Arrests, Injuries at C&H Sugar Protest as Strike at Crockett Refinery Enters Sixth Week
Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputies arrested nine people after a protest outside the C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett on Tuesday, where warehouse and dockworkers have been striking for six weeks.
Sheriff’s office spokesperson Jimmy Lee said the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly after “repeated efforts to gain compliance” and multiple attempts to disperse a crowd protesting outside the facility.
Warehouse workers represented by International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6 walked off the job last month amid stalled contract negotiations. C&H dockworkers, represented by ILWU Local 10, have refused to cross picket lines in solidarity throughout the strike.
Sheriff’s officials said they responded to the refinery on Loring Avenue on Tuesday morning after receiving multiple reports of rocks being thrown at trucks attempting to enter the facility, and protesters blocking the roadway, preventing workers’ movement in and out. ILWU Local 10 officials denied that members threw rocks at vehicles.
The Crockett refinery usually processes six million pounds of raw cane sugar per day, but operations have been disrupted since the 90 warehouse employees went on strike June 15 amid bargaining over wages, sick time and retirement benefits.
ILWU Local 6 negotiators previously told KQED that C&H has offered their members a 20% raise over five years, while halving sick days and getting rid of benefits for retired employees. Union members said at the time that the salary increase wasn’t worth the trade-off.
“Retirees cannot afford not to have benefits at all; we cannot afford as a worker to pay another 30% for our health care; we can’t afford to take a cut in our sick leave,” said Michael Villeggiante, the president of ILWU Local 10, which is not in negotiations, but striking in solidarity.
A spokesperson for C&H told KQED that while the company “has worked tirelessly to resolve the labor dispute and responsibly operate our business, the ILWU has opted instead to engage in unlawful and dangerous activity that has threatened the health and safety of our employees, independent drivers, contractors, Crockett residents and law enforcement.”
“We have respected the union’s right to strike, but we do not accept this dangerous and illegal behavior,” the spokesperson said via email. “We are grateful to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol who responded yesterday.”
Because dockworkers have refused to cross the picket line, C&H began diverting some operations to the Levin Richmond Terminal, where goods like coal and oil are unloaded, in recent weeks.
But days ago, the company redirected a ship, known as the Tai Herald, from Richmond to Crockett, where it sat docked until Monday. Then, C&H hired nonunionized workers to unload it, Villeggiante said.
In response, ILWU Local 10 workers left their jobs at other Northern California ports, including Oakland, Eureka, Sacramento and Benicia, to join the picket at Crockett at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning. Villeggiante said at least 400 people joined for a “peaceful rally” featuring music and entertainment as picketers marched back and forth across every entrance at the property.
“That’s our jurisdiction,” he said. “Going all the way back to 1934, we were awarded to unload and load these ships. And we have a practice of doing those ships at C&H Sugar since 1938.”
According to the county sheriff’s office, personnel arrived around 11 a.m., and stayed on scene for five hours trying to maintain order and facilitate traffic movement.
Villeggiante said that the crowd dwindled to about 150 throughout the day as more police presence appeared. The tense confrontation occurred in the afternoon, after sheriff’s officials said they broadcast multiple announcements to the crowd to disperse and asked the picketers to clear a driveway to let workers out of the facility.
Villeggiante said he instructed ILWU members to move, but some protesters remained in front of the driveway. The nine arrested were booked at the Martinez Detention Facility after Villeggiante said law enforcement “manhandled” multiple union members.
The majority were cited and released, while three remained in custody overnight. The individuals were arrested on various charges, including remaining present at an unlawful assembly after being lawfully ordered to disperse, battery, obstruction and resisting a police officer.
Four ILWU Local 10 members were arrested, including the three who stayed in custody overnight and were bailed out this morning. He said the fourth member spent the night in the hospital after he was thrown into glass and cut his face during an altercation with officers.
Villeggiante said the others arrested were “spectators or community people or students.”
He said that he believes ILWU Local 6 and C&H were back at the bargaining table, but that ILWU Local 10 would continue to strike alongside warehouse workers.
“The last two mediations that they went back to, there wasn’t much given; it was all takeaways,” he said. “There’s no bargaining in good faith when you are concessionary bargaining.”
KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.