Summer Has Not Meant A Vacation for San Diego’s Labor Movement

Lorena Gonzalez

Lorena Gonzalez, Sec.-Treasurer

July came and went with workers throughout the county fighting for livable wages and fair benefits.

On July 1, Teamsters Local 683 drivers and warehouse workers at the Coca-Cola plant in Oceanside walked off the job in protest of wages and benefits that were far below those of other Coke employees in Southern California.

In a show of solidarity, more than 600 workers at Coca-Cola’s San Diego plant went on strike for 36 hours to force the company back to the bargaining table. In support of the workers, the Labor Council and Congressman Bob Filner asked San Diegans to boycott all Coca-Cola products during the Fourth of July weekend.

The strategy worked as the workers returned to the job July 11 with a contract that provided wages and benefits equal to the region’s other Coca-Cola facilities! Ten days later, service workers in the University of California began a five-day strike throughout the state. This included about 2,000 custodians, landscapers and medical technicians of AFSCME Local 3299 at UC San Diego and its medical facilities.

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These service workers, who have been negotiating with the UC system since August 2007, receive poverty wages, leaving 96 percent of the members eligible for public assistance programs such as food stamps and housing subsidies. They are simply fighting for a living wage at our state’s wealthiest public university system.

For five days the workers held the line, despite a misinformation campaign and threats from the administration. Talks are ongoing; we’ll keep you updated. I want to especially thank State Senator Christine Kehoe and Assemblymember Mary Salas for participating in the picket lines.

July also marked as the beginning of an official boycott at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego.

Doug Manchester, owner of the Hyatt next to the Convention Center, has long been known for his anti-worker, anti-union practices. Manchester added antiequality to his list of discriminatory practices when he gave $125,000 to support Proposition 8, which tries to ban same-sex marriage in California.

The hotel workers of UNITE-HERE Local 30 and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community joined together to fight the hotelier by announcing a boycott against his hotel.

We will be highlighting the struggles of the hotel workers at Manchester’s hotel this Labor Day.

Finally, you may recall the story of laundry workers in Vista who went on strike because of horrible workplace conditions.

I’m happy to say that those workers successfully negotiated their first contract with Prudential Overall Supply.

The contract raises wage and benefit standards across the company, and represents the first time workers in the Vista facility will have free family medical insurance, a pension, and a real voice on the job. Congratulations to the UNITE-HERE laundry workers for their decision to forma union and their strength in negotiating their contract.

Their actions have kicked off a wave of living wage complaints across the state, and have demonstrated the strength of organizing.

I welcome our new brothers and sisters to the Labor family, and look forward to standing alongside them in the future.