Elizabeth Schilling Watsonville canneries strike collection, 1985-1988, 2017

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Summary

Abstract:
This collection includes materials collected and produced by journalist Elizabeth Schilling in the course of researching and reporting on the Watsonville canneries strike between 1985 and 1988. Materials include Schilling's research and interview notes; newspaper clippings documenting the strike and its aftermath; flyers, leaflets, newsletters, and press releases from Teamsters Local 912, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Shaw's, Watsonville Canning and Frozen Foods Co, and community supporters; legal materials; and research materials documenting the food processing industry and Wells Fargo's lending activities in the agricultural and food processing industries.
Extent:
0.8 Cubic Feet and 2 boxes
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Elizabeth Schilling Watsonville Canneries Strike Collection, larc.ms.0428, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection includes materials collected and produced by journalist Elizabeth Schilling in the course of researching and reporting on the Watsonville canneries strike between 1985 and 1988. Materials include Schilling's research and interview notes; newspaper clippings documenting the strike and its aftermath; flyers, leaflets, newsletters, and press releases from Teamsters Local 912, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Shaw's, Watsonville Canning and Frozen Foods Co, and community supporters; legal materials; and research materials documenting the food processing industry and Wells Fargo's lending activities in the agricultural and food processing industries.

Biographical / historical:

Elizabeth Schilling was a journalist for the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian.

The Watsonville canneries strike was a strike by over 1,000 food processing workers at Watsonville Canning and Frozen Foods Co and Richard A. Shaw Co. in Watsonville, California between 1985 and 1987. Watsonville, California, then a city of 30,000, was a major center for frozen food processing in the United States. By the mid-1980s, Latinas represented a majority of food processing workers.

In early 1985, workers represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 912 began negotiations ahead of the expiration of their 1982-1985 contract. Watsonville Canning and later Shaw's proposed severe wage and benefits cuts. After months of bargaining, workers called a strike in September 1985 to fight the cuts. Shaw's workers approved a new contract and returned to work in February 1986. Watsonville Canning workers approved a new contract in March 1987.

The local chapter of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a rank-and-file organization of Teamsters members advocating for union democracy and more militant organizing, was active in supporting the strike. TDU called on Local 912 to hold weekly union meetings during the strike, to authorize the election of a committee of strikers to administer the strike fund, and to nearly double strike benefits to $100 per week. TDU also ran a reform slate of candidates for the Local 912 Executive Board.

The strike also attracted significant community support, particularly from the Mexican and broader Latinx communities. Strike Support Committees formed in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, and elsewhere in the state. Rallies in October 1985, November 1985, March 1986, and June 1986 each attracted thousands of supporters. Then Presidential candidate Jesse Jackson spoke at the June 1986 rally.

The strike placed significant financial pressures on Watsonville Canning. In 1985 and 1986, the owners secured loans from Wells Fargo to stay afloat through the strike. By February 1987, the company had defaulted and in July was sold to Norcal Frozen Foods.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Susan Renison of the Watsonville Public Library in 2019. In 2022, LARC solicited and received a deed of gift from the collection creator, Elizabeth Schilling, accession number 2019/012.
Physical location:
Collection is available onsite.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyrighted. Rights are owned by Labor Archives and Research Center (LARC), J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Elizabeth Schilling Watsonville Canneries Strike Collection, larc.ms.0428, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.

Location of this collection:
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722, US
Contact:
(415) 405-5549
specialcollections@sfsu.edu
Website