Northern California Strike Support Committee

Many Bay Area activists came to Watsonville to support the strike. The League of Revolutionary Struggle -- which included student, labor, and community activists -- had been actively organizing cannery workers in other parts of the state. In Watsonville, League members worked closely with the Strikers' Committee through the Northern California Strike Support Committee.

Oscar Ríos, a Salvadoran immigrant who grew up in San Francisco's Mission District and attended College of San Mateo, was sent to Watsonville by the League of Revolutionary Struggle to support the canneries strike. He was active in the Northern California Strike Support Committee, encouraged strikers to form their own Strikers' Committee, and published information on the strike in La Unidad / Unity and Forward: Journal of Socialist Thought. Ríos went on to become the first Latino mayor in Watsonville in 1991, and won additional terms in 1998 and 2016. He stepped down in 2018 after being accused of sexual abuse by fellow League organizer Shiree Teng and UCSC student involved in his campaign. 

In the interview below Ríos describes how he became politically active and joined the League of Revolutionary Struggle. His brother José was one of Los Siete de la Raza, seven young men involved in an altercation with police in the Mission district. One of the officers was killed by a shot from another officer's gun, but the seven Latino teenagers were arrested, charged with murder, and jailed for 18 months. Activists protested the young men's arrest and treatment, and eventually all seven were acquitted.  

The flyer below by the Northern California Strike Support Committee describes the strike happening in Watsonville for a Bay Area audience, presenting the strike as part of a broader movement. It encourages people to travel to Watsonville for a solidarity day rally and suggests other the ways people and organizations can support the strikers.  

Questions

  • What are some of the events and organizations that influenced Ríos to become politically active?
  • According to the flyer, who are the cannery workers fighting for?  And who are they asking to support the strikers?
  • What kinds of groups are listed below as endorsers?

Oscar Ríos:  Raza Organizing in the Bay Area

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Text version of flyers below (PDF) Download Text version of flyers below (PDF)

Spanish version of flyer entitled "Support the Strikers" with images and text. See PDF above for text.

English version of flyer entitled "Support the Strikers" with images and text. See PDF above for text.

"Oscar Ríos interviewed by Peter Shapiro." 17 June 2014.  larc.oh.shapiro_24, Labor Archives Research Center.  This is a clip from a longer interview which can be found here: https://archive.org/details/csfst_006450 Links to an external site. 

“Support the Watsonville Strikers!/Apoyar las huelgistas de Watsonville” Flyer. Ephemera Collection, Labor Archives & Research Center, San Francisco State University.