Central Coast farmworkers protest strawberry festival, demand a ‘dignified wage’
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Gabriela Vivar rises at 4 a.m. each day to pick strawberries in the fields of Santa Maria — the same berries that shine on grocery store shelves and garnish funnel cake at the Santa Maria Strawberry Festival.
Each morning, she takes her four children to a babysitter so she and her husband can work to pay for groceries, childcare and rent — but their wages aren’t keeping up with inflation and don’t reflect the value of their work, she said.
“Farmworkers are the backbone of the state and the community,” Vivar told The Tribune during a recent interview. “They deserve to get paid better.”
Vivar joined more than 80 farmworkers and their supporters on Sunday to protest the Santa Maria Strawberry Festival and urge the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to set a $26 per hour minimum wage for those working in the fields.
The march was organized by the farmworker advocacy organization Alianza Campesina, which is a collaboration between the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) and the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP).
In 2023, strawberries were the top crop in Santa Barbara County with a production value of $775 million, according to the annual crop report. But farmworkers saw very little of that profit, according to CAUSE policy advocate Erica Diaz-Cervantes.
In Santa Maria, farmworkers make about 28 cents per pound of strawberries they harvest, which sell for $4 to $6 at the grocery store, she said.
A Santa Barbara County farmworker earns a mean annual wage of $36,244, according to Alianza Campesina’s 2022 report “Harvesting Dignity: The Case for a Living Wage for Farmworkers.”
Meanwhile, a living wage in California is considered $44,175 for a single adult with no children, according to the report, which cited the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
“We are the hands that feed those in the country,” CAUSE assistant organizing director Daniel Segura said during a speech at the rally. “While everyone enjoys the fruit that we pick, we can’t afford to buy it.”
The protesters passed out fliers to onlookers, which advertised a petition that urged the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to set a $26 an hour minimum wage for farmworkers.
As of Monday morning, the petition collected 1,024 signatures.
“The fight isn’t just for money, it’s a fight for dignity and justice,” Segura said.
Protesters rally for a ‘dignified wage’
Sunlight broke through a gap in the clouds just in time to greet the protesters, who met for a rally at the CAUSE Office in Santa Maria at 11:30 a.m.
The crowd was packed with families, some pushing strollers while keeping an eye on young children chasing each other down the sidewalk. The protesters held homemade signs, one which said “Pago Justo,” which means “Fair Pay” in English.
Alejandro, a farmworker and community organizer, said they often work in difficult weather — like extreme heat or rain that turns the soil to mud. Their wages should compensate for those job hazards, he said. The Tribune did not include his last name to protect him from retaliation from his employer.
“We believe that $26 is a dignified wage for farmworkers,” he said in Spanish, translated by Diaz-Cervantes. “The labor we do is very intense.”
In 2022, Santa Barbara County farmworkers earned an average of $17.42 per hour, while truck drivers made an hourly wage of $26.76 and construction workers made $25.04, Alianza Campesina’s 2022 report said.
However, farmworkers experience more hazards on the job.
In 2022, agricultural work had 23.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers, while there were 14.6 fatalities per 100,000 truck drivers and 13 per 100,000 construction workers, the report said, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In August 2023, farmworkers and advocacy groups asked the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to set a $26 wage for farmworkers. In response, Supervisors Das Williams and Joan Hartmann formed an ad hoc committee to study the proposal, according to the Santa Maria Sun, but the board hasn’t moved to set the minimum wage.
Supervisor Roy Lee replaced Williams on the board, but Hartmann continues to serve.
“Our hope is that we are able to bring this back to the table,” Diaz-Cervantes told The Tribune. “This year, we really want to send a message to our Board of Supervisors that, you know, even if a wage ordinance didn’t get passed last year, we haven’t given up.”
After the rally at the CAUSE Office, the crowd marched to the entrance of the Santa Maria Strawberry festival.
Standing on the sidewalk, they chanted a call and response: “We are the workers. The mighty mighty workers. Fighting for justice. And fair pay!”
