100+ indigenous farmworkers for J&G Berry Farms (Rocha Farms) in Santa Maria, CA are determined to continue their struggle for Just wages! Their demand - $3.50 for each strawberry box picked, against a currently unlivable price of $2.10 - comes under working conditions that includes wage theft, body-wracking labor, and exposure to pesticides and other toxins.
Most of these workers are from indigenous undocumented backgrounds, and, being unable to speak English, are subject to language-based intimidation from management, further intensifying their conditions of exploitation. Despite this, these workers dared to struggle for their dignity, many striking for the first time in their lives.
The strike began on May 2nd 2022, with workers walking off the strawberry fields and autonomously organizing against the paltry pay provided by the bosses. With management refusing to meet their demands, workers walked across fields, recruiting fellow farmworkers - the strike is spreading!