http://themilitant.com/2017/8125/812551.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 25 July 10, 2017
Salinas Valley food-processing workers win strikes, wage hikes
BY BETSEY STONE
SALINAS, Calif. — A walkout at the giant Taylor Farms vegetable
processing plant here ended with workers winning an immediate raise of
$1.50 per hour, with another $1 an hour coming in January.
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