Women and Families Over Profit! Stand with striking ILWU local 6 workers!
IWA US stands in firm solidarity with the striking sugar workers in every part of the sugar supply chain: from the tillers in the Philippines, the seafarers spending months on the dangerous ocean, to the ILWU warehouse and port workers in Crockett, CA! These workers spend so much of their lives working these difficult jobs in order to provide for their families, but the greed of the corporations like C&H jeopardize not only the workers, but the livelihood of their entire families!
On June 15th, ILWU Local 6 launched a strike to oppose the rolling back of benefits for retirees, changes that would lessen workers' access to overtime pay, and eliminating seniority for workers. This month-long strike has culminated in a growing movement of people supporting Local 6. This includes ILWU Local 10 honoring the picket by refusing to unload sugar from the cargo ship and the Defend Negros Island NorCal coalition supporting the picket lines due to the fact that the sugar is being imported from Negros Island -- known not only as the "sugar bowl" of the Philippines, but also the "massacre capital." One of the most recent massacres occurred last April 19 and 20, where the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines murdered 19 people, women, children, students, a journalist and 2 Filipino Americans.
IWA US member organizations have also participated in the pickets, integrating with the Longshore women workers and learning more about the struggles of working women in this fight and also standing with them on the frontlines! Women workers have shared conditions of the physical toll this type of work has on their bodies and health including some retirees who are still sustaining injuries from the job. Many have given 20, 30, even 40 years of their life to C&H, but some shared that the family-oriented leadership of C&H disappeared once it was acquired by American Sugar Refining (ASR).
ASR is the world's largest cane sugar refiner and marketer, owning multiple sugar companies across the US and sourcing sugarcane from across the world including the Philippines, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, and Australia. This multinational corporation is behind the rolling back of benefits and rights that were guaranteed to the Local 6 workers, especially the attacks on retirees benefits. Many of the workers' entire families are dependent on the benefits supposedly guaranteed by C&H, but this puts into jeopardy the lives of the workers' spouses, children and even grandchildren. C&H also benefits from the exploitation of farmers in the Philippines, Guatemala, Mexico and more, sourcing sugarcane from mills owned by big landlords who seize lands from the farmers and have impoverished families for generations.
However, women on the picket line are side by side with their coworkers in not backing down! While C&H has failed to bargain in good faith with the union, women workers in both Local 6 and Local 10 have re-affirmed their commitment to this fight and even have recognized the interrelation of their fight with the farmworkers in the Philippines. IWA US draws inspiration from these women and calls on all those to stand with ILWU Local 6 workers, and all exploited workers and farmers part of the sugar supply chain!