More than 300 members of the Teamsters union employed by San
Benito Foods packed the gymnasium at Sacred heart School in
Hollister Wednesday night, took a look at their employer’s contract
offer and said ‘no.’
Hollister – More than 300 members of the Teamsters union employed by San Benito Foods packed the gymnasium at Sacred heart School in Hollister Wednesday night, took a look at their employer’s contract offer and said ‘no.’
The rejected contract offer would have decreased health benefits for year-round employees and eliminated health coverage for the cannery’s approximately 400 seasonal employees altogether. San Benito Foods is the county’s second largest employer, according to the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, employing about 600 full time and seasonal workers.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” said Raymundo Fergoso who has worked for five years as a fork lift driver at the cannery. “It’d be better leaving everything how it is.”
The previous contract expired in April, but according to union negotiator Mike Johnston, San Benito Foods and the union have agreed to continue to work under the old contract until a new contract is either ratified by members or either side gives two weeks notice to stop honoring the contract. Such a notice could lead to a strike or a lockout.
San Benito Foods representatives did not return phone calls before press time Thursday.
Union negotiators say they have met with cannery officials 15 times in the past five months and made progress on noncontroversial issues. San Benito Foods agreed to a new paycheck distribution schedule so employees won’t have to wait in a long line to get paid. The company also agreed to extend the break time by two minutes to give workers time to get to the cafeteria.
But the employees gathered Wednesday were more concerned about the one-year salary freeze proposed by cannery officials and the 15-cent an hour raise each year over the remaining two years of the proposed three-year contract.
“Just so you hear the union position clearly, we’re recommending ‘no.’ But it’s your contract, it’s your choice,” Johnston told the crowd in both English and Spanish.
Union members didn’t seem to need Johnston’s recommendation. The crowd’s opinion of the contract offer as Johnston read it aloud had been punctuated with ‘boos.’ Several of the employees, including Fergoso, stood and voiced their concern in Spanish.
When it was finally time to vote on the offer, 339 people took only 15 minutes to cast their ballots: 338 against the offer, one for it.
“If the company has a hard time dealing with every thing going on here, they should take the cannery away instead of taking everything away from these people,” said Pete Hallet, a long time mechanic at the cannery.
Union negotiator Steve Garcia said he hadn’t expected members to accept the company’s offer.
“I think because it eliminated health benefits for seasonal (employees) … and it cut benefits for regulars,” he said.
Overwhelming rejection of the company’s offer should send a wake up call to officials at San Benito Foods when negotiations resume Monday, Garcia said.
“I think it’s got to make the company really stop and think,” he said. “I think it sends a very strong message to the company.”
Garcia said that he didn’t foresee a labor strike at this time and that the negotiations have not been contentious.
“The mood has been one of trying to work things out,” he said. “I don’t think either side is picking a fight.”
In addition to rejecting San Benito Foods’ offer, many union members expressed displeasure with their own union at Wednesday’s meeting. Some of the ‘boos’ filling the air that evening were directed at Johnston and Garcia.
“The union is not like it used to be. It used to fight to get more benefits,” Fergoso said. “Now it just fights not to get benefits taken away.”
“The union is not doing enough to get it done,” he said. “The company is taking over.”
Many employees in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting said they work hard to pay their union dues, and they don’t think the union is working hard enough to protect them and their benefits. Some complained that their wages and benefits are comparable with what they were receiving nearly a decade ago.
Garcia said the union is dedicated to doing the best it can for its membership.
“We’re committed to maintaining what we have now and keeping up with rising costs of housing, food, gas and health. Those things are foremost in my mind,” he said.
But, Garcia added, there are challenges to negotiating a contract that union members might not see.
“It’s not easy in this day and age to negotiate a contract,” he said. “They’ve had turnover in management (at the cannery), always people coming in with different ideas. It’s like starting brand new.”
Luke Roney covers politics and the environment for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
