Vol. 81/No. 25 July 10, 2017
Salinas Valley food-processing workers win strikes, wage hikes
Hundreds of workers struck June 5. The next day the rest of the workers joined in, with as many as 2,000 participating in a rally on the street outside.
The union contract at Taylor Farms, whose workers are members of Teamsters Local 890, does not run out until next year. But worker after worker told the Militant that with the rise in prices, especially in rent — as landlords take advantage of people moving from the Bay Area looking for cheaper housing — their pay was not covering their bills. “We had to do it, because everything is so expensive,” said Teresa Gonzalez, whose wage has gone from $11.23 to $12.73 an hour.
News of the strike spread to other processing plants in the Salinas Valley, where two-thirds of the lettuce consumed in the U.S. is grown. Two weeks later, workers at nonunion Earthbound Farm in nearby San Juan Bautista walked out. After two days on strike, over 1,000 workers there won an immediate $2 an hour raise.
“All the workers gathered outside and decided that we would stay out until we got a raise, even if it took us a month,” said Carolina Rodrigues, who assembles boxes used to ship vegetables at Earthbound Farm. “We were all united. No one worked.” Rodrigues, who made $10.95 an hour before the strike, now makes $12.95.
Inspired by these walkouts, workers went on strike June 23 at the San Benito Foods tomato cannery in Hollister, just a few miles from San Juan Bautista. The contract with Teamsters Local 890 there ran out in April. Negotiations have dragged on with workers rejecting every company offer so far.
After two days San Benito bosses upped their offer of a raise from 18 cents an hour to 65 cents. At a union meeting that afternoon, the workers turned this down and voted to continue the strike.
Much of the work in the cannery is seasonal. Initiating the strike were some 100 mechanics and others who are preparing the plant for the season that starts in July, when the tomatoes begin to ripen and the workforce will grow to 450. The wage raise they are demanding of a dollar an hour for each of three years would cover themselves as well as the seasonal workers.
The food processing plants hit by the walkouts are in the heart of the Salinas Valley, known for the large quantities of berries and vegetables grown here, including half the nation’s celery and broccoli.
The initiative for all three strikes came from workers themselves. Teamsters union representative Crescencio Diaz told a reporter for The Packer, a trade publication for the companies, that when workers walked out at Taylor Farms, “the union couldn’t say much. We were shocked too.”
Although the walkout was not union-sanctioned, once it began Teamsters officials joined with workers to negotiate with Taylor Farms.
Richard Cardenas, a 19-year-old worker at Taylor Farms, said he is operating three machines in the lettuce drying area, when he is only supposed to be operating one. “There has been a high turnover,” he said. “Many workers come in and leave after a few days.”
Taylor Farms worker Moses Venegas reports that workers at two different companies told him they were being given wage increases in the wake of the strikes. “The companies don’t want to be hit with a walkout like we had here,” he said.
After hearing that the workers at San Benito Foods had gone on strike, Taylor Farms worker Marisela Zamora told the Militant, “I’m so happy about that. We did a good thing.”
Nora Danielson, Raul Gonzalez and Gerardo Sánchez contributed to this article.
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home