By Jondi Gumz
Blanca Baltazar was 12 when the historic Watsonville Cannery strike began.
When her mother — who worked in the plant — walked the picket line, she would come along, carry signs and chant in Spanish while her father picked strawberries.
Of course, she didn’t realize the 1985 strike, precipitated by wage cuts and lasting 18 months until new owners restored wages and provided health insurance, would become a milestone in labor history.
But now, 40 years later, the impact of the strike by more than 1,000 workers, overwhelmingly Latino, in two frozen food plants is being acknowledged with a Jon Silver documentary, “Daughters of the Strike,” to be screened for the Watsonville Film Festival, which opens March 6 at Cinelux Green Valley in Watsonville.
Today, Blanca is married, mother of two children, and vice president of student services at Cabrillo College in Aptos.
She is passionate about helping first-generation students succeed via education.
She talked to Aptos Times about how the strike affected her life.
She was born in Mexico and came to Watsonville with her parents at the age of 2.
Her grandfather was in the Bracero program, which allowed Mexican citizens to work in the United States on temporary agricultural contracts to give them the opportunity to earn higher wages and to address labor shortages due to World War II.
Enjoying the mild weather, the family put down roots on Kilburn Street.
Three younger siblings were born in Watsonville.
Blanca attended E.A. Hall Middle School, and Watsonville Cannery was close by.
The women who worked at the plant lived in the neighborhood, attended church together, sent their children to the same schools and watched soccer games in the same parks; they created a close-knit community.
Blanca’s family relied on the two incomes of her mother and her father to put food on the table.
In the winter, her father had no work in the fields, and when her mother went on strike, there was no paycheck.
With four kids, she got creative.
“We’re going to make milk,” she told her daughter.
Powdered milk. Much less expensive than bottled milk.
But Blanca did not feel poor.
“It’s just how we were growing up,” she said.
When she saw Cesar Chavez and Jesse Jackson come to Watsonville, she thought, “Wow, we have the support.”
Analysts say the unity of the striking women, their determination to not back down despite the financial hardship, was the key to getting a contract they could live with.
They wanted to be treated with dignity.
At 18, Blanca began to understand what that meant.
When Blanca advanced to Watsonville High School, the strike wasn’t discussed.
She learned about more in a Cabrillo College class on Chicano history and became president of the Organization of Latin American Students.
In her work-study job with Extended Opportunity Programs and Services, she provided academic counseling to first-generation students, which in 1990 were a tiny percentage of those enrolled. (Today a majority of graduates are Latino.)
Program director David Trevino became her mentor, advising what to do when Hispanic students faced financial struggles.
“Talk to the director of financial aid, the board of trustees, and Chicano Latino Affairs Council,” he told her.
The Vision
Learning how to navigate the system, she realized “this is why my mom and all the other women were so determined not to cross the picket line… she was understanding something positive would come out of it.”
She added, “That vision, that foresight, that’s impressive.”
She learned the importance of building a network of support — “how do we help each other to support one anther?”
She remembers the lessons she learned from her father: Don’t ever judge anybody. And be kind.
Her dad died at age 40, leaving her mom a widow.
Blanca was at Sacramento State, and her siblings were 18, 12 and 9.
She had to decide whether to come home and help her mom, or finish her degree.
She stayed, though it was not easy.
Degree in hand, she returned and got hired at Aptos High School as the migrant resource teacher.
This was fortuitous because at Aptos High, she met her husband-to-be, Faris Sabbah, who was teaching in a classroom next to hers.
They were friends for 10 years before dating.
They have been married 18 years.
Privilege
They have two sons, and Blanca said she wants them to use the “privilege” they have “to make things better.”
Zahir, 17, is already at Cabrillo studying statistics, and Amir, 15, is a freshman at Diamond Technology Institute, part of the Pajaro Valley school district in Watsonville.
Math was Blanca’s major until she got a D in one class. She switched to social science and kept math as a minor.
Blanca is close to all of her siblings.
Brother Cesar Baltazar, an All American soccer player at Hartnell College, is a counselor at Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center.
Brother Ulises Baltazar attended Hartnell College and works at Chase Bank.
Sister Wendy Baltazar graduated from UC Davis and is assistant principal at Alianza Charter School.
For 20 years, Blanca commuted to work for the Salinas Union High School District but when the pandemic hit, she wanted to work closer to home.
“I wanted to work in my community,” she said.
Cabrillo College had an opening, dean of the Academic Counseling, Career, Educational Support Services Division, and after talking with her mentor, she jumped from the K-12 school world.
When the vice president of student services left, she filled that role on an interim basis, the first Latino in that capacity, then took on the permanent position in December.
“I felt I could be of value at the executive cabinet level,” she said. Being the first carries a lot of responsibility…I’m grateful. It’s full circle to come back to Cabrillo.”
TOP PHOTO: Blanca Baltazar (from left), with her mother Sylvia and sister Wendy. • “Daughters of the Strike,” a documentary by Jon Silver