About Local 853 Archives - Teamsters Local 853

Teamsters Local 912, now 853, was the center of the Universe in the 1980s during the Watsonville Strike – watch the Movie, March 8th

Sisters and Brothers,

During a time when Ronald Reagan broke the back of the Air Traffic Controllers, Union work and protections was heavily debated. It was during this time that these Teamsters went on Strike for eighteen(18) months as a beacon of solidarity and justice for the workers who make all the money for the frozen foods corporations in Watsonville.

On March 8th, there will be a screening of a documentary that highlights their struggle. This is a significant part of the history of the Parajo Valley. Don’t miss the opportunity to understand what the workers before you had to do to establish the rights, wages, and benefits you now enjoy. And the legacy they have left you.

Be sure to get tickets in advance here at this link 👉 Watsonville on Strike.

Get tickets

Also showing after is a follow-up documentary: Daughters of the Strike / Hijas de la huelga. (This short film features sisters Blanca and Wendy, and their mother Sylvia, a former cannery worker and one of the striking workers during the historic Watsonville Cannery Strike of the mid-1980s. )

CineLux Green Valley Cinema
Movie Theater
1125 South Green Valley Road Watsonville, CA 95076
March 8, 2025, 6:30 - 8:30 PM PST

Watsonville On Strike is an intimate portrait of the 18-month cannery workers’ strike which virtually paralyzed this rural California town

This superb documentary showing the unvarnished facts of long, hard-fought labor battle–workers united, workers divided, the high and low points–may be the best introduction yet available to the realities of class struggle as it exists today.

–Jessica Mitford, Author

Teamsters Local 912, now 853, was the center of the Universe in the 1980s during the Watsonville Strike – watch the Movie, March 8th Read More »

853 members elect new leadership

In December, Local 853 held its first contested election of officers in thirty years after ten “white ballots” (elections by acclamation).

At the nominations meeting on November 7, two slates of candidates for office were nominated. From that moment, through to the final vote tally a month later, the two groups traversed the local and visited dozens of shops, meeting members and promoting their vision for the union. When the nearly than 2,700 votes were sorted and counted on December 5, the choice was clear.

Congratulations to the Members Rising Slate and many thanks for the hard work and dedication of the Members First Slate.

The new officers begin their three-year term on January 1. You’ll hear more from them in the new year. Here’s the roster: