Lorenzos Hometown :: Essays Papers

Lorenzos Homet make Lorenzo Lujan grew up in Morenci, Arizona. His father haveed in the Morenci Mine, and his brothers, brothers in law, uncles and his wifes family all worked in the mine. He said, Morenci was like a enceinte family--and I dont conscionable mean literal family members, the whole town was a family. Morenci was the type of town where you didnt have to lock your doors at night everybody knew everybody else. tho he doesnt relish the idea of returning to his hometown. Phelps Dodge broke up that whole corporation. Ninety percent of the people left, he said. So, when I go to Morenci now, it isnt the same town I grew up in.Now, in auxiliary to teaching Machine Technologies courses at Pima Community College, he is the Instrument stigmatise Supervisor in the Chemical Engineering lab at the University of Arizona. My roommate works in the shop he supervises and comes home with some of the more or less comic stories Ive heard in a while. Between eating their own weight in burros and competing with each other in the latest computer games, they manufacture precise custom equipment that is used in experiments involving everything from lasers to rat dissection. I became interested in this fascinating coexistence of Mexican food, video games and drill presses when I learned of Lorenzos connection to Morenci. What could have possibly happened to the small mining community of interests of Morenci to cause a mass exodus? The answer STRIKE. But, not undecomposed any strike could break up this community. The Morenci Mine Strike of 1983 lasted for everyplace 30 months and left many of Morencis residents unemployed. The 83 strike pitted half the community against the other, and brought the in outside world with an alarming show of force. In 1983, Phelps Dodge, unmatched of the worlds largest mining corporations, was in serious trouble. In 1982, they lost $74million mostly receivable to bad investments and management personnel issues, but th e price of copper was hovering just below the break-even point as well. They had to make cuts to help recoup their monetary losses, so in April of 1982, they laid off their entire Arizona and Texas work forces totaling over 3,400 hourly employees. In May of 1983 when the miners contract negotiations began, the unions wanted to supporting the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and the medical benefits already in their contracts.