On Wednesday, Emmanuel Anguiano became the sole worker protesting at Hansen Fruit.
Nearly a week ago, more than 20 employees at the Yakima fruit warehouse started protests over coronavirus protections and hazard pay.
Hansen Fruit officials had met with workers on the first day but haven't contacted workers since then, he said. Eventually, everyone else started returning to work.
“They didn’t want to keep waiting for no response,” he said.
Workers also were in fear of being harassed online and in-person — Anguiano said that he's been mocked on social media — and others just couldn’t afford to go on much longer without pay.
“For some of them, they were literally the only income for their family,” he said.
In an email Tuesday, owner Eric Hansen said he was willing to continue talking to workers but noted that “quite a few” employees have returned to work.
"Our employees' safety, health and wellness is our number one priority and concern," Hansen wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "We will continue to do all we can to ensure the safest environment possible during this unprecedented time for all of our employees and our community."
Anguiano, 21, said he’s going to continue his protest until he gets a response from the company. He’s also going to help at strikes at other fruit warehouses.
“It’s on, it’s still active,” he said about his strike.
Strikes continue at 5 plants
Meanwhile, strikes continue at five other plants in the Yakima Valley: Matson Fruit and Monson Fruit in Selah, Columbia Reach Pack and Frosty Packing in Yakima and Allan Bros. in Naches.
Like Anguiano at Hansen Fruit, Matson Fruit employees were waiting for a response to several demands, including an additional $2 an hour for hazard pay. A worker committee last met with the company Friday, said Rosa Leon, who has worked for the company for four years.
Employees have started to go back to work at Matson as well. Leon, 28, said that she’s disappointed in herself that she could not persuade those workers to keep protesting.
“They are feeling the pressure,” she said.
But Leon said she hadn’t lost her resolve.
“I’m here,” she said. “I’m not going to give up until the end.”
In an emailed statement to the Yakima Herald-Republic, Jordan Matson said the company reached out to the worker committee Wednesday afternoon to schedule a meeting Thursday. Matson said the company has met with individual employees to resolve “personalized concerns.”
He also responded to rumors that the company had fired employees for protesting.
“No one has lost their jobs for speaking their minds and protesting,” he said.
Matson said he has not yet heard from the Yakima Health District, which visited the plant, about areas of improvement, but has gone ahead and implemented additional measures, including distributing face shields to any employee who wanted one.
Monson Fruit
Meanwhile, down the street, Monson Fruit employees were waiting for a response after the company met with a small group of workers Monday.
Adrian Mendoza, who has been part of the group meeting with company officials, said the meetings have been positive.
“We think there is actually progress,” he said.
The company is having the Yakima Health District’s technical assistance team visit the plant early next week, wrote Jason Bakker, general manager at Monson Fruit, in response to several emailed questions.
The company has had an onsite inspection with the state Department of Labor & Industries and a phone call with the state Department of Health and has received approval from both after its operations and processes were reviewed, he wrote.
The company does not intend to offer additional compensation beyond what is currently offered, for now, Bakker said in response to a question regarding hazard pay. The company provides employees sick and vacation leave, along with what Bakker said was “competitive compensation.”
If employees feel unsafe, they can stay home and will have a job when they return, he wrote. The company has distributed masks, which it received from the state Department of Agriculture, to all employees.
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Negotiations continue at Selah fruit packing plants; 1 protester left at Hansen - Yakima Herald-Republic
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