1985–1987 Watsonville Cannery strike

California labor action January 2022 January 2022 Watsonville, California, United States 1985–1987 Watsonville Cannery strike September 9, 1985 – March 11, 1987(09 09 1985 03 11 1987) * International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 912 * Richard A. Shaw Frozen Foods Watsonville Canning Company Disagreements over the terms of a new labor contract Union sought to prevent cuts in wages and benefits * Corporate campaign Picketing Strike action Walkout Union and companies agreed to new industry-wide labor contract that preserved employee benefits, but included wage cuts collapsed The 1985–1987 Watsonville Cannery strike was a labor strike that involved over 1,000 workers at two food processing facilities in Watsonville, California, United States. The facilities were owned by Watsonville Canning and Richard A. Shaw Inc., two of the largest frozen food processors in the United States, while the workers were all union members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Local 912. The strike began on September 9, 1985, and completely ended about 18 months later, on March 11, 1987. The city of Watsonville has historically been a center for the food processing industry in California, and by the mid-1900s, it had branded itself as the "frozen food capital of the world", with eight frozen food processing plants in the city. These plants were in an industry-wide labor contract with IBT Local 912, who represented several thousand employees in the city. By the 1980s, due to an increase in migration from Mexico, a large number of these food processing workers were Latinos. Around that same time, changes in the food processing industry caused the Watsonville plants to become less profitable, and in 1982, Watsonville Canning (the single-largest frozen food processor in the United States) negotiated an hourly wage decrease for their union employees from $7.06 to $6.66. In 1985, their labor contract had expired, and Watsonville Canning began pushing for further wage and employee benefits reductions. Richard A. Shaw Inc., another major food processing company in the city, similarly began requesting wage and benefits reductions, which were opposed by the local union. On September 9, union members from both companies began a strike, with picketing commencing shortly thereafter. The strike received significant support from the local Latino community, with support coming from Chicano and Hispanic organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Political Association. Additionally, civil rights leaders Cesar Chavez and Jesse Jackson were supportive of the strikers, viewing the labor dispute as part of a larger struggle for civil rights for Latinos in the United States. Additional support came from organized labor activists in both northern California and nationwide, and the strike was characterized by its militancy and rank-and-file leadership. The strikers elected their own Strike Committee that managed the overall daily operations of the strike, and the Teamsters for a Democratic Union also contributed to organizing the strike. On February 14, 1986, Shaw and Local 912 agreed to an hourly wage of $5.85, which soon became the industry standard. However, the strike continued against Watsonville Canning through 1986. In August, the company tried to decertify the union in an election, but failed, and subsequently the company (which had taken on a large debt during this time) declared bankruptcy, with the plant being sold. A tentative contract was reached with the new owners in March 1987 that set wages to the industry standard but contained cuts to medical benefits. While the IBT declared the strike over, several workers continued the dispute as a wildcat strike that lasted for about a week before the company agreed to include medical benefits, with the strike finally coming to an end on March 11. Labor historians note the significance of the strike as one of the few successful strikes in the United States during the 1980s, compared to other strikes of the time such as the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983 and the 1985–1986 Hormel strike, with the Northwest Labor Press calling it "a rare union victory during an era of union-busting". In Watsonville, the strike coincided with increased political activity from the Latino community. Oscar Rios, a union organizer during the strike, was elected as the city's first Latino mayor several years later, stating, "The strikers helped change the politics in our city and county". However, in the years following the strike, most of the major food processors relocated from the city, with only one frozen food plant left in the city by 2000. Background Food processing industry in Watsonville thumb|275x275px|Partial view of Watsonville and surrounding agricultural area near the Pajaro River Watsonville is a city located about 80 mi km south of San Francisco, in the Monterey Bay area.The New York Times 1985 28 Founded in the mid-1800s by Americans from the east coast and European immigrants,Takash 1997 417 the city had become a major food processing center by the early 1900s.Corwin 1986 Due largely to its location near the agriculturally productive Pajaro Valley and Salinas Valley regions (which by the 1960s were responsible for about 80 percent of vegetable production in the United States),Flores 1997 215 Watsonville was a major canning location for vegetables grown in the area, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.Corwin 1986 By the 1950s, food processors in the city began freezing this food instead of canning,Corwin 1986 and soon the city was home to eight frozen food plants,Multiple sources state that there were eight frozen food plants in Watsonville at the time.Trumpbour Bernard 2009 133Bardacke 1995McIntosh 2017Donahoe 2009 446Flores 1997 215 However, academic Patricia Zavella stated that there were eleven plants in Watsonville.Zavella 2011 101Zavella 2020 110 note earning it the nickname of the "frozen food capital of the world".Trumpbour Bernard 2009 133Amott Matthaei 1996 90Bardacke 1995 By 1986, the city, with a population of about 27,000,Sources vary slightly on the population, with sources differing between 25,000,Lindsey 1986 6 27,000,Lindsey 1987 14 and 28,000.Castillo 2014 41 note was processing about 40 percent of the frozen broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, and spinach produced in the United States.The New York Times 1985 28 By the mid-1980s, the city's industry was dominated by two firms in particular: the Watsonville Canning Company and Richard A. Shaw Inc.Shapiro 2016aLindsey 1986 6 Together, these two companies accounted for about 80 percent of Watsonville's frozen food output.Paulson 2004 411 These two firms were also the largest frozen food processors in the United States.Zavella "two of the largest frozen food companies at the time" 2018 Todd "two of the country's largest frozen-food plants" 28 1985 The New York Times 2017 2020 Tisbe "two of the largest packers of frozen vegetables in the United States" 1985 Erlich "the two largest frozen food companies in the United States" 109 "the two largest frozen food companies in the United States" Watsonville Canning, the larger of the two,McIntosh 2017 was the largest frozen food processing company in the United States.Paulson 2004 412 It employed about 5,000 people and processed roughly half of the United States's supply of frozen vegetables.Brown-Coronel 2006 805 The company, which by the 1980s was owned by Watsonville native Mort Console,Corwin 1986 produced frozen vegetables for Birds Eye and private supermarket brands.Paulson 2004 411 Latinos in the area In 1900, Watsonville had a population of 3,528, of which only 118 were from Mexico.Flores 1997 214 Many of the food processing workers in Watsonville were Portuguese or Slavic.Castillo 2014 41 However, as the agricultural industry in the region grew through the 1900s, more Mexican immigrants came to the area to find work through the Bracero program.Flores 1997 214 Starting in the 1960s, the industry began recruiting female workers, primarily Mexican immigrants from South Texas, to work in the Pajaro Valley.Zavella 2020 110 Watsonville's food processing industry provided many of these immigrants with more stable employment than that of farmworkers, and the city became a center of a growing Latino population.Flores 1997 214–215 Through the 1980s and 1990s, the city grew at an annual rate of about 38 percent, due in large part to Latino immigration,Zavella 2002 227–228 and many during this time were able to rise into the middle class.Lindsey 1986 6 By the 1980s, Latinos made up a majority of the city's population,Takash 1997 417Corwin 1986 making it the first California city north of Fresno to hold that distinction.Castillo 2014 41 Among frozen food workers in the city, nine out of ten were Latino.Brown-Coronel 2006 805 However, despite the change in demographics, white Americans still held most of the economic and political power in the city.Corwin 1986 Discrimination against Latinos was common in Watsonville, with housing discrimination being a major issue.Flores 1997 217 In 1969, some Latino students at Watsonville High School held a walkout and boycott of classes, demanding that more Latino teachers and employees be hired by the school.Flores 1997 217 By 1985, the mayor, fire chief and police chief were all white,Corwin 1986 and only one member of the city council was Latino.Flores 1997 217 Additionally, Watsonville Canning was white-owned.Corwin 1986 Regarding the economic disparities between Latinos and white Americans, scholar Erik Davis once referred to Watsonville as "a poor town with a large, struggling migrant population".Davis 2006 218 Union activity Through the 1930s and 1940s, labor unions began a concerted effort to unionize food processing workers in the southwestern United States.Donahoe 2009 444Flores 1997 220 These efforts primarily targeted Latina workers and involved high-ranking Latina labor leaders, such as Luisa Moreno, Manuela Solis Sager, and Emma Tenayuca.Donahoe 2009 444–445 Militant unions such as the Cannery and Agricultural Workers' Industrial Union (CAWIU), the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA), and the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA), were largely responsible for these early efforts and led to large-scale strike actions such as the 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers strike.Donahoe 2009 444–445 Both the UCAPAWA and the FTA were affiliate unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which had been founded in the 1930s as an alternative to the more conservative American Federation of Labor (AFL).Donahoe 2009 444–445 In the mid-1940s, the AFL-affiliated International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) began to also organize workers in California, often in direct competition to union efforts from the FTA.Donahoe 2009 445Flores 1997 220 The IBT's organization efforts were aided by the California Processors and Growers (CPG), an employers' organization representing agricultural businesses in the state,Romney 2016 109 who supported the comparatively conservative IBT over the FTA.Flores 1997 220 In 1950, following the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act, the FTA was expelled from the CIO, leading to the IBT becoming the dominant union in the industry.Donahoe 2009 445 The IBT worked closely with business interests to create "sweetheart" contracts that were generally favorable to the companies,Donahoe 2009 445Flores 1997 220 and in 1949, Edward T. Console, owner of Watsonville Canning, signed the first labor contract between a Watsonville food processing company and the IBT, setting a wage pattern for the city's industry as a whole.Bernstein 1986Paulson 2004 410 Under these industry-wide agreements, the Watsonville canneries would pay the same wages and offer the same benefits.McIntosh 2017 Due in large part to these favorable contracts and conservativeness of the IBT, the food processing industry in California would not see a major industrial dispute for the next three decades.Flores 1997 220Bernstein 1986 Local 912 In 1952,Paulson 2004 411 with assistance from the owners of Watsonville Canning,Flores 1997 220 IBT Local 912 was organized in Watsonville to represent cannery workers in the city,Flores 1997 220Paulson 2004 411 and by 1986, they represented almost all of the roughly 4,000 food processing workers in Watsonville.Lindsey 1986 6 By the mid-1990s, roughly one out of every four Watsonville residents were members of Local 912.Zavella 2002 228Zavella 2011 101Zavella 2020 110 This local union was closely aligned with the local business interests,Brown-Coronel 2006 805 leading to some researchers calling it a "company union"Flores 1997 220 "Watsonville's IBT Local 912 was formed in 1952 with the assistance of Watsonville Canning's owners, the Console family, and operated for all intents and purposes as a company union" that "was controlled by a corrupt leadership".Donahoe 2009 446 "Similar to many Teamster locals, Local 912 was controlled by a corrupt leadership and not responsive to the needs of the workforce, especially immigrants and women" According to activist Frank Bardacke, "the bosses allowed the union officials a good deal of personal power, as long as they refrained from challenging the employer's prerogatives in production or encouraging workers to organize themselves".Flores 1997 221 Some of the union leaders would socialize and play poker with cannery officials,Lindsey 1986 6Corwin 1986 and Richard King, who served as the secretary-treasurer for several yearsFlores 1997 220 before becoming the local's president in 1967,McIntosh 2017 was the father-in-law of a business partner at Richard A. Shaw.Flores 1997 220 As the head of the local, he was generally uninvolved in union activities, rarely attending union meetings,Flores 1997 220 and some rank and file union members were critical of his accommodationist approach to labor-management relations.Erlich 1985 In 1985, about 70 percent of Local 912's membership was Latino,Erlich 1985 and more Latinos voted in Teamsters elections than they did in municipal elections.Zavella 2011 101Zavella 2020 110Zavella 2002 228 However, the local was dominated by white Americans who were largely disconnected from these members' concerns.Brown-Coronel 2006 805Trumpbour Bernard 2009 133 Union meetings were held only in English and, until the mid-1980s, only one person on the local's leadership, a business agent who had been appointed by the local in 1968, spoke Spanish.Flores 1997 220 Additionally, while women made up the majority of Local 912 membership, they were not represented on the local leadership,Erlich 1985 and few attended union meetings due to a lack of child care coverage from the local and the bureaucratic and parliamentarian nature of the meetings.Flores 1997 221 Despite these issues, the local had managed to negotiate some of the highest wages for food processing workers in the country, with a base hourly pay up to $7.05 for most workers and up to $12 for machine operators, plus employee benefits.Lindsey 1986 6 Changes in the industry in the 1980s In 1973, Local 912 membership peaked at about 7,000 members, with peak season employment in the Watsonville canneries reaching about 10,000.Flores 1997 224 During this time, California held what an article in The New York Times called a "virtual monopoly" on the processing of certain vegetables.Lindsey 1986 6 However, the mid-197s through the 1980s saw a continuous decline in both employment and union membership.Flores 1997 224 This was due primarily to increased competition in the food processing industry from firms outside of Watsonville.Lindsey 1986 6Brown-Coronel 2006 805 Primarily, imports from Latin American countries, such as Guatemala and Mexico, were entering the United States market,Lindsey 1987 14Monthly Labor Review 1987 58 and food processing operations in right-to-work states such as Texas had seen a noted growth.The New York Times 1985 28Bernstein 1986Paulson 2004 410 This growth was primarily due to lower labor costs,Corwin 1986 as in the mid-1980s, the average Texas food processing worker had an hourly wage of $3.36, while in Mexico and some Central American countries like Guatemala, workers earned only a few dollars per day.Lindsey 1986 6 According to the United States Department of Commerce, between 1983 and 1984, foreign imports of broccoli and cauliflower increased from 33 e6lb e6kg unit to 65 e6lb e6kg unit and 21 e6lb e6kg unit to 31 e6lb e6kg unit, respectively.The New York Times 1985 28 In addition to increased competition, the time period saw a change in consumer preferences away from frozen or canned foods and towards more fresh food options.Lindsey 1986 6Corwin 1986 Between 1975 and 1983, over a dozen major canneries in California closed, leading to roughly 15,000 lost jobs, with only about 19,000 workers remaining in California canneries.Lindsey 1986 6 According to academic Patricia Zavella, in the years leading up to 1985, "the global restructuring of agriculture ... prompted local farmers and processors to expand acreage in Mexico, grow new crops locally for the fresh market, and downsize food processing in Watsonville".Zavella 2020 110 Wage decreases at Watsonville Canning Food processing companies in Watsonville responded to these changing market trends by renegotiating labor contracts with Local 912. In 1982, Watsonville Canning negotiated an agreement with Local 912 wherein they would reduce their hourly wages from the industry standard of $7.06 to $6.66.These figures are given in several sources.McIntosh 2017Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 Additionally, several sources state an hourly wage decrease of 40 cents.Zavella 2020 109Corwin 1986Paulson 2004 411 However, one source states that the wage decrease was from $7.75 to $6.66.Flores 1997 224 note The company argued that the pay cut was necessary due to a decline in business,Corwin 1986 claiming that the company was near bankruptcyFlores 1997 224 and the cuts would allow the company to remain profitable.McIntosh 2017 Additionally, the company agreed to restore the wages if business improved.Flores 1997 224 The cuts gave Watsonville Canning a competitive edge over the other food processing plants in Watsonville,Zavella 2020 109 with the company seeing a five percent increase in business during 1985.Corwin 1986 Soon after these changes were implemented at Watsonville Canning, other food processors began requesting similar wage decreases from the union.Flores 1997 224Corwin 1986McIntosh 2017 Contract negotiations In early 1985, the union and Watsonville Canning entered into negotiations for a new labor contract,Flores 1997 225 with the existing contract, including the wage reduction agreement, set to expire that June.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 The company proposed a two-tier wage system that would see existing employees maintain their $6.66 hourly pay, while new hires would start at a base pay of $4.25.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 However, the union members voted to reject this proposal in August and instead requested that wages be restored to the original $7.06 rate.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 With the contract expired by this point, Watsonville Canning implemented this proposal as negotiations continued.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 Throughout negotiations, the company submitted 22 different offers, all of which containing rollbacks that would decrease wages and benefits.Flores 1997 225Sources vary considerably on the proposed wage reductions made by Watsonville Canning, with sources giving proposed hourly wages of $5.05,Flores 1997 224 $4.75,Phillips 2016 164Corwin 1986 $4.65,McIntosh 2017Flores 1997 225 $4.45,Tisbe 2017 and $4.25.Brecher 1997 330Donahoe 2009 446Murolo Chitty 2001 294Lindsey 1986 6The New York Times 1985 28 Some sources expressed the wage decreases as a percentage of the workers' initial pay, with values of "almost 30 percent",Lindsey 1987 14 "40 percent",Brown-Coronel 2006 805 and "cut almost in half".Bernstein 1986 The Christian Science Monitor reported that the pay decreases were approximately equal to a 30 percent decrease for production workers and a 60 percent decrease for skilled workers.Erlich 1985 note During negotiations, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service became involved,Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 and by September, the company implemented a base hourly pay for existing employees of $4.75,Monthly Labor Review 1987 58 with new hires earning $4.25.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 Additionally, the company took away 54 employee benefit items,Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 including a reduction in healthcare,Murolo Chitty 2001 294Adams 2000 vacation benefits,Tisbe 2017 and an end to union dues automatically being pulled from employees' paychecks.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 In addition, Watsonville Canning instituted an increase in production quotas for broccoli processing,Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 25 which was in violation of an agreement the company had with the union.Donahoe 2009 446 The changes resulted in an increase in work accidents,Flores 1997 224 as well as the firing of about 25 employees, many of whom had worked for the company for several years, for failing to meet these new standards.Flores 1997 224Corwin 1986 As part of these speedup policies, workers on the line were forbidden from using the restroom outside of their scheduled breaks.Donahoe 2009 446 The changes were ill-received by the union members at large, with one calling it "a terrorist attack" on the workers.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 25 In defending the policy changes, Smiley Verduzco, an executive at Watsonville Canning, stated that there had been work slowdowns prior to the changes.Corwin 1986 Around the same time, Shaw also left the industry-wide agreement and began pushing for terms similar to what Watsonville Canning had.McIntosh 2017 Shaw proposed a base hourly pay reduction from $7.06 to $6.66,The New York Times 1985 28Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 with new hires earning $4.43 per hour.The New York Times 1985 28 Additionally, the company was pushing for 25 takeaways in employee benefits.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 As it became apparent that an agreement between Local 912 and both Watsonville Canning and Shaw was unlikely to be reached, the companies began preparing for possible strike action.Flores 1997 224–225 Watsonville Canning began to stockpile its product during mid-1985,Flores 1997 225 and additionally secured $18 million in credit from Wells Fargo.McIntosh 2017 In an article for the Los Angeles Times, union officials stated that the speedups and policy changes made during mid-1985 were intended to force a strike in sentiments that were echoed by Charles Craypo, head of the economics department at the University of Notre Dame, who said, "Companies today are taking the offensive, doing things to weaken unions and sometimes forcing them into strikes that they can’t win".Corwin 1986 Don McIntosh, editor of the Northwest Labor Press, stated that the company had recently hired an anti-union law firm and, on their advice, were attempting to provoke a strike, hire permanent replacements, and decertify the union in a government-administered decertification election that would involve voting from those permanent replacements.McIntosh 2017 Speaking about the policy changes and wage reductions, King said, "The companies are trying to break the union here and send us back into the 1950's".The New York Times 1985 28 In comparison to Watsonville Canning, Local 912 was unprepared for a strike.McIntosh 2017Shapiro 2016a Leaders within the local were generally opposed to a strike,Donahoe 2009 446Shapiro 2016a and the local lacked a strike fund.McIntosh 2017 However, on Friday, September 6, at a meeting of 200 union members at the union hall, the union decided that a strike would commence.Shapiro 2016a By this point, the workers had been without a contract for three months.Corwin 1986 While some workers had considered a walkout in early 1985, this decision was postponed until peak season in order to most affect the companies.Flores 1997 225 The following day, an informal group was organized amongst the union members to create a rudimentary plan for the strike, and Watsonville Canning and Richard A. Shaw were served strike notices that day.Shapiro 2016a On September 8, some members met at the union hall to create picket signs.Shapiro 2016a The strike would be Watsonville's first in 37 years.Bernstein 1986 The strike would target both Watsonville Canning and Richard A. Shaw, affecting over 1,000 workers.According to Linda Dailey Paulson of the St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide, "the reported number of striking workers varied widely".Paulson 2004 411 Several sources state that the strike affected about 1,000 workers.Smith 2006 249Brecher 1997 330Amott Matthaei 1996 90Bardacke 1995Lindsey 1987 14Corwin 1986Moody 1988Bernstein 1986Donahoe 2009 444Weber 2018 However, this figure may only apply to workers from Watsonville Canning, as several sources report that that company employed about 1,000 people,McIntosh 2017Donahoe 2009 446 while one source states that about 900 employees from Shaw went on strike.Paulson 2004 411 Other figures for the number of strikers involved include 1,100;Takash 1997 418 1,500;Todd 2018Zavella 2020 109 1,600;Brown-Coronel 2006 805Castillo 2014 53 1,700;Zinn 2003 453Lindsey 1986 6The New York Times 1985 28Shapiro 2016a and 2,000.Tisbe 2017Erlich 1985 According to one source, the strike "at its height" involved about 1,700 workers.Flores 1997 213 note Of these workers, about 85 percent were Latina,Tisbe 2017Paulson 2004 412Erlich 1985 many single mothers.Corwin 1986Amott Matthaei 1996 90Donahoe 2009 447Takash 1997 418 According to academic Margie Brown-Coronel, the strike was not only to oppose the company's wage decreases and benefits reductions, but "also ... to protest lack of leadership and support required of the Teamsters Union".Brown-Coronel 2006 805 The strike was somewhat unique in that rank and file members initiated the action, which was then supported by the international union.Zavella 2020 109Zavella 2011 102 Meanwhile, other food processors in the area agreed to extend their $7.06 agreements with the union for another year in order to see the outcome of the labor dispute.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 Course of the strike Early activities during the strike The food processing workers began their strike on September 9, 1985.Murolo 1985 2004 Paulson 1988 Moody 1986 Corwin 28 The New York Times Chitty 6 1986 Lindsey 109 2020 Zavella 294 2001 410 At 5 a.m. that Monday, union members met at the union hall and were given picket signs and sent to the gates of the two frozen food plants.Shapiro 2016a At Watsonville Canning, the strikers formed a picket line that stretched for eight city blocks, while at Shaw, the line was a third of a mile long.Shapiro 2016a Many of the picket signs were written in both English and Spanish, and many of the strikers brought their children with them.Zavella 2020 109–110 In response to the picketing, the district attorney and Console, who stated that he "feared for [his] personal safety", requested Santa Cruz County Superior CourtCorwin 1986 Judge William Kelsay to issue a temporary restraining order against the strikers, which he granted at 8 p.m. that day,Shapiro 2016a within 15 hours of the start of the strike.McIntosh 2017 As part of the restraining order, there could be no more than four pickets within 20 ft m of each of Watsonville Canning's eight gates, pickets could not be within 10 ft m of each other, and only people going to work at the plant could congregate within 100 yd m of the plant.Shapiro 2016aMcIntosh 2017 The restraining order significantly hampered the effectiveness of the strike,Shapiro 2016aCorwin 1986 with each plant limited to only 60 pickets.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 25 Soon after the strike began, the Watsonville City Council increased funding for their police department,Adams 2000 with many in the department working twelve-hour shifts to ensure that at least twelve officers were at the scene of the picketing at all times.McIntosh 2017Shapiro 2016a By 1 a.m. on September 10, the police had cleared the area around Watsonville Canning, and they issued their first citation against a striker after someone struck a delivery truck with a picket sign.Shapiro 2016a By October, the police had arrested several strikers for violations of the restraining order.The New York Times 1985 28 In an effort to further reduce the size of the picketing, Watsonville Canning replaced several of their gates with chain-link fencing, which decreased the number of pickets legally allowed around the property.Shapiro 2016a Additionally, the company did not allow strikers to come into the plant to pick up their last paycheck, instead mailing it to them.Shapiro 2016a On September 20, about 17 students from Watsonville High School were arrested after joining with picketers near the plant, and in the immediate aftermath, police in riot gear dispersed the crowd that had gathered to protest the arrests.Shapiro 2016a Around the same time, Judge Kelsay upgraded the restraining order to an injunction.Shapiro 2016a Community support for the strike To make up for the lost wages, strikers received a weekly strike pay of $55.Most sources state the value was $55,Zavella 2020 110Monthly Labor Review 1987 58Amott Matthaei 1996 90Bardacke 1995Lindsey 1987 14Corwin 1986Paulson 2004 411 though one source gives the value as $50.Todd 2018 note Strikers continued to pay union dues for the duration of the strike (which was equal to about twice what the workers earned in an hour of work),Flores 1997 226 and the pay was a significant decrease from the $250 that most workers received in weekly pay.Paulson 2004 411 In addition to the lost income, strikers also lost employee benefits, and few received government assistance such as food stamps and other forms of welfare.Amott Matthaei 1996 90Paulson 2004 411 Extended families and local food banks helped support many workers for the duration of the strike,Paulson 2004 411 and the strike received significant support from the local Mexican-American community.Murolo Brown-Coronel Bardacke 90 1996 Matthaei Amott 805 2006 102 Chitty 2011 Zavella 133 2009 Bernard Trumpbour 294 2001 1995 In several cases, strikers received extended credit from local grocers,Paulson 2004 412 and some had their rent payments delayed.Bardacke 1995 Some supporters saw the strike as an "Anglo assault" on the Latino community,Murolo Chitty 2001 294 highlighted by the white power structure in the majority-Latino city.Zavella 2011 102 In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Mike Herald, the head of a group of several community churches that provided charitable services to the strikers, expressed this opinion, saying, "The city’s white power structure has lined up on one side and the strikers on the other".Corwin 1986 Within the first few weeks, two support groups were formed to assist the strike, and the strikers began receiving donations from various Chicano groups such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Political Association.Flores 1997 227Paulson 2004 412 Activists from nearby universities, such as Stanford UniversityPhillips 2016 164 and the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), also participated in supporting the strike.Muñoz Jr. 2007 218Gutiérrez y Muhs Eldredge 2019 209Todd 2018 Teamsters for a Democratic Union One of the groups involved in the strike were the Detroit-based Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU),Lindsey 1986 6 a group within the IBT that had been formed in the 1970s with the intent to challenge the conservative old guard and push for more militant union with more of an emphasis on rank-and-file leadership.Donahoe 2009 445 The TDU had become involved in Local 912 activities in the early 1980s when it campaigned for union meetings to be held in both English and SpanishMize Swords 2011 70 Some TDU members in Local 912 were active in pushing for a strike in mid-1985,Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 27 and at the start of the strike, the TDU chapter in Watsonville attempted to fill the power vacuum in the strike leadership.Shapiro 2016a The TDU also pushed for weekly strike meetings and attempted to raise the weekly strike pay from $55 to $100.Paulson 2004 411 Strikebreakers and instances of violence In order to continue operations during the strike, the two companies began hiring strikebreakers shortly after the strike began.Zavella 2020 110Murolo Chitty 2001 294 These workers were paid slightly over $5 per hour,Sources vary on the exact hourly pay rate, with different values of $5.05Bardacke 1995 and $5.16.Bernstein 1986Paulson 2004 411 note with no employee benefits or guaranteed job security.Bardacke 1995 For roughly the first two months of the strike, the plants operated with about 80 to 100 strikebreakers, whereas before the strike these plants operated with between 1,000 and 2,000 employees.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 As a result, the plants operated at a reduced production level.The New York Times 1985 28 Through the strike, there was a high turnover rate among the replacement workers,Bardacke 1995Shapiro 2016a with many working only a few weeks before quitting.Paulson 2004 411 However, by September 1986, Watsonville Canning had about 900 replacement workers in their employment.Bernstein 1986 "Just because you’re Catholic doesn’t mean you can’t throw rocks at scabs". Gloria Betancourt, a strike leader, discussing instances of violence against strikebreakersMcIntosh 2017 right 400px Police accompanied the strikebreakers to and from the plants,Paulson 2004 411 as picketers would often intimidate them, sometimes spitting in their directionCorwin 1986 and yelling that they were "esquiroles" (the Spanish word for "scab").Lindsey 1986 6Zavella 2020 110 Some violent outbreaks occurred in the first few months of the strike,Corwin 1986 including attacks on strikebreakers.Lindsey 1986 6McIntosh 2017 Some of the strikebreakers' cars were vandalized,Paulson 2004 411 and strikebreakers used sand-filled socks to bust out the windows on the buses that carried the strikebreakers to and from the plants.McIntosh 2017 Additionally, one striker was arrested for attempting to throw a Molotov cocktail at one of these buses.The New York Times 1985 28 During the strike, three cars that were owned by company executives were destroyed,Corwin 1986 and instances of arson increased during that time.The New York Times 1985 28 Several homes were firebombed, and two fires at properties owned by Watsonville Canning resulted in about $1 million in damages.Corwin 1986 In total, four instances of arson resulted in damages of about $2 million.The New York Times 1985 28Paulson 2004 412 Despite this, no major injuries were reported from strike-related activities.Corwin 1986 Late 1985 On October 6, the Watsonville TDU helped to organize a "Solidarity Day" rally in Watsonville that included a march to the Watsonville Canning plant,Flores 1997 225 with about 3,000 supporters participating.Moody 1988 518-519, 622-628, 712-716Donahoe 2009 446 Several days later, on October 15, about 400 strikers met to elect their own Strike Committee that would function independently of either the IBT or the TDU.Flores 1997 225 Regarding the creation of this group, Gloria Betancourt, one of the rank-and-file union members who was elected to the committee, said, "We didn't trust the union officials anymore. We felt as workers we had to form our own Strike Committee".Flores 1997 225 This strike committee, composed of workers from both plants,Flores 1997 225 handled the day-to-day operations of the strike,Castillo 2014 53 which included, among other things, 24-hour picketing and food distribution.Donahoe 2009 447 The same month that the strike committee was formed, Watsonville Canning presented their final proposal to Local 912.Corwin 1986 The company offered a base hourly pay of $5.05,Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24Lindsey 1986 6 as well as a preference for the replacement workers over the striking workers.Corwin 1986 On October 28, 1985,Paulson 2004 411 union members voted 800–1 to reject this offer.Manning Michaelson 1985–1986 24 On November 3,Moody 1988 the strike committee called for another rally, which was again attended by about 3,000 supporters.Murolo Chitty 2001 294 The following month, Local 912 held officer elections in which the more moderate incumbent members of the union were challenged by more militant candidates, including Betancourt, who was the first Mexican women to run for president in the local's history.Erlich 1985 While several members of this slate were elected, Betancourt lost her bid.Flores 1997 226 King, meanwhile, was not reelected as an officer of the union.Sources differ slightly, with one source stating he declined to run for reelection,Flores 1997 226 one stating that he retired,Paulson 2004 412 and another stating he resigned.McIntosh 2017 note This trend of more militant union members winning Local 912 elections continued in next December's elections,Moody 1988 though again Betancourt lost her bid for president.Takash 1997 418–419 Shaw settles with strikers In February 1986, after several months on strike, the workers from Richard A. Shaw settled with that company,Murolo Chitty 2001 294Shapiro 2016a ending their strike on February 14.Flores 1997 226 As part of the agreement, the workers accepted an hourly pay rate of $5.85,Murolo Chitty 2001 294 which, while higher than the $5.05 Shaw had proposed prior to the strike, was still significantly lower than the previous industry standard.Flores 1997 226 The agreement affected about 900 union employees of Shaw, who ultimately took a 17 percent pay cut.Paulson 2004 411 Additionally, the contract contained language that would allow the company and union to renegotiate wages if Watsonville Canning settled with their employees for a lower rate.Flores 1997 226 According to Chavelo Moreno, a member of the Strike Committee, the agreement set a wage ceiling for industry, which made it more difficult for the Watsonville Canning employees to negotiate a higher rate.Flores 1997 226 In July 1986, union employees at another Watsonville plant accepted a pay rate of $5.85 per hour,Paulson 2004 411 cementing that as the new industry standard.Bernstein 1986 However, the language of this master agreement that the IBT had with the industry included a "me-too" clause that would not allow Watsonville Canning to undercut this rate.McIntosh 2017 According to Local 912 President Leon Ellis, the local had agreed to the $1.21 pay cut after Shaw disclosed their financial information to the union that proved that the company was losing money.Corwin 1986 The local had also requested that Watsonville Canning disclose their private financial information as part of contract negotiations, but Verduzco stated that the company would only do so if the union paid a $500,000 fine.Corwin 1986 In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said, "I don’t trust those hoodlums; they want to run this company out of business. We are a privately held corporation. Our financial statements are our financial statements; they don’t belong to the people".Corwin 1986 Early 1986 horizontal 350 Cesar chavez crop2.jpg Dominee Jesse Jackson spreekt op de VU te Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 932-6977.jpg Civil rights activists Cesar Chavez (left) and Jesse Jackson were both vocal supporters of the strikers. On International Women's Day (March 8),Moody 1988 another rally was held that drew about 4,000 supporters.Murolo Chitty 2001 294 Political activist Jesse Jackson gave a speech at this event, and labor activist groups from the San Francisco Bay Area were well-represented.Moody 1988 In a further show of solidarity among labor unions, on April 12, a representative of Local 912 spoke at a union rally in Austin, Minnesota, which was the site of the then-ongoing 1985–1986 Hormel strike, about the similarities between the two strikes.Kwik 1986 In addition to the Hormel strikers, Local 912 also tried to forge connections with other striking workers across the United States, including flight attendants who were on strike against Trans World Airlines.Flores 1997 229 The Local 912 strikers held a joint rally with the flight attendants in San Jose, California, which was followed by a rally in Watsonville.Flores 1997 229 Regarding the relationship-building with other striking workers, Betancourt stated, "we learned from them, what they did, what worked and didn't".Flores 1997 229 On June 29, the Strike Committee held another large rally in Watsonville that drew over 4,000 attendees, with a significant number of supporters from northern California, including members of Chicano organizations, labor activists, and members of the United Farm Workers (UFW).Flores 1997 227 Jackson, who by this time was seeking the presidency of the United States in the 1988 Democratic Party presidential primaries, again addressed the crowd, where he drew comparisons between the strike and the Selma to Montgomery marches during the civil rights movement.Flores 1997 227 While the IBT had been reluctant to allow Jackson to speak, the Strike Committee was in full support.Flores 1997 227 Jackson was one of the most vocal national advocates for the strikers,Lindsey 1987 14Gutiérrez y Muhs Eldredge 2019 209 and members of his National Rainbow Coalition participated in picketing and other forms of support for the strike.Phillips 2016 xiii In 1988, Betancourt served as a delegate for Jackson at the 1988 Democratic National Convention.Takash 1997 418–419 Local 912 targets Wells Fargo and company moves to decertify Around mid-1986, Local 912 began to focus its attention on Wells Fargo for its role as a major financial backer of Watsonville Canning. This idea to put pressure on Wells Fargo had initially been proposed in November 1985 by UFW president and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.Moody 1988 In May 1986, the IBT voted to pressure Wells Fargo, allowing Local 912 to campaign for northern California labor unions and groups to withdraw their funds from Wells Fargo if the strike did not end on terms favorable to the union.Moody 1988 Despite this vote, the international union did little in active campaigning against Wells Fargo, and that same month, the IBT voted to "undertake economic sanctions" against Watsonville Canning but stopped short of calling for a full boycott of Watsonville Canning products.Flores 1997 227 In July 1986, Chavez met with strikers in Watsonville and pushed for a boycott against Wells Fargo.Flores 1997 228 The Strike Committee's decision to meet with Chavez was against the wishes of the IBT, who were opposed to the UFW and had competed directly against that union in organizing farm workers in the 1970s.Flores 1997 228 alt=A color photograph of the front of a building, with a sign reading "WELLS FARGO" above the entryway|left|thumb|267x267px|The headquarters for Wells Fargo in San Francisco By this time, many of the strikers had taken on other jobs to support themselves, and some left Watsonville altogether.Bardacke 1995 In August 1986, Console filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to decertify Local 912.Flores 1997 228 A vote was scheduled that would include both striking union members and non-striking workers to decide whether Local 912 would continue to represent the workforce at Watsonville Canning.Flores 1997 228 Local 912 began gathering union members, including those who had moved as far away as Texas and Mexico, to return to Watsonville to vote against decertification.Murolo Chitty 2001 294McIntosh 2017 Console, meanwhile, hired additional strikebreakers, sometimes doubling the number of workers on a line and hiring many for four-hour shifts in order to bolster the non-union vote.Flores 1997 228 In a narrow election, the union members won out over the non-union employees, with the decertification effort failing in a 914–848.Murolo Chitty 2001 294Moody 1988 Console goes into default, sells Watsonville Canning Following the failed decertification vote, Console's financial situation deteriorated, and Watsonville Canning closed for 11 days before reopening with funding from a new $930,000 loan from Wells Fargo.Flores 1997 228 By this point, Console was in excess of $30 million in debt.Flores 1997 228 After this loan was approved, the Strike Committee began to push for the IBT to withdraw all their assets from Wells Fargo and began pushing for other IBT members to cancel their Wells Fargo accounts.Flores 1997 228–229 However, while the IBT was unwilling to do this, the Chicano activist group MEChA began their own boycott of Wells Fargo, and in January 1987, eight Wells Fargo branches in northern California were targeted in a series of rallies, including one in the San Francisco Financial District.Flores 1997 229 By September, the Los Angeles Times reported that the local had been waging a "corporate campaign" against Watsonville Canning's creditors for the past three months.Corwin 1986 That same month, the California Department of Food and Agriculture announced that they were opening an investigation into Watsonville Canning.Tisbe 2017Paulson 2004 412 By this point, Wells Fargo had loaned the company $23 million,Brecher 1997 330 and Watsonville Canning owed the bank $18 million, in addition to $7 million it owed to its growers.Paulson 2004 412 In December 1986, saddled with this debt, Console closed the plant down for one month.Flores 1997 229 Two months later, Wells Fargo declared that Console was in default on his loans.Flores 1997 229 At this point, in order to avoid bankruptcy,McIntosh 2017Shapiro 2016a Console was forced to sell the plant.Flores 1997 229 In the aftermath of this, Wells Fargo sold the company,Murolo Chitty 2001 294 and new ownership of the plant was established in February 1987.Tisbe 2017Paulson 2004 412 The owner of this new company, named Norcal Frozen Foods,Monthly Labor Review 1987 58 was a grower who was owed $5 million from Watsonville Canning,Moody 1988 and 18 other growers who were owed money from Watsonville Canning were also part of this company.Flores 1997 229 On February 28, 400 strikers elected a new negotiating committee to reach a deal with these new owners,Flores 1997 229 and on Friday, March 6, a tentative agreement had been reached that would see an end to the strike.Flores 1997 229 The deal would set hourly wages at $5.85, the industry standard, and was approved by both the negotiating committee and union leadership.Flores 1997 229 However, many union members were opposed to the agreement because it would deny many of them medical benefits that they had had before the strike.Brecher 1997 331 Ultimately, the union members voted to wait one week before voting on whether or not to approve the contract.Flores 1997 229Moody 1988Brecher 1997 331 However, with the tentative agreement, the IBT announced that the strike was over, and as a result, they ended strike benefits, locked members who continued to strike out of the union hall, and stated that the union may go into trusteeship if strike activities did not cease.Brecher 1997 331 Without IBT approval, the members of Local 912 continued their labor dispute as a wildcat strike.Weber 2018 Hunger strike, religious pilgrimage, and end of the strike alt=A color photograph of a brick building, a church|thumb|275x275px|On March 9, several strikers walked on their knees from the plant to St. Patrick's Catholic Church to protest the lack of medical benefits. In defiance of the IBT, six women,Murolo Chitty 2001 294 including Betancourt,Flores 1997 229 initiated a hunger strike to protest the lack of medical benefits.Brecher 1997 331 The next day, the new plant owners stated that seniority rights would be revoked for any employees not reporting to work that Monday, March 9.Flores 1997 229 On March 9, several hundred strikers protested outside the plant, demanding a reinstatement of medical benefits.Flores 1997 230Brecher 1997 331 Only a few dozen actually reported for work that day,Flores 1997 230 effectively keeping the plant out of operation.Murolo Chitty 2001 294 The next day, the protesters outside of the plant began a religious procession, with more than 20 women and several men walking on their knees for four city blocks.Flores 1997 230 The procession, which ended at St. Patrick's Catholic ChurchBrown-Coronel 2006 806 over 1 mi km from the plant,Weber 2018 included prayers to Our Lady of GuadalupeZavella 2020 110 and the leader of the procession chanting, "“As long as God is in Heaven, I will never give up".Brown-Coronel 2006 806 A special mass was held, with the local priest urging the strikers to continue the protest until their medical benefits were part of the contract.Flores 1997 230 The pilgrimage was a tactic that had been used by UFW members during a strike about 15 years earlier.Weber 2018 Later that night, contract negotiations between Local 912 and the company resumed.Brecher 1997 331 On March 11, a new contract that preserved the workers' medical benefits was ratified,Murolo Chitty 2001 294 passing in a vote of 543–21.Paulson 2004 412 In addition to the medical benefits, the three-year contractMonthly Labor Review 1987 58 workers maintained their seniority rights and received strike amnesty.Zavella 2020 110 With regards to pay, the workers accepted the new industry standard of $5.85,Monthly Labor Review 1987 58Todd 2018Tisbe 2017Paulson 2004 412 although an incentive pay plan could raise their hourly wages up to $6.61.Monthly Labor Review 1987 58 Additionally, the contract allowed for negotiations on economic terms to start again in February 1988 and 1989.Monthly Labor Review 1987 58 In celebration of the end of the strike, union members held a parade down Watsonville's Main Street.Moody 1988 However, due to the wage reduction, many of the strikers viewed the outcome less as an outright victory and more as a compromise.Brown-Coronel 2006 806 According to Betancourt, "It was not what we wanted, but it was still a victory".Flores 1997 230 Aftermath and legacy Impact in Watsonville In total, the IBT spent roughly $5 million in strike benefits over the course of the strike.Monthly Labor Review 1987 58Lindsey 1987 14Paulson 2004 411 According to municipal officials, the strike cost the city government about $1 million in police overtime and lost sales.Corwin 1986 A 1986 article from the Los Angeles Times stated that the strike had "devastated" Watsonville, highlighting the increased rates of violence and the impact on the local economy.Corwin 1986 That same article states that Watsonville had seen an uptick in domestic violence cases and rates of alcoholism, as well as an increase in prostitution.Corwin 1986 With a reduced income, many of the strikers saw their savings decline significantly,Paulson 2004 411 and some permanently relocated from Watsonville.Murolo Chitty 2001 294McIntosh 2017 After the strike, the plant reopened with a skeleton crew composed of former strikers brought back on a seniority basis.Paulson 2004 412 While the owners of the plant provided their own produce for processing, other growers who had previously operated with Watsonville Canning had made deals with other plants during the strike, decreasing the overall output of the plant.Paulson 2004 412 Norcal Frozen Foods ultimately went out of business,Paulson 2004 412 and several hundred jobs were lost.Adams 2000 In the years following the strike, more food processing plants in the city closed, with many of the companies relocating their operations to Mexico.Zavella 2011 102 In 1991, Green Giant relocated their facilities from Watsonville to Mexico,Flores 1997 216 and more companies moved during the 1990s after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement.McIntosh 2017Flores 1997 216 Within ten years of the strike, five of the city's eight frozen food plants had relocated,Trumpbour Bernard 2009 134Bardacke 1995 and by 2000, the former "frozen food capital of the world" was home to only one frozen food plant that employed about 400 people.Zavella 2011 102 As a result of the plant closures, the unemployment rate in Watsonville remained high compared to the rest of the state.Zavella 1997 145Zavella 2002 229 Political developments in Watsonville The strike coincided with a federal court case, Gomez v. City of Watsonville, that dealt with the lack of Latino representation in Watsonville city politics.Takash 1997 417–419 The court's decision led to an electoral district system that could better represent the ethnic demographics of the city, and in the following years, several Latinos were elected to city council and other government positions.Trumpbour Bernard 2009 134Bardacke 1995Donahoe 2009 447 In 1991, three Latinos were elected to the city council, and Oscar Rios, a union organizer from San Francisco who had moved to Watsonville during the strike, was later elected the city's first Latino mayor.Adams 2000 Discussing the link between the strike and the shifting politics, Rios stated, "The strikers helped change the politics in our city and county".Tisbe 2017 In 2017, some of the individuals who had been involved in the strike gathered at the Watsonville Public Library to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the strike.Todd 2018 Later analysis and legacy The strike is noted for being one of the largest and most important in the United States during the 1980s.Tisbe 2017 "the longest national strike of its time" Academic Erik Davis called the strike "one of the most important labor campaigns of the 1980s",Davis 2006 218 while activist Kim Moody called the event "one of the most important strikes against concessions" during that time.Moody 1988 Moody also listed the strike as one of the decade's largest,Moody 2014 occurring during a time when strikes were becoming more uncommon, but the length of strikes was increasing.Smith 2006 249–250 Labor historian Jeremy Brecher stated that the strike was one of the "most important" strikes of the time, alongside the Hormel strike and the Pittston Coal strike.Brecher 1997 326 However, unlike many of the other long labor strikes that occurred during this time, the Watsonville strike was one of the only successful ones,Bardacke 1995Zinn 2003 453 with an article in the Northwest Labor Press calling it "a rare union victory during an era of union-busting".McIntosh 2017 Political activist Sharon Smith noted it as one of the few exceptions to the trend of strike failures,Smith 2006 249–250 and several sources noted that the solidarity of the strikers was crucial to the strike's victory.Smith 2006 249–250Moody 1988 As multiple sources have noted, none of the strikers crossed the picket line for the duration of the strike.Brecher Lindsey Amott Matthaei 1996 90 Bardacke 1995 1987 2020 14 Corwin 1986 Moody 1988 Shapiro 110 Zavella 1997 2001 330 Smith 2006 249 Murolo Chitty 294 102 Trumpbour Bernard 2009 133 Zavella 2011 2016a The strike is also seen as an important moment in the history of Latino relations in the United States. A 1996 book co-written by economist Teresa Amott called the strike "one of the most important recent episodes in Chicana labor history",Amott Matthaei 1996 90 and it is seen as one of the major strikes in the American southwest that was led by Chicanos, alongside the Arizona copper mine strike of 1983 and the 1938 pecan shellers' strike in San Antonio.Alaniz Cornish 2008 248 Speaking further of the relation between this strike and older strikes, labor historian Myrna Cherkoss Donahoe compared the militant nature of the rank-and-file Watsonville strikers to those of the CIO strikes of the 1930s.Donahoe 2009 446 Notes note References Sources 30em yes Adams Florence https://books.google.com/books?id=Hnt0DwAAQBAJ Latinos and Local Representation: Changing Realities, Emerging Theories Garland Publishing 2000 978-1-317-77629-1 New York City The Beginning of the Push from At-Large to Single-Member Districts: Watsonville and Pomona Alaniz Yolanda https://books.google.com/books?id=JpwrF6LQazEC Viva la Raza: A History of Chicano Identity and Resistance Cornish Megan Red Letter Press 2008 978-0-932323-28-6 First Seattle Amott Teresa L. https://books.google.com/books?id=PQzmjgSObrEC Race, Gender, and Work: A Multi-cultural Economic History of Women in the United States Matthaei Julie A. South End Press 1996 978-0-89608-537-4 Revised Boston Teresa Amott Bardacke Frank Frank Bardacke October 1995 Introduction by John Speyer The Workers, United http://elandar.com/back/www-oct95/andar/cover/cannery.htm El Andar https://web.archive.org/web/20210818004847/http://elandar.com/back/www-oct95/andar/cover/cannery.htm August 18, 2021 Bernstein Harry Harry Bernstein September 10, 1986 Ex-Teamster Leader Bolsters Union's Foes https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-10-fi-13149-story.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20220122211356/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-10-fi-13149-story.html January 22, 2022 January 20, 2022 Los Angeles Times Brecher Jeremy https://archive.org/details/strike00brec_0/ Strike! South End Press 1997 978-1-62963-808-9 Revised and Updated Cambridge, Massachusetts Jeremy Brecher Brown-Coronel Margie https://books.google.com/books?id=_62IjQ-XQScC Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia Indiana University Press 2006 978-0-253-11169-2 Ruiz Vicki L. Vicki L. Ruiz 1 Bloomington, Indiana 805–806 Watsonville Strike Korrol Virginia Sánchez Castillo Ana https://books.google.com/books?id=nzWcBAAAQBAJ Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma University of New Mexico Press Foreword by Clarissa Pinkola Estés 2014 978-0-8263-5359-7 20th Anniversary Updated Albuquerque, New Mexico 39–64 The 1986 Watsonville Women's Strike: A Case of Mexicana/Chicana Activism Ana Castillo Corwin Miles September 14, 1986 Canning Workers' Bitter Strike Devastates Lives, Economy of Watsonville https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-14-mn-12455-story.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20200927180206/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-09-14-mn-12455-story.html September 27, 2020 January 20, 2022 Los Angeles Times Davis Erik https://books.google.com/books?id=EQzj3rAWWtEC The Visionary State: A Journey Through California's Spiritual Landscape Chronicle Books Photographs by Michael Rauner 2006 978-0-8118-4835-0 San Francisco Erik Davis Donahoe Myrna Cherkoss https://books.google.com/books?id=xmVsBgAAQBAJ The Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History M. E. Sharpe 2009 978-1-317-45707-7 Brenner Aaron Armonk, New York 444–448 The Watsonville Cannery Strike, 1985–1987 Day Benjamin Ness Immanuel Immanuel Ness Erlich Reese Reese Erlich December 10, 1985 California Teamsters election tests influence of women, Hispanics The Christian Science Monitor Christian Science Publishing Society https://www.csmonitor.com/1985/1210/asan.html January 20, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20150915031700/http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/1210/asan.html September 15, 2015 0882-7729 Flores William V. https://archive.org/details/latinoculturalci0000unse/ Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space, and Rights Beacon Press 1997 978-0-8070-4635-7 Flores William V. Boston 210–254 Mujeres en Huelga: Cultural Citizenship and Gender Empowerment in a Cannery Strike Benmayor Rina Gutiérrez y Muhs Gabriella https://books.google.com/books?id=mPaKDwAAQBAJ Latinos in the American Political System: An Encyclopedia of Latinos as Voters, Candidates, and Office Holders Eldredge Veronica ABC-Clio 2019 978-1-4408-5347-0 Lavariega Jessica L. I and II: A–Z Santa Barbara, California 208–210 Gómez, Cruz Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Kwik Phil May 1, 1986 Leaders of Hormel Strike Arrested; International Holds Trusteeship Hearing https://labornotes.org/1986/05/leaders-hormel-strike-arrested-international-holds-trusteeship-hearing live https://web.archive.org/web/20211125062324/https://labornotes.org/1986/05/leaders-hormel-strike-arrested-international-holds-trusteeship-hearing November 25, 2021 January 21, 2022 Labor Notes Lindsey Robert Robert Lindsey (journalist) January 1, 1986 Eating Patterns Affect Packers Strike 6 The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/01/us/eating-patterns-affect-packers-strike.html January 20, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20150524182450/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/01/us/eating-patterns-affect-packers-strike.html May 24, 2015 0362-4331 Lindsey Robert Robert Lindsey (journalist) January 27, 1987 Packing Plant Strike: Arduous Battle to Survive 14 The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/27/us/packing-plant-strike-arduous-battle-to-survive.html January 20, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20171102215010/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/27/us/packing-plant-strike-arduous-battle-to-survive.html November 2, 2017 0362-4331 Manning Caitlin Michaelson Louis Winter 1985–1986 Fire Against Ice: California Frozen Food Workers on Strike https://archive.org/details/processedworld15proc/ Processed World 15 23–28 0735-9381 McIntosh Don January 3, 2017 Song of the Stubborn One Thousand https://nwlaborpress.org/2017/01/song-of-the-stubborn-one-thousand/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20210507131127/https://nwlaborpress.org/2017/01/song-of-the-stubborn-one-thousand/ May 7, 2021 January 21, 2022 Northwest Labor Press Mize Ronald L. https://books.google.com/books?id=OysIANjwZfcC Consuming Mexican Labor: From the Bracero Program to NAFTA Swords Alicia C. S. University of Toronto Press 2011 978-1-4426-0157-4 Toronto 10.3138/9781442601598 June 1987 Strike ends at canning and frozen food company https://books.google.com/books?id=MDPw5nliedYC Monthly Labor Review Bureau of Labor Statistics 110 6 58 Monthly Labor Review 1987 Moody Kim https://books.google.com/books?id=u46SCwAAQBAJ An Injury to All: The Decline of American Unionism Verso Books 1988 978-1-78478-783-7 New York City Kim Moody Moody Kim https://books.google.com/books?id=gdRWAwAAQBAJ In Solidarity: Essays on Working-Class Organization in the United States Haymarket Books 2014 978-1-60846-458-6 Chicago Kim Moody Muñoz Jr. Carlos https://books.google.com/books?id=JlDUDwAAQBAJ Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement Verso Books 2007 978-1-84467-142-7 Revised and Expanded New York City Murolo Priscilla https://archive.org/details/fromfolkswhobrou00pris/ From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: An Illustrated History of Labor in the United States Chitty A. B. The New Press Illustrations by Joe Sacco 2001 978-1-62097-449-0 New York City October 20, 1985 Concessions at Issue in Strike of Food Plants 28 The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/20/us/concessions-at-issue-in-strike-of-food-plants.html January 20, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20171121055835/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/20/us/concessions-at-issue-in-strike-of-food-plants.html November 21, 2017 0362-4331 The New York Times 1985 Paulson Linda Dailey http://archive.org/details/stjamesencyclope0002unse_t4z5 St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide: Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact St. James Press With introductions by Willie Thompson and Daniel Nelson 2004 978-1-55862-561-7 Schlager Neil 2: N–Z Detroit 410–413 Watsonville Canning Strike Phillips Steve https://archive.org/details/brownisnewwhiteh0000phil/ Brown Is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a New American Majority The New Press 2016 978-1-62097-325-7 New York City Steve Phillips (writer) Romney Charles W. https://books.google.com/books?id=pZNHDAAAQBAJ Rights Delayed: The American State and the Defeat of Progressive Unions, 1935–1950 Oxford University Press 2016 978-0-19-025029-4 Oxford 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190250294.001.0001 Shapiro Peter November 2, 2016a Nothing to Lose https://jacobinmag.com/2016/11/watsonville-canning-strike-women-strikebreakers/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20210506005841/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/11/watsonville-canning-strike-women-strikebreakers May 6, 2021 January 20, 2022 Jacobin Smith Sharon https://archive.org/details/isbn_2901931859232/ Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-Class Radicalism in the United States Haymarket Books 2006 978-1-60846-918-5 Chicago Sharon Smith (writer) Takash Paule Cruz https://books.google.com/books?id=BFBXX0fI99wC Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader New York University Press 1997 978-0-8147-1558-1 Cohen Cathy J. Cathy J. Cohen New York City 412–434 Breaking Barriers to Representation: Chicana/Latina Elected Officials in California Jones Kathleen B. Tronto Joan C. Joan Tronto Tisbe Allison October 20, 2017 Additional reporting by Alonso Hernandez Leaving a Legacy https://www.cityonahillpress.com/2017/10/20/leaving-a-legacy/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20201124123911/https://www.cityonahillpress.com/2017/10/20/leaving-a-legacy/ November 24, 2020 January 20, 2022 City on a Hill Press Todd Michael September 11, 2018 March 11, 2017 Watsonville canning strikers gather for 30th anniversary meeting https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20170311/watsonville-canning-strikers-gather-for-30th-anniversary-meeting live https://web.archive.org/web/20220122201445/https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2017/03/11/watsonville-canning-strikers-gather-for-30th-anniversary-meeting/ January 22, 2022 January 20, 2022 Santa Cruz Sentinel Digital First Media Trumpbour John https://books.google.com/books?id=wN5rfPEV2HgC Latinos: Remaking America Bernard Elaine University of California Press With commentary from Merilee S. Grindle 2009 978-0-520-25827-3 Suárez-Orozco Marcelo M. Marcelo Suárez-Orozco Updated Berkeley, California 126–149 Unions and Latinos: Mutual Transformation Elaine Bernard Páez Mariela M. Weber Brandon https://books.google.com/books?id=PJ3PDgAAQBAJ Class War, USA: Dispatches from Workers' Struggles in American History Haymarket Books 2018 978-1-60846-871-3 Chicago The Watsonville, California, Cannery Strike Zavella Patricia https://books.google.com/books?id=1E1eiJbidVAC Immigrants Out!: The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the United States New York University Press 1997 978-0-8147-6642-2 Perea Juan F. New York City 136–162 The Tables are Turned: Immigration, Poverty, and Social Conflict in California Communities Patricia Zavella Zavella Patricia http://archive.org/details/transnationallat0000unse_m6b5 Transnational Latina/o Communities: Politics, Processes, and Cultures Rowman & Littlefield With Manolo González-Estay 2002 978-0-7425-1702-8 Vélez-Ibáñez Carlos G. Latin American Perspectives in the Classroom Lanham, Maryland 225–246 Engendering Transnationalism in Food Processing: Peripheral Vision on Both Sides of the U.S.–Mexican Border Patricia Zavella Sampaio Anna Zavella Patricia https://books.google.com/books?id=mAClN1ZDkhwC I'm Neither Here nor There: Mexicans' Quotidian Struggles with Migration and Poverty Duke University Press 2011 978-0-8223-5035-4 Durham, North Carolina Patricia Zavella 10.1515/9780822394259 Zavella Patricia https://books.google.com/books?id=OqAFEAAAQBAJ Remaking Radicalism: A Grassroots Documentary Reader of the United States, 1973–2001 University of Georgia Press 2020 978-0-8203-5727-0 Berger Dan Athens, Georgia 109–111 The Watsonville Cannery Strike, 1985–1987 Patricia Zavella Hobson Emily K. Zinn Howard https://books.google.com/books?id=pU1npVMCSsYC A People's History of the United States The New Press Teaching materials by Kathy Emery and Ellen Reeves 2003 978-1-56584-826-9 Abridged Teaching New York City Howard Zinn Further reading Ruiz Vicki L. https://books.google.com/books?id=PI-dAwAAQBAJ Cannery Women, Cannery Lives: Mexican Women, Unionization, and the California Food Processing Industry, 1930–1950 University of New Mexico Press 1987 978-0-8263-2469-6 Albuquerque, New Mexico Vicki L. Ruiz Shapiro Peter https://books.google.com/books?id=lrdoDQAAQBAJ Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87 Haymarket Books 2016b 978-1-60846-749-5 Chicago https://books.google.com/books?id=SD5maAnPq68C For Labor's Sake: Gains and Pains as Told by 28 Creative Inside Reformers University Press of America 1995 978-0-8191-9775-7 Shostak Arthur B. Arthur B. Shostak Lanham, Maryland 55–81 Part III: Better Use of Better Information May 10, 1988 Changing Structure of the U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Industry https://books.google.com/books?id=gVsFAAAAIAAJ Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives Washington, D.C. U.S. Government Printing Office 100th United States Congress, 2nd Session Serial No. 100-73 Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations, and Nutrition 1988 Ybarrolaza Alex https://books.google.com/books?id=NlF8hfAAAvEC U.S. Labor Law and the Future of Labor-Management Cooperation October 1987 United States Department of Labor Second Interim Report 104–105 Letter from Teamsters Local 70 on Advantages of a Cooperative Relationship Zavella Patricia https://archive.org/details/womensworkchican00patr/ Women's Work and Chicano Families: Cannery Workers of the Santa Clara Valley Cornell University Press 1987 978-1-5017-2005-5 Ithaca, New York Patricia Zavella California Food Organized labour collapsed Category:1980s strikes in the United States Category:1985 in California Category:1986 in California Category:1987 in California Category:1985 labor disputes and strikes Category:1986 labor disputes and strikes Category:1987 labor disputes and strikes Category:Agriculture and forestry labor disputes in the United States Category:Cesar Chavez Category:Chicano Category:Economic history of California Category:Food processing industry in the United States Category:Hispanic and Latino American history Category:History of Santa Cruz County, California Category:History of the Monterey Bay Area Category:Hunger strikes in the United States Category:Labor disputes in California Category:Labor disputes led by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Category:History of Mexican Americans Category:Watsonville, California