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<\/p>\nThe sugar company wants to cut benefits and increase pay, but workers say the compromise isn\u2019t worth it. <\/p>\n
Jul 12, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated Jul 13, 2026<\/p>\n
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The California and Hawaiian Sugar Company (C&H Sugar) refinery on May 18, 2013, in Crockett, California, refines, packages and markets cane sugar from Hawaii. The sugar company wants to cut benefits and increase pay, but workers say the compromise isn\u2019t worth it. \u00a0(Robert Alexander\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring negotiations, we offered them some compromise to some of the language they wanted,\u201d Garibay said. \u201cThe frustrating part is that everybody on the company side of the table was clueless on how the warehouse operates, so we had to explain to them how it works and how they can accomplish what they want without tearing our contract apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Workers say that C&H wants to cut half of their sick days \u2013 five of the 10 days \u2013 and get rid of benefits for those who\u2019ve retired. That\u2019s as the company offers a 20% cumulative raise over the five-year term, which union members say isn\u2019t worth the trade-off.<\/p>\n
Workers say the company has engaged in bad faith bargaining in the process. Kendra Sparks, an ILWU Local 6 worker for almost 30 years, said the union met with the company on the day the strike started, but wasn\u2019t able to come to a last-minute deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just basically slapped down like, \u2018This is what we\u2019re proposing and take it or leave it,\u2019 basically,\u201d Sparks said.<\/p>\n
Though the move toward more negotiation talks this week is a good sign, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s not business as usual for them, so hopefully the pressure of increased attention on the situation will help,\u201d Sparks said.<\/p>\n
Dockworkers are also claiming foul over the company taking some of its operations over to the Levin Richmond Terminal at the beginning of this month, unloading raw sugar in the same area that things like coal and oil are unloaded. C&H workers from ILWU Local 10 who usually unload the sugar are not crossing the picket line, so the company shifted operations to a different terminal.<\/p>\n
The move raised health concerns among union members and, for Contra Costa County District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, it diminished \u201cthe power of the workers\u201d during negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of focusing on alternate ways to deliver the sugar, [the company should] focus on reaching an agreement with the workers so that the sugar ships from the Philippines go to Crockett and not to a coal facility in Richmond,\u201d Gioia said.<\/p>\n
Gioia said that the county health department reached out to state and federal officials about the company unloading at the Richmond terminal.<\/p>\n
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A train loaded with coal approaches the Levin-Richmond Terminal in Richmond, California, on July 23, 2015. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/p>\n