The Henry (Enrique) Gaitán Collection documents the unity between ILWU, Local 13 and their union counterparts throughout the shipping ports of Mexico. The collection contains correspondence between members of various longshore unions in the ports of Colima, Mazatlán, Sonora, Veracruz, and Yucatán, Mexico and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union to organize travel itinerary, visas, and contacts for the Mexican workers coming to the Los Angeles waterfront. Several items of correspondence provide insight into the personal friendships that developed between Henry Gaitán and some of the Mexican workers after they completed their training. Documents indicate that upon retiring, Henry Gaitán continued to be actively involved as Treasurer and President with the Southern California Pensioners of the ILWU.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union's Mexican Worker Program was established in the early 1960s by representatives within ILWU, Local 13. Committee members included Henry Gaitán, Tony Cedillo, Tom Motta, and Earl Cordova. ILWU, Local 13 extended invitations to various Mexican longshore unions, inviting their members to work temporarily on the Long Beach/Wilmington docks with the intention of sharing different cargo handling and mechanized methods used by U.S. longshoremen. More importantly, ILWU members hoped to create stronger union relations on the Pacific coast, both north and south of the border.

0.64 linear feet

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

The collection is open for research use.