Read the Spanish version of this article here.
Gregorio Mancilla lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children. In 2022, he was part of a successful campaign by the advocacy group The Textile Workers’ Centre to change state law so that workers like him are paid at least the minimum wage on a permanent basis. This transcript is based on an interview with Mancilla and has been translated from Spanish and edited for clarity and length.
Mancilla: If I could say that I “made it,” it would mean that I had overcome many obstacles and achieved all my goals.
I have been working in the clothing industry for about 34 years. I operate two machines – one makes buttonholes and the other attaches the buttons.
To be honest, it was not easy for me personally to provide for the whole family with three children. Everything is expensive. Gasoline is very expensive, food is very expensive. Electricity – the same goes for me.
(My pay is) not much, but it’s better than before when companies paid us per garment. They paid about $4 to $5 an hour. Now we know it’s $16 an hour.
(The state of California) has passed laws that now, first of all, guarantee a minimum wage. Before, there was no such guarantee in this profession. I had to work more than 10 hours a day to make the minimum wage.
It affected my family because I was away from my children most of the time. I even had to work on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. I was always far away from my family. And now that I am earning at least a minimum wage, I can cover most of the expenses and spend a lot of time with my family.
So were there any changes? Yes, there were any changes.
I have a daughter who is 25 years old. She just graduated from college. I also have another daughter who just turned 18. She is in college. And then I have a third daughter who is 10 years old.
We live in an apartment. There is one bedroom – a bedroom for my daughters. (My wife and I are) the ones in the living room. That’s what I can tell about the way I live with my daughters and how we can survive.
My oldest daughter wanted to go to college. So over time I saved enough money because I knew my daughter had that dream. I worked a lot in the garment industry to cover our expenses and it was hard. I wasn’t even making minimum wage. I was able to save $30,000.
My goal was to be able to see her graduate from college. And when she finished, we had a really nice celebration at a restaurant.
For me, it’s like I’ve achieved my goals. For me, it’s like I’ve already made it.
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