Farmworkers rallied outside a recent Central Coast wine industry celebration, calling for higher wages and greater recognition for the workers who help produce the region’s wine.
The demonstration took place outside the Wine & Fire event at 10 Ninths Winery Estate in Lompoc on Friday. Wine & Fire, a four-day festival hosted by the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance, celebrated the region’s wineries and the 25th anniversary of the Sta. Rita Hills American Viticultural Area.
Farmworkers joined Alianza Campesina, the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), and the Mixteco/Indígena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) for the rally.
Among them was Maria, a farmworker who asked KSBY News not to show her face or disclose her last name because of her immigration status and concerns related to her current employment at a winery in Buellton.
Maria said she earns $18 an hour harvesting grapes. She described harvest season as demanding, with some shifts beginning as early as midnight or 3 a.m. and continuing for eight hours, sometimes in cold overnight conditions.
She said rising everyday expenses have made it difficult to make ends meet on her current wage.
“No, it’s not enough,” Maria said in Spanish. “If we look at how much gas costs, everything keeps going up, but wages don’t.”
Amancio de la Cruz, who said he also works in agriculture, joined Friday’s demonstration. He said workers are pushing for a wage of $26 an hour.
De la Cruz said he believes current agricultural wages are not enough to cover workers’ expenses and that the campaign is intended to improve wages for farmworkers across the industry.
“We’re in this fight to reach the goal we want, a wage of $26 an hour,” de la Cruz said in Spanish.
Organizers said the location and timing of the demonstration were intentional.
Wine & Fire brings together wine producers and consumers for several events across the Sta. Rita Hills. Organizers of the demonstration said they wanted farmworkers’ concerns to be heard while the industry gathered to celebrate its wines and achievements.
Eric Ramirez Zepeda, a policy advocate with CAUSE, said the celebration provided an opportunity to highlight the labor behind the region’s wine industry.
Ramirez Zepeda described Wine & Fire as one of the wine industry’s biggest events of the year and said the industry’s accomplishments would not be possible without farmworker labor.
Fernando Martinez, a community organizer with MICOP in Santa Maria, said farmworkers have organized over the past several years around wages and working conditions in Santa Barbara County.
“We are here to make sure that the voices of those who are behind every bottle of wine are heard,” Martinez said.
Organizers also said the wage issue has been raised with local elected officials and that they want the conversation to continue at the Santa Barbara County level.
For Maria, the demonstration was also about reminding consumers about the people whose labor goes into the wine they drink.
“We work hard to bring you the wine that you’re drinking,” Maria said in Spanish. “We want people to take us into account as people. We’re working, and all we’re asking for is a fair wage.”
KSBY news reached out to the Sta. Rita Hills Wine Alliance requesting a response to the farmworkers’ wage demands but did not receive a response.
