Approximately 750 workers went on strike on July 7 against this major producer of onion and garlic powder when the bosses demanded a three-year wage freeze, the right to contract out jobs, and a reduction of the work week to 37.5 hours for half of the workforce. In addition to all of the previous demands, Basic is now asking for new rules making it easier for supervisors to do bargaining-unit work, a two-tier wage scale, an increase in copayment for health insurance, an elimination of the existing pension plan in exchange for a 401K plan at one-third the company contribution level, and a $20 monthly fee from every worker until the company is able to "recoup strike-related losses."

Basic Vegetable is the largest employer in this town, located south of San Francisco in the heart of the Salinas Valley. The company has fired the strikers and permanently replaced them with about 300 scabs. About 29 union members have crossed the picket line in recent weeks. Basic has accused the strikers of more than 160 incidents of vandalism and violence, and the local media has given extensive coverage to these claims. The company has offered a $10,000 reward for "information leading to the arrest and conviction of those engaging in or directing the violence."  
 

Strikers face attacks

But the strikers have another story to tell. On August 18 eight strikers were attacked by a group of about 30 strikebreakers in Avenal, where the Teamster members were peacefully passing out leaflets to discourage replacement workers from accepting jobs as strikebreakers. Locally, several strikers report being followed and threatened by scabs.

Hallie Cox, a 25-year electrical crew lead at the plant, related how he was arrested by the King City Police on charges of rock throwing to "create great bodily harm." He was held on $12,500 bail which was later reduced to $6,000 on condition that he stay away from the picket lines and company property. Interviewed at the strike headquarters where he was cooking chicken for the pickets, Cox said he is fighting this restriction in court because it "has taken away my First Amendment rights."

Frank Gallegos, the union president, told the King City Rustler that the violence has been directed against strikers by replacement workers. He added, "But the worst violence is what the company is trying to do to our jobs and our families, and to this whole community."

The strikers in Local 890 have mapped out a campaign of fighting back against the company offensive of replacement workers, violence-baiting, firings and frame-ups.

Workers and union officials have visited other Basic Vegetable plants in Washington State, Idaho, and Oregon, as well as Modesto, California, to talk to fellow workers about the strike.

On October 25 the strikers met with the San Francisco County Central Labor Council to solicit support for a Solidarity Demonstration to be held November 4 at Basic Vegetable's offices in San Francisco's financial district. The noontime demonstration will seek to inform San Francisco Bay area workers about the strike, which has been largely ignored in the Bay area media.

Local 890 has called a march for November 14 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Fairgrounds in King City, 101 Canal Street. The California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO) has put out a call to all county labor federations, asking for two specific things: financial contributions and participation in the march and rally on November 14. A similar march and rally of 4,000 took place in August at the same location.

The flyer building the November 14 demonstration asks in English and Spanish, "Which side are you on?" On one side, the flyer explains is "a gigantic company whose owners have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to political campaigns that weaken unions, ban affirmative action and bilingual education." On the other side are the 750 Basic workers, on strike "to defend their jobs, their pensions, their community, and their way of life."

Local unions and labor councils throughout the state are making plans to participate. San Francisco airline workers in Machinists Local Lodge 1781 are recommending that the San Mateo Labor Council make busses available for transport to the rally and are organizing a collection for the strikers' food bank. United Food and Commercial Workers unions in the Bay area have raised money and are planning to send food.

Toby Davis, a mechanic with 29 years in the plant explained the strike this way, "It's not the money. They [Basic Vegetable] want to bust the union. In the last few years they went from 82 mechanics down to 44. They have doubled and tripled the workload and enlarged the operation. If we roll over, it doesn't stop here. It has to stop here."

This sentiment was echoed by many on the picket line. They spoke of the company's many attempts to divide the workforce, but said also that these attempts have backfired. Both men and women emphasized the leading role of women in the strike, and spoke of being part of the initial struggles in the 1970s to get women into the workforce and into jobs that were previously reserved for men only.

Striker Linda Villasenor was quoted in the Rustler as saying, "I can't understand how (Basic) can say we're money hungry. If we were, we'd be in there. They showed us in the (proposed) contract. They want to cut insurance and health care. We know where we stand. We have to fight for our rights."

Larry Lane and Ellen Berman are members of International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 1781.  
 
 
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