"We're here today because we're very unhappy with the economic proposal made by [Michael] Pia," union leader Luis Tlaseca told a crowd of workers, supporters, and reporters gathered in a park just outside the plant, referring to the owner of Kaolin Mushroom Farms. "What he calls a wage increase, we call a mockery. We are asking for a contract and good-faith negotiations. We are the ones who are putting thousands of dollars in his pocket so he can continue with his business.

"The 5-cent-per-box wage increase Pia offered is an insult," Tlaseca stated. "In 1993 we were asking for a 10-cent increase when Pia made a counteroffer of 5 cents and we went out on strike for a month. After seven years of struggle asking for better wages and conditions, he comes back with the same proposal."

Tlaseca and 32 other union activists had been fired during the strike and blacklisted in the area. During the course of legal battles after the owners appealed the union victory in the bargaining election and workers filed unfair labor practice charges against the company, the state labor board ordered Pia to rehire Tlaseca.

The unionist told those at the rally, "Today is special for me because after seven years, I am back to work at Kaolin Farms. This is a demonstration of sí se puede [we can do it] in our struggle. I'm back after Pia said he'll never have me again. If the negotiations do not move forward, we will continue having demonstrations."

The mushroom workers at Kaolin are almost all immigrants from Mexico. Following a strike in April 1993, they won a bargaining election for the Kaolin Workers Union, which the company fought for more than five years in the courts. In December 1998, the state Supreme Court finally upheld the Pennsylvania Labor Board's rulings in favor of the union and ordered Pia to begin negotiations. The July 17 rally marked the beginning of a stepped-up campaign by the Kaolin Workers Union to win a contract. Of the 90 pickers in the plant, who were the center of the strike, some 35 took part in the rally.

"We're very concerned about disciplinary actions by Pia. He refuses to hire back workers when they return from visiting their families in Mexico, particularly those who participated in the strike. He's trying to hire young workers, preferring to replace those over 40 and ignoring seniority," Tlaseca said.

Reporters at the rally quoted Pia as claiming that his employees earn $9 an hour, much higher than the average retail wage of $6 in Chester County. A number of workers at the rally explained that they are paid by the box, not by the hour, and that any average hourly rate is deceptive because they are not assured a 40-hour week or a full work year, or that conditions for picking will always be the same.

"We are supposed to be paid $1.30 for a 10-pound box of mushrooms after three months on the job," Tlaseca explained. "But Pia is now demanding 14 pounds of mushrooms in order to be paid for a 10-pound box. We now must sort the mushrooms into four or five different categories to receive that rate. "This benefits the industry because it eliminates the need for the packing plant to repack the mushrooms," he stated. "We are saving them jobs by packing as we pick. We are asking for a 20-cent-a-box increase, and a 26-cent increase for sorted and packed mushrooms."

Pete Seidman is a member of the United Steelworkers of America.