Norma Yates Oral History Interview

Norma Yates talks about her over 20-year career at Smith’s Food and Drug, which is now owned by Kroger. She discusses ways in which union membership benefited her personally and tells stories of times when the union advocated for her in disputes with management. Through these experiences, she saw the value of union membership, became a shop steward, and came to see fellow union members as family. She describes the way the union president and members supported her during her husband’s illnesses, while the company did not. Interview by John Russo.

The Working People's History of New Mexico Project (WPHNM) is an oral labor history project created to gather the labor stories of working people in New Mexico. While part of the interviews focus on the specific jobs that the interviewees performed, the interviews also explore labor-management relations as well as union, workers council, and social activism participation.  The interviews contain information about family and social relationships and offer themes of social and historical interest in New Mexico and the US.