On the Picket Line

Jon Donaire strikers rally in hard-fought California battle

By Laura Garza
March 7, 2022
Members of bakery workers’ union, on strike at Rich’s Jon Donaire Desserts since Nov. 3, rally in front of factory Feb. 12 in fight for wage raise, affordable health care and respect.
Militant/Laura GarzaMembers of bakery workers’ union, on strike at Rich’s Jon Donaire Desserts since Nov. 3, rally in front of factory Feb. 12 in fight for wage raise, affordable health care and respect.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. — Some 200 people rallied here Feb. 12 in support of striking bakery workers, members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Local 37, at Rich’s Jon Donaire Desserts factory. “I’ve been working for Jon Donaire for 19 years,” striker Christina Lujan told the rally. “We decided to go out on strike as of Nov. 3. We are fighting for fair wages, affordable health care and respect. Year after year we’ve met expectations, goals for this company and we think it’s time that we get, like they said, a ‘piece of the cake,’ because we deserve it. Many of us, the majority of us, have been here 19, 20, 30, 35 years. 

“And our fight is not only for us. It’s for those that follow us — our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren — that they have a better way of life,” she said. The workers, mostly women, are demanding $1 an hour raise over three years, but the company has stubbornly refused.

The rally featured Liz Shuler, national president of the AFL-CIO. Also joining the strikers were members of the SMART rail union, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Writers Guild, Teamsters, Mobile Workers Alliance, a representative of the NFL Players Association and others. 

The union announced Feb. 21 that a tentative contract has been reached, with a membership vote set for Feb. 23.