 26 million pesos. He then met with oil company executives, offering to end the strike. According to witnesses the executives wanted to know who could guarantee the strike would end, and the English-speaking Cardenas stated as president of the Republic, he would. When an oilman replied with sarcasm “You?” Cardenas abruptly ended the meeting.
President Cardenas then expropriated (Nationalized) all oil reserves, resources and facilities. The US and UK launched a boycott of Mexican oil and other products. When Mexico began to provide oil to Spain, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany the US and UK then ended the boycott.
March 21st, Oil Expropriation Day is a Civic Holiday in Mexico.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
Oso, it’s exactly what I think Obama should begin saber rattling to do and follow through on if BP doesn’t begin to spill lots of money.
Great post.
This read like science fiction until I realized the year. Great post Oso, a great history lesson for me.
Hi Mother Hen,yeah he really was. It’s along the lines of labor day here, right. I think burning them in effigy would be a great first step-prior to burning them for real!
Why are you going to put all that pollution in the atmosphere buring those gas bags? I got all excited thinking this was PO doing this. If it happens I would gladly start a parade, I don’t think it will though. We are too far into the pocket of big business for many of our politicians to do anything. I am going to actually forward this article, to one Alan Grayson(D-huge set) he likes stuff like this. He would be the one I could see leading something like this, or Sanders.
That guy was awesome! We need somebody like him. I can imagine a parade erupting here when and if the gulf spill is finally capped…
I had no idea about that civic holiday. I’m guessing it is a day off from work- like labor day here? Surely they don’t burn tar-soaked effigies of oil men and dance about in glee (which is what I would be doing if our country did the same.)