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Fresno Univision Workers Win Contract, End Six-Week Hunger Strike
They cried. They embraced. And, finally, they ate.
Six weeks after starting a hunger strike to draw attention to their long struggle at the bargaining table, CWA members at the Univision station in Fresno, Calif., ratified a contract March 31 and broke their fast.
“Putting our health on the line may sound crazy,” master control technician Martin Castellano said, “But we weren’t just making a statement. I hope we were setting an example for all the people who want to unionize: Don’t be afraid, don’t ever be afraid to stand up for your rights, for fair wages and fair working conditions.”
The bargaining unit, part of NABET-CWA Local 51 in San Francisco, cast ballots inside a trailer the union parked outside the station, KFTV, when seven workers and chief negotiator Carrie Biggs-Adams launched the hunger strike Feb. 18.
Outside, more than 60 friends, relatives and community supporters waited for the verdict while a local Mexican restaurant prepared to cater a victory feast, with simple fish soup for the hunger strikers’ tender stomachs.
The vote was 13-3 in favor of the contract, which provides substantial wage hikes, back pay to last Dec. 1, language covering freelancers, provisions for lunch hours and several other improvements.
“We shouted, ‘We’ve got a contract’ and everyone cheered,” said Biggs-Adams, past president of NABET-CWA Local 53 in Los Angeles, where she is a videotape engineer at NBC. She was asked to steer negotiations in Fresno because of her bargaining experience and fluency in Spanish.
She, Castellano and reporter Reina Cardenas kept to a fast of fruit and vegetable juices for 43 days. They lost weight and battled fatigue but refused to back down on demands for living wages and job security at KFTV, the top-rated station in Fresno in both the English and Spanish-speaking markets
Other hunger strike participants were forced to quit earlier on doctors’ orders. But two community members joined the fast, one of many acts of support from the valley where labor leader Cesar Chavez rallied farm workers 30 years ago. Fittingly, the day of victory for Univison’s workers fell on Chavez’s birthday.
“Cesar Chavez taught the residents of the Central Valley well — that if you believe in a cause and are willing to put your heart and soul into it, the average person can’t help but empathize with the fight,” said Kevin Wilson, president of Local 51. “When your fight becomes their fight, that’s when you’ve won.”
Scores of Fresno-area residents boycotted the station, dozens turned out for vigils and rallies and many news sources refused to do interviews at the union’s request.
The bargaining unit was certified last May by a one-vote margin. Contract negotiations started in July. The company offered virtually no wage increases, even though the workers were by far the lowest paid in the Fresno TV news market. Castellano was making less than $22,000 after 10 years on the job; Cardenas just $25,300.
Yet Univision was growing and hugely profitable. “They could easily afford to pay their employees a fair wage,” Biggs-Adams said. “They just didn’t want to.”
The company wouldn’t budge, which only fueled the union’s determination. After months of talks that went nowhere, members decided it was time to act. They stopped eating, kicking off the hunger strike with an event that made the front page of the Fresno Bee. They’d hoped to end the fast within a week.
Univision President Henry Cisneros was scheduled to be in Fresno on the sixth day to speak at a business seminar. Union members wrote him a letter asking for a meeting, hopeful that he would intervene in negotiations and “break bread” with them, Biggs-Adams said.
Cisneros, the former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, refused. He ignored them entirely during his trip and made no effort to reach out to the union until mid-March, when he wrote a letter to the remaining hunger strikers asking them to eat. They wrote back, pledging to continue until Univision and its lawyers at the bargaining table made a respectable offer.
Meanwhile, the hunger strike was getting national media attention. The New York Times, CNBC, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and other large and small news organizations did stories, and the struggle was a hot topic on Fresno-area talk radio.
Under pressure, the company put more money on the table. But it wasn’t enough. Twice, the union rejected contract offers. Finally, on March 31, between cell phone conversations and faxes, the two sides reached an agreement that Biggs-Adams felt she could recommend to the membership.
The wage increases included another $3,450 a year for Cardenas and a $5,000 annual raise for Castellano. The salaries are still lower than their peers earn at Fresno stations with lower ratings. Still, union members and leaders said they’re pleased with the contract. “These wage increases will really affect their lives, and that’s what the union is all about,” Wilson said.
Six weeks after starting a hunger strike to draw attention to their long struggle at the bargaining table, CWA members at the Univision station in Fresno, Calif., ratified a contract March 31 and broke their fast.
“Putting our health on the line may sound crazy,” master control technician Martin Castellano said, “But we weren’t just making a statement. I hope we were setting an example for all the people who want to unionize: Don’t be afraid, don’t ever be afraid to stand up for your rights, for fair wages and fair working conditions.”
The bargaining unit, part of NABET-CWA Local 51 in San Francisco, cast ballots inside a trailer the union parked outside the station, KFTV, when seven workers and chief negotiator Carrie Biggs-Adams launched the hunger strike Feb. 18.
Outside, more than 60 friends, relatives and community supporters waited for the verdict while a local Mexican restaurant prepared to cater a victory feast, with simple fish soup for the hunger strikers’ tender stomachs.
The vote was 13-3 in favor of the contract, which provides substantial wage hikes, back pay to last Dec. 1, language covering freelancers, provisions for lunch hours and several other improvements.
“We shouted, ‘We’ve got a contract’ and everyone cheered,” said Biggs-Adams, past president of NABET-CWA Local 53 in Los Angeles, where she is a videotape engineer at NBC. She was asked to steer negotiations in Fresno because of her bargaining experience and fluency in Spanish.
She, Castellano and reporter Reina Cardenas kept to a fast of fruit and vegetable juices for 43 days. They lost weight and battled fatigue but refused to back down on demands for living wages and job security at KFTV, the top-rated station in Fresno in both the English and Spanish-speaking markets
Other hunger strike participants were forced to quit earlier on doctors’ orders. But two community members joined the fast, one of many acts of support from the valley where labor leader Cesar Chavez rallied farm workers 30 years ago. Fittingly, the day of victory for Univison’s workers fell on Chavez’s birthday.
“Cesar Chavez taught the residents of the Central Valley well — that if you believe in a cause and are willing to put your heart and soul into it, the average person can’t help but empathize with the fight,” said Kevin Wilson, president of Local 51. “When your fight becomes their fight, that’s when you’ve won.”
Scores of Fresno-area residents boycotted the station, dozens turned out for vigils and rallies and many news sources refused to do interviews at the union’s request.
The bargaining unit was certified last May by a one-vote margin. Contract negotiations started in July. The company offered virtually no wage increases, even though the workers were by far the lowest paid in the Fresno TV news market. Castellano was making less than $22,000 after 10 years on the job; Cardenas just $25,300.
Yet Univision was growing and hugely profitable. “They could easily afford to pay their employees a fair wage,” Biggs-Adams said. “They just didn’t want to.”
The company wouldn’t budge, which only fueled the union’s determination. After months of talks that went nowhere, members decided it was time to act. They stopped eating, kicking off the hunger strike with an event that made the front page of the Fresno Bee. They’d hoped to end the fast within a week.
Univision President Henry Cisneros was scheduled to be in Fresno on the sixth day to speak at a business seminar. Union members wrote him a letter asking for a meeting, hopeful that he would intervene in negotiations and “break bread” with them, Biggs-Adams said.
Cisneros, the former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, refused. He ignored them entirely during his trip and made no effort to reach out to the union until mid-March, when he wrote a letter to the remaining hunger strikers asking them to eat. They wrote back, pledging to continue until Univision and its lawyers at the bargaining table made a respectable offer.
Meanwhile, the hunger strike was getting national media attention. The New York Times, CNBC, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press and other large and small news organizations did stories, and the struggle was a hot topic on Fresno-area talk radio.
Under pressure, the company put more money on the table. But it wasn’t enough. Twice, the union rejected contract offers. Finally, on March 31, between cell phone conversations and faxes, the two sides reached an agreement that Biggs-Adams felt she could recommend to the membership.
The wage increases included another $3,450 a year for Cardenas and a $5,000 annual raise for Castellano. The salaries are still lower than their peers earn at Fresno stations with lower ratings. Still, union members and leaders said they’re pleased with the contract. “These wage increases will really affect their lives, and that’s what the union is all about,” Wilson said.