ILWU Local 6 workers at C&H Sugar in Crockett on strike, demand employer bargain in good faith

C & H workers on strike in Crockett, CA.

On June 15, as the Dispatcher was going to press, approximately 100 Local 6 members working at the C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett, CA, went out on strike. The Union has filed unfair labor practice charges alleging that C&H Sugar violated federal law by bad faith bargaining. Workers are also fighting to protect overtime pay, seniority rights, and health care benefits, among other issues.

Local 6 has represented workers at C&H Sugar in Crockett for close to a century. The iconic C&H Sugar factory, a Crockett landmark, processes around 750,000 tons of raw sugar each year thanks to the hard work of Local 6 members. They play an essential role in the plant’s operations, from unloading raw sugar from the dock to palletizing, moving, and warehousing cargo, to preparing finished products for transport.

Local 6 has been in bargaining with C&H Sugar since early May, fighting for a strong contract that protects benefits in retirement, respects the seniority system, and supports fair working conditions regarding scheduling, overtime, and sick leave.  During negotiations, C&H Sugar refused to consider the union’s latest proposals and put forward proposals of their own that would claw back retiree healthcare benefits, among other major attacks. Workers overwhelmingly rejected the company’s “Last, Best, and Final” offer and made the difficult decision to go on strike.

“We are out on strike until C&H Sugar agrees to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate in good faith,” said Local 6 Secretary-Treasurer Jose Nunez. “For a company that pulls in millions in profits each year — and whose parent company, ASR Group, pocketed close to $1.6 billion in revenue last year — we think our proposals are more than reasonable.”

ILWU solidarity

A ship with raw sugar from the Philippines is currently anchored in the San Francisco Bay, unable to offload its cargo because Coast Longshore Division workers are honoring the Local 6 picket.

Protecting overtime

Workers oppose the Company’s proposal to rewrite existing overtime pay rules, which could potentially mean a 10% wage cut for some workers.

Under the current system, overtime starts at time-and-a-half after an eight-hour shift. C&H has mandatory overtime, up to 12 hours if needed.  While many workers say they are fine with the extra hours, they want to be fairly compensated for the mandatory overtime. The Company’s proposal would only provide overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week; workers are concerned this may lead to a significant reduction in their compensation.

Mario Rivas, a crane operator at the refinery and a 10-year employee of C&H Sugar, said his overtime pay can amount to 30 to 50 percent of his monthly take-home pay.  He called the company’s proposal “hurtful.”

“I work a lot of hours. I can do 84-hour weeks. The most I’ve ever done is 111 hours in one week, but we are compensated for it. Under the current contract proposal, the company is trying to take away fair compensation for the hours we are putting in,” Rivas said.  “When you get close to those 40 hours, they can just send you home so you don’t get paid for that overtime you worked, which is extremely hurtful.” He said the potential loss of income could be devastating for workers and their families, given the Bay Area’s high cost of living and high inflation.

“They want us to do the same amount of work, but for less, that’s unfair in my opinion. I don’t want to take less. It’s like a demotion in a sense, and it’s hurtful,” said Rivas.

Broken promises

C&H wants to break its promise to retired workers and some current workers by taking away the retiree healthcare benefits they earned during their careers working at C&H, which workers say is unacceptable.

Approximately 100 retired C&H workers and about 20 active workers hired before 2008, some of whom are nearing retirement, are eligible for these retirement medical benefits. The new contract proposed by the company would eliminate that benefit, leaving those workers without the healthcare they earned.

Kendra Sparks, who has worked for C&H Sugar for 30 years, is one of those in the current workforce who stands to lose their retirement healthcare benefits.

Sparks is 59 and has worked at the Company for decades. She planned to retire at 65, relying on the promised benefit. She said the Company’s proposal to take away the healthcare she and other workers earned creates uncertainty about her retirement and may force her to delay it by several years. She said she felt disrespected by this “broken promise,” especially given the job’s physical demands and the toll it takes on workers’ bodies.

“I don’t know a single retiree who doesn’t have health issues related to the years of physical labor they have put in here. Our bodies wear out, and the Company doesn’t want to do anything to address it. The message they are sending with this contract is that there is no reward whatsoever for the dedication to the long, hard hours workers put in.”

Sparks’ father, Greg Soria, retired from C&H after 40 years and would also lose the healthcare benefit he had earned with the Company.

“My father and I have collectively worked here for 70 years and have helped make C&H a profitable and successful company. We deserve more than a broken promise,” she said.

Protecting seniority and fair dispatch

Like many unions, Local 6 operates a dispatch system in which workers are assigned to jobs based on a fair, transparent seniority system. C&H wants to dismantle this system so they can place select employees they choose into key job positions. Workers said they want C&H to maintain the current, fair dispatch system based on seniority and not try to take control of a system that currently works perfectly fine.

Sparks said that she is concerned that eliminating the current dispatch system could lead to favoritism by the Company.

“The Company’s proposal gives management the power to handpick employees for advancement and overtime,” Sparks said. “It doesn’t matter what your skill level is if they don’t like you. They want to handpick people for overtime, regardless of department experience. It’s deeply disrespectful. Currently, we have a rotation for overtime so that everybody’s getting an opportunity, and workers try to help each other.”

Modest demands

Emmanuel Loera, an 11-year employee at C&H, said workers had modest demands–asking to maintain the status quo and to receive reasonable increases to keep up with rising costs in the Bay Area.

“That the company is proposing all these takeaways in this economy says a lot about the power they think they have over working-class communities,” Loera said.

“We just want to keep what we have. It’s important that we keep our seniority, it’s important that we keep our overtime rights, and it’s important that we keep the medical benefits,” Rivas added. “You put in all of these hours with the Company, and you think they would respect you. The Company doesn’t run without us. The workers make it happen.”

Unfair Labor Practices

On June 26, Local 6 filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging C&H Sugar violated federal law by engaging in bad-faith bargaining tactics: C&H refused to engage in good-faith back-and-forth negotiations while at the table, cut negotiations short by declaring premature impasse, and unilaterally implemented its full list of takeaways.  C&H also unlawfully fired several striking workers, who were out on the picket line advocating for themselves and their fellow workers.  Those charges are being investigated by NLRB Region 32 in Oakland.