Farmworkers protest in Santa Maria, demand better wages and working conditions
April 29, 2024
By JOSH FRIEDMAN
More than 100 people demonstrated in Santa Maria on Sunday in support of Central Coast farmworkers and their efforts to obtain better wages and working conditions. [KSBY]
Demonstrators marched and held signs with slogans that included “a decent salary” and “decent wages now.” The event doubled as a May Day celebration.
Isabel Lopez, a farmworker who has picked strawberries in Santa Maria for more than 25 years, participated in the march, along withe her daughter. Wages are very low, and they do not have enough money for rent, Lopez said.
Other farmworkers say they face discrimination and mistreatment by their companies, in addition to low wages.
A recent study by the organizations Central Coast United for A Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) and Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) found farmworkers in Santa Barbara County earn an average hourly wage of $17.42. By comparison, heavy truck drivers earn an average wage of $26.76.
CAUSE organized Sunday’s demonstration. The group says it encourages local officials to support better working conditions for farmworkers.
“Farm labor has a really high injury and mortality rate, very similar to the injury and mortality rates compared to construction and truck driving,” Erica Diaz Cervantes, Senior Policy Advocate with CAUSE, said in a statement.
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