Don Manning Oral History Interview

Don Manning shares his Labor story starting with his first Union job as a sacker at the Piggly Wiggly in Grants, NM where his Aunt was his Union Steward. Manning worked in mining jobs as a welder and mechanic mining uranium and copper in Western New Mexico. He served as USWA Local 890 President through the 1982-1983 copper mine shutdowns in Grants and Silver City NM areas. Manning was active in the Bill Richardson campaign and served as Director of Workforce Investment for 2 years. As the Field Rep for the AFL CIO, he worked many statewide and national political campaigns. Manning discusses the changes and the future of Unions in the US. He focuses on the role of Union women in New Mexico politics as well as the importance of Unions to families and the significance of Unions for democracy in the country. Interview by Dalilah Naranjo.

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.