Oral History Interview with Gene Freeland, October 12, 1980 Page: 9
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9
under the Briscoe administration.
So in answer to the question, labor has been used as
a scapegoat. The Legislature has been dominated by oil,
insurance, highway, rural, and business interests. The
Legislature is anti-labor, and we've had that hill to climb,
and we haven't been successful.
Were there other governors that were particularly help-
ful in labor matters?
None in my experience. In fact, most of the governors ran
on an anti-labor platform--Alan Shivers, John Connally.
Although we endorsed John Connally the first two times he
ran, both in 1962 and 1964, he was pro-business, and in
Texas you cannot be pro-business and pro-union. You can
only be one or the other, and he decided to be pro-business.
Preston Smith, I don't think he really ever understood
what the job was about. But with his exception and Bris-
coe's pro-union attitude, no governor since Allred has
been favorable to labor.
I read a quote by Price Daniel which compared labor unions
essentially to a terrorist plot, roughly. He indicated,
at least in that quote, that he was very anti-labor. ItKing:
Freeland:
King:
Freeland:seemed like the governors' attitudes may have had some
effect on union's ability to progress.
There are several anti-labor laws. All those that deal
with labor in Texas are prohibition-type.laws. They
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King, Amelia Kay & Freeland, Gene. Oral History Interview with Gene Freeland, October 12, 1980, book, October 12, 1980; Denton, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2085622/m1/11/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Oral History Program.