FRANKLIN GARCIA

1925-1984

Franklin Garcia was an inspirational pioneer among labor organizations in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. What he accomplished during his fine labor career is a model for every union member and leader. 

Brother Garcia began his leadership commitment as a shop steward with the UAW in Grand Prairie. From 1961 to 1981, he served as international representative of the Amalgamated Meatcutters & Butcher Workmen of North America, and the UFCW. 

A charter member of UFCW Local 435 in San Antonio, which eventually merged with UFCW Local 408, Brother Garcia organized workers in plants from the Valley to San Antonio to El Paso. 

His brothers and sisters will always remember how he once took a group of strikers to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine on a mountain top in El Paso, where every worker took an oath of unity. Under Brother Garcia’s guidance, they held strong until the year-long strike was settled. 

Franklin Garcia lived in Corpus Christi. He died January 13, 1984. He was a tribute to labor, and we miss him.