There were recently strikes by bakery workers at Frito-Lay and Nabisco. Terrible working conditions and speed-ups in that industry have now led to an important workers struggle at the El Milagro tortilla factory in Chicago. The purpose of this article is to explain the causes of and repercussions from the September 23 walkout by El Milagro workers.
El Milagro is a very well-known and popular tortilla brand in Chicago. (In the interests of complete disclosure, this writer has been enjoying Milagro tortillas for years!) It has a high name recognition and its logo can be frequently seen. A workers’ action there was bound to attract significant publicity.
Workplaces in 2021: Covid and speedup
Milagro was no stranger to two of the main issues affecting American factories today: Covid and speed-up. Eight-five workers contracted Covid, in five cases fatally. Management was very poor in implementing safety protocols. In fact, Roberto Escobar, who subsequently died, was reprimanded for wearing a mask. There’s more involved than management dragging its heels on PPE. Social distancing would require a whole reconfiguration of the production line. This would obviously involve considerable management expense.
Speed-up is the second national issue that had an impact at El Milagro. The economy is in an upturn, however temporary and fragile it might be. This has led to an increase in demand which in turn has caused factory speedup as employers seek to increase output. The results have been both the onerous changes in the shift system that were central to the Frito-Lay and Nabisco strikes and increase in the speed of the production line itself. At El Milagro, workers were sometimes forced to work seven days per week. The pace of work became unbearable. Workers were required to pack eighty packets per minute. This means less than a second to place twelve tortillas in a paper package and stack that package in a box.
The workers have raised a number of other issues. The temperatures inside the factory have been very high. Milagro has been violating the city’s Earned Sick time ordinance which guarantees the provision of sick days. Sexual harassment has been a continued and serious issue at the plant. Like many employers, Milagro has increased new hire wages to attract new workers during the current economic upturn. However, Milagro was paying these new hires more than some veteran workers. It’s hard to think of a management move likely to provoke workers’ anger!
The walkout
This was the background to the walkout on September 23. The situation had become intolerable. Something had to be done. The walkout only lasted for one hour. However, when workers tried to return to the building to collect their property from their lockers, they were locked out by management. It took intervention by the police to force the company to let workers collect cell phones, purses, medications, and other items from the facility.
The workers are not unionized. They turned for help to Arise Chicago, a faith-based organization that has a long history of supporting working class activity. Arise has a particularly strong track record on issues relating to immigrant and Hispanic workers. Arise organizer Jorge Mujica, who is central to organizing solidarity with the Milagro workers, is probably the most well regarded organizer of Latino workers in the city. So, Arise was a natural fit for this situation.
One of the central demands of the walkout was for management to meet with the workers by September 29. El Milagro President Raulinda Sierra’s response has been anything but conciliatory. Newly hired security guards were at the plant when workers returned. A letter was attached to paychecks saying that workers could be permanently replaced if there was a strike. Demeaningly, workers were forced to meet with a psychologist to discuss the situation. Apparently, this was the brainchild of the union busting law firm that Milagro has hired to advise them. Listening to Milagro workers speak, it’s clear that there’s a very real fear of retaliatory firings.
The September 29 deadline for a meeting with management came and went. So, Arise organized a rally on September 30 outside Milagro’s flagship location on 26th Street. About 100 supporters attended a press conference/rally which received a good deal of media coverage. The crowd was moved by the frank and courageous speeches by the workers themselves. There was a whole series of support statements by religious leaders and elected officials.
Need for a union
However this current situation pans out, El Milagro workers are going to face a continuing struggle to receive decent treatment at work. Such a struggle requires a long-term, durable organization. A union local is exactly such an organization. A union has the resources, organizational structure, and legal protections needed for workers to combat employer aggression. The BCTGM (Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union) has recently been through struggles similar to El Milagro at Frito-Lay and Nabisco. It has a definite presence in the Chicago area. It would seem to be the logical choice at El Milagro.
El Milagro is the latest example of a broader development. Despite everything, there are small groups of workers who do fightback. They show that, contrary to Star Trek’s Borg, “resistance is not futile”. In fact, it’s the only way forward.
Adam Shils
Adam Shils is a member of the International Socialism Project in Chicago.
