Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Frank Miyamoto Interview IV
Narrator: Frank Miyamoto
Interviewers: Alice Ito (primary), Tatsuya Fukunaga (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: July 7, 2003
Densho ID: denshovh-mfrank-04-0022

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FM: One other remark I should make is that I, because of the nature of the work I had been doing, I got into, I became acquainted with the foreman, the white foreman, the white head mechanic of the Waterfall cannery, more closely than most others in the workforce, the Asian work force, and so I was aware of what, how they were reacting to this unionization process, perhaps more clearly than were the other Nisei. And what I saw was that for the white owners, management, they saw again, that the unionization was kind of inevitable, but they, and they were trying to understand it so they would come to me for my interpretation of what was taking place. And in that sense I could see that for them, too, they would much rather have kept the system as it was under the contractor system, unions were a pain for management, then, and as it is now, but... in many respects, at least. But they were also aware that this kind of transformation was occurring throughout the entire American economic system and that it was kind of inevitable in the cannery. Therefore, they would try to understand it as best they could, get a sense of what the workers' feelings was -- feelings were, and get a sense for what was coming ahead. This was the kind of mental activity that they were engaged in as far as I can make out.

AI: That's so interesting, when they came to you and asked your thoughts on this, what kind of thing would you say to them?

FM: Well, when, as the change was occurring, Filipino workers, especially, would begin to, became increasingly aggressive in making demands. And the manage-, white management, then, tried to understand what it was that they were asking for, what was reasonable, what was not and so on. They were trying to sense how much, how they could defend themselves in a sense, but how much they had to, to yield in order to keep the system working effectively. With respect to the people I was talking to, foreman, the foreman is the person who was an overseer of the whole system and needed to keep the system functioning effectively. And the head mechanic, who was a kind of a right-hand man to the foreman, also had the same kind of concern. So for them the concern was, "We don't want this work force to blow up in some fashion. How are we going to maintain them so that the work will be effectively carried out?" And yet, they had to recognize that something was happening here, changing, that they would have to allow for. So this is the kind of mentality that, I mean, the problem that they were trying to deal with. And so they would come to people like myself to get as much information and advice as possible in light of the fact that they were not, they were now faced with a totally new kind of situation. They didn't know who to communicate with. The contractors no longer were effective tools of communication between the workers and themselves. Contractor, incidentally had, incidentally had under him a Japanese foreman, named Jack. I think I mentioned that before. And, but he, too, you see, is no longer functioning within the communication system between the white management and the working population. So they seek out people like me as kind of... but they had to deal with George Taki and Dyke Miyagawa. On the other hand, they see Dyke Miyagawa and George Taki as somewhat on the other side, the protest group. And so they get, want to get information in a sense that would enable them to, to maintain a functional organization. And I think this is what they... they, I think they were smart enough to see that they were not going to prevent this transformation of the union, and the question was how to effect this so as not to disturb the system totally. And then, the danger, of course, was that it could be, totally blow up if it became kind of a revolutionary situation, people went on strikes and so on, why, general strike, that would be a terrible thing for the canning industry as they would view it.

AI: Right. So they could see that they, that they'd like to prevent that type of thing from happening.

FM: Yeah, yeah.

AI: And it sounds as though you found yourself in a position of, kind of an intermediary --

FM: In a way.

AI: -- structurally?

FM: Yeah, although I recognized that my capacity was limited. Nevertheless, I did become kind of an intermediary. Well, I was not negotiating relationships, but I was, I became a source of information and I hope, not to the detriment of the workers, but nevertheless, I was trying to give the management a sense of what the situation was. And in that sense, I did have some awareness of what was happening in the system. And I think I functioned in that kind of role partly because I, being a sociologist, and I was always, already, a graduate student with some background of understanding for the organizational problems. They looked upon me as someone who provided them useful information in their effort to continue management of a system that was rapidly changing.

AI: Right. So, in other words, they could see that you would be a keen observer. You were actually within the conditions of the cannery and could see those conditions. You were in contact with other workers.

FM: Yes.

AI: And yet, at the same time, you were very well-skilled in communication and were able to communicate with them in terms that they were --

FM: [Laughs] Well I, yeah.

AI: -- they were comfortable, also.

FM: I'm not sure I was as knowledgeable as I needed to be or as effective communicatively as I needed to be or whatever, but anyway, you're right. They came to people like me, because they needed that kind of resource.

AI: What kinds of things did you try to communicate to--

FM: Well, I --

AI: -- managers?

FM: My concern mainly was to give them an understanding of what the workers felt about these circumstances. And the fact that there were serious shortcomings in the living conditions, for example, and what the workers were protesting. I could convey a sense of these, because I felt it myself. On the other hand, I, there were some who were being unreasonable. You know, or at least I viewed them as unreasonable. People wanted to strike, for example, and I didn't think it was in the interest of the workers to have that kind of breakdown of the organization at that time, and so I tried to give advice that might help prevent that kind of extreme conflict.

<End Segment 22> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.