NEWARK, Calif. — After a month on strike, picket lines at Cargill Salt are still up 24/7 in a hard-fought fight over wages and medical coverage. A key issue is the draconian monthly payments of $1,200 that workers have taken out of their paycheck to cover family health care. This comes to about $7 an hour.
On Sept. 3 the strikers rejected a company attempt to bribe them into giving up the fight over medical coverage by offering a signing bonus of $3,000. The vote was overwhelming, 95 to 4. “We are still saying they should not take the $7 out,” striker Ricardo Salcido told the Militant. “Otherwise, we won’t be making any significant wage gain in the contract.”
“On top of the $1,200, we have to pay deductibles for things like having your blood drawn,” Ernie Ramirez, who has worked in the plant for eight years, said. Many drive long distances to get to work and have been hit hard by the rising price of gas. “Don’t take our labor with a grain of salt,” their signs say.
Salcido, who is the third generation in his family to work at the plant, pointed to where the salt evaporation ponds are, where the 120 workers harvest the sea salt, then refine it for use in food, water softeners, swimming pools and for deicing roads and sidewalks.
The strikers said that managers and scabs they brought in are working in the plant, but production is far below normal. Solidarity is needed! Make donations and join the pickets at 7220 Central Ave. in Newark.