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805 q W q WATSONVILLE STRIKE In September 1985, 1,600 workers, mostly Mexican and Mexican American women, went on strike at the Richard Shaw Frozen Food Company and the Watsonville Canning and Frozen Food Company in Watsonville , California. In response to drastic cuts in wages and benefits, the women took on one of the largest frozen food manufacturers in the nation. Watsonville and the fertile Salinas Valley were commonly known as the frozen food capital of the world. The Watsonville Canning and Frozen Food Company alone produced half the country’s supply of frozen vegetables and employed 5,000 workers. Of the entire Watsonville frozen food workforce, nine out of ten workers were Latino, and the majority of activists were Latina women. Once thriving, successful companies, the Shaw and Watsonville companies responded to foreign competition by lowering workers’ wages dramatically, by 40 percent, terminating benefits, and increasing the pace of work. Work in the canneries required a great deal of stamina and strength. Because of increased demand on production, many women were forced to stand extra long hours and face deteriorating working conditions . Fedelia Carrisoza was reprimanded several times for challenging cannery management. On one occasion she defended her need to use the restroom. During breaks the three to four stalls were not enough for the eighty-four women working a line. Carrisoza, pregnant at the time, responded to management’s complaints of her frequent use of the restroom by demanding , “Show me a law that says I cannot go to the bathroom!” Increased injuries and poor working conditions were among the many hardships workers faced from the canneries’ attempts to produce more profits. In response to these conditions, workers attempted to call upon the assistance of local Teamsters Union Local 912. This particular union had organized workers in the region during World War II and was led mostly by white men who shared the interests of the corporate owners. The union did little to improve the workers’ contract or to understand their demands for an improved contract. In addition to the dramatic cuts in wages and the termination of benefits, workers also went on strike to protest lack of leadership and support required of the Teamsters Union. Teamsters Union leaders often collaborated with company leaders and encouraged workers to settle. Strikers organized committees to lead and organize the strike. One committee, the Teamsters for Democratic Union, focused on operating within the existing union (the Teamsters) while demanding improved working wages, as well as decent and equal representation within the union. The other committee, the Strikers’ Committee, strategized and instituted more militant tactics. Gloria Betancourt and Chavela Moreno were among the leaders of the Strikers ’ Committee who continuously fought for the workers as part of the negotiating committees. Latina workers were instrumental in the organizing of the Watsonville strike. As one source explained, the important lesson learned from the Watsonville Strikes was that there is no separation between the private and public worlds. The women who went on strike used mostly female networks to encourage support for the strike. Women worked the picket line and distributed food to striking workers. Women also used family networks and friends to provide food and resources to striking families. For the Latinas involved in the strike, there was no distinction between home and work life. They struck for their dignity, family, and rights. The strike lasted eighteen months and garnered support from all over the state. Picket lines, rallies, and marches served as instruments to inform and motivate the community. In some instances peaceful gatherings of strikers turned violent. The Watsonville court denied the strikers the right to assemble and deployed the Watsonville police to break up group gatherings at the picket lines. Students from the University of California at Santa Cruz often supported strikers and “volunteered ” to be the ones arrested. Support for the strike came from prominent individuals such as César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and Jesse Jackson. One form Welch, Raquel 806 q of protest that gained considerable attention was the procession of hunger strikers who marched on their knees to Watsonville’s St. Patrick’s Church. Anita Contreras helped lead the procession and stated, “As long as God is in Heaven, I will never give up.” The Strike Committee also organized a boycott of Wells Fargo Bank, the financial lender to the canneries. The strike ended with a reinstatement of benefits but no increase in salary. Many strikers saw this as a compromise but not as a victory...
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