Tales of Sacrifice and Abuse: Popular Depictions of Railroad Workers in Postwar Mexico

The end of World War II and the rise of the Cold War proved decisive for Mexican labor relations, as leaders of major industrial unions, including the Mexican Railroad Workers’ Union, became co-opted by the government.  These leaders, known disparagingly as charros, suppressed rank and file discontent while urging them to work more efficiently. This paper argues that postwar Mexican railroad leaders used corridos, cartoons, and folk knowledge to address issues of workplace safety and workplace control. Corridos (Mexican ballads), cartoons, and editorials in the railroad union newspaper, Unificación Ferroviaria, reveal how union officials used popular culture to teach workers lessons that promised to make them productive. Finally, it draws on sources from National Railroad of Mexico, including workers’ dossiers, to demonstrate how workers experienced both everyday dangers at work as well as the pressure to increase production.