Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Jean Piraino, in the foreground with the red flag, is a long time supporter of the Monterey Bay Area's labor movement. Here she is on May Day 2021 in downtown Santa Cruz.

Labor Day 2023

By SARAH RINGLER

Labor is getting back on its feet with gains that haven't been seen in decades.

United Postal Service and the International Brotherhood(sic) of Teamsters representing 340,000 workers approved a tentative contract on Aug. 22, avoiding a strike that would have shut down about one-quarter of the package deliveries around the country. With 86% of the members voting for ratification, it showed the highest support ever given for a Teamster contract. Some of that high support came from a change in IBT leadership that occurred two years ago when the union replaced James P. Hoffa, son of Jimmy, with Sean M. O'Brien, endorsed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union and who was fired by Hoffa in 2017 for reaching out to members who were opposed to Hoffa's reelection as Teamster general president.

According to Associated Press, a tentative agreement increased pay by $2.75 an hour for both full and part-time workers with a $7.50 increase by the end of the 5-year contract. Starting pay increased to $21/hour. UPS also agreed to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a full holiday, ended forced overtime on drivers' day's off, to cease using driver-facing cameras in the trucks, eliminated two-tier wages, and agreed to safety issues like adding air conditioning units to trucks when needed.

American Airlines pilots just ratified a contract that will increase pay by 46% by Aug. 2027 with 21% increase upon signing and retroactive pay. Pilots also will receive more vacation pay, better life insurance, long-term disability and retirement benefits according to the Niraj Chokshi in the Aug. 21, New York Times.

Join us at Romo Park, across from the Watsonville Plaza, this Monday from 11am-3pm.

Mark Levy Is Back in Town For Whiskey Hills Farm Concert - Sept. 17

By SARAH RINGLER

Photo CONTRIBUTED

After almost four years since Mark Levy moved to Oregon from Santa Cruz, he's back on the road again with guitar and many new clever and tragicomical topical and political songs. He has a vast repertoire that spans from political satire to older Judaic folk music, klezmer, jazz and more. He has performed many places from colleges and coffee houses, to synagogues and temples.

The event is held at David Blume's Whiskey Hill Farms at 371 Calabasas Rd. Take the Buena Vista exit (428) off highway 1, go east on Buena Vista Dr., take another left onto Calabasas Rd., then to Whiskey Hill Farms, 371 Calabasas Rd. Whiskey Hill Farms is a 14-acre organic farm on California’s Central Coast, just south of Santa Cruz. It cultivates specialty crops including tropical fruit, rare culinary and medicinal plants, and heirloom vegetable varieties in the off-season.

The concert starts at 2pm but bring some food and join the potluck at 1pm. See the poster below. For information on Mark, click HERE. For information on the event, email HERE.

Human and Environmental Health Go Together: Healthy Soil is the Solution

By KATHLEEN KILPATRICK

Global climate change and environmental justice are over-arching issues for our times. Government entities as small as counties, cities, even neighborhoods, must create solutions to both limit and adapt to increasingly unpredictable weather, while working to reduce the economic and physical inequities that stand in the way of fair solutions. 

Farmers and organizations from Santa Cruz County had front line roles in developing the organic certification process now adopted nation-wide, which also impacted organic farming and marketing globally. Organic farmers know that synthetic chemicals interfere with the natural processes that produce great tasting, healthy food. Building and restoring rich soil using compost, mulch, and limited tilling helps retain water, increase pest resistance, and make nutrients available to plants, and to us.

Years of research has also shown that healthy, living soil captures and retains carbon. In this living soil, mycorrhizal fungi form a network of threadlike structures, connecting with plant rootlets. The rootlets share sugars (made of carbon chains) with microbes; the microbes make soil nutrients bioavailable to plants via the rootlets. Natural symbiosis creates a balance between inputs and growth without artificial chemicals disrupting the process.

Most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers were developed from fossil fuels, and take large amounts of energy in the form of carbon, to produce. They can also contribute directly to air pollution and green house gas production. Both the chemicals and the conventional produce grown from them are often transported over long distances, adding to the production of carbon. These are just some ways they can adversely impact human and environmental health, and contribute to warming our planet.

This is why local groups like Campaign for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture (CORA), Safe Ag Safe Schools (SASS), and the statewide coalition, Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR), are advocating for reforming our agricultural system for the health of workers and residents in ag communities, to protect consumers and our environment, and to increase our soil's capacity to store carbon.

Benefits of organic and regenerative agriculture for our environment and economy: 

·      Reduce synthetic chemical use, protect human and environmental health, save long-term health care and ag production costs.

·      Restore soil micro-organisms to decrease water use, prevent flooding, reduce dust and runoff, increase nutrient density, enhance climate resilience.

·      Improve viability for small, local farms and farmers by access to resources, increased local food distribution, and promoting the value of an organic and regenerative "brand".

·      Farmworkers want to protect themselves and their families. Workforce retention will improve, and workers can build and use skills in healthy farming.

·      Biodiversity of soil, flora, fauna, and crops can help maintain the sustainability of our ag economy. 

Our public officials, from to local municipalities to state and federal government, share important advocacy roles both with and for local residents and businesses, to promote healthy and sustainable agriculture in our counties and communities.

Examples of possible actions:

1. Hold the County Agricultural Commissioners (CAC) and Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) accountable for protecting public health by strict regulation and enforcement.

2. Incorporate greening and regenerative agriculture into Climate Action Plans. Create measurable goals for retaining carbon in soils to add to benefits of reduced use of fossil fuels. Plans for parks, natural areas, and residential zoning should preserve and enhance trees, parks, wetlands, and natural areas. Green space should be incorporated into all new residential construction. 

3. Tell the big berry brands and other produce distributors based here we want organic and regenerative as our county and region's "brand". Then encourage local institutions like schools, hospitals, grocery and restaurants to buy more local food. 

4. Encourage the County Extension Office, Farm Bureau, and local ag organizations to facilitate access to resources to help local farmers to convert to organic and regenerative practices. 

5. Promote co-ordination of educational resources, from school Life Labs to colleges and universities to bring programs and expertise that will make Pajaro Valley and the Monterey Bay region a model for ag methods and ag jobs of the future. Build a skilled agricultural work force by providing livable wages, affordable housing, and healthy working conditions. Incorporate traditional knowledge and collaborative learning into training.

6. Good farming is an art, not just a business. Continue to integrate our ag with local arts growth: Visual arts, music, movement, poetry, theater, film, culinary arts. This is already happening within our public spaces, in cultural events, in restaurants and community gardens.

Many California cities and counties have paved over rich soil, a valuable and irreplaceable resource. We can both protect and promote human and environmental health by becoming a model for sequestering carbon and both countering and adapting to local and global warming. Our agricultural prosperity must be shared with those who grow, harvest, and prepare our food.

People's Tribunal on Pesticide Use and Civil Rights in California

Lindsay Wellness Center,

860 N. Sequoia,

Lindsay, Tulare County

Sept. 12, 1-4pm

Photos and article by UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW

 By any measure, farmworkers and agricultural communities are among the least protected and least visible populations in the United States. In California, 97% of farmworkers are Latinx, 92% are Spanish-speaking, and over 90% are immigrants. The first finding of a violation of EPA regulations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was made in Angelita C., on behalf of children who attended schools near the use of methyl bromide. While state and federal laws prohibit state-funded discrimination and require agencies to advance environmental justice, farmworkers, parents and children who attend schools near pesticide use, and agricultural communities rarely have access to justice via traditional means. 

In response, Californians for Pesticide Reform and the University of California, Irvine are hosting a "People's Tribunal" at the Lindsay Wellness Center in Tulare County, California on Sept. 12. The event is a forum for community members to deliberate over civil rights in the context of pesticide use and exposure. People's tribunals take the form of legal proceedings run by public figures, legal practitioners, and community leaders. Designed to demand accountability, their claim to authority begins with the argument that members of the community are competent to invoke and apply the law on their own when governments are unwilling to do so. The Tribunal is made possible by a generous grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Tribunal will feature community testimony on subjects including: (1) Generations of work to address harms to farmworkers and schools from pesticide use in California, with a focus on regulatory gaps; (2) Scientific research to understand those harms, with a focus on links and relationships among pesticide use, exposure, and harm; (3) Local coalition testimony from across the region, with a focus on community experience, awareness of harms, and pressing concerns; (4) Binational and Indigenous perspectives, with a focus on the difficulty accessing enforcement and other services for those who speak Indigenous languages; (5) Community efforts to process, transform, and use public data to understand impacts and potential mitigation of pesticide use; (6) Legal requirements, including civil rights laws, and why they are under-utilized and difficult to enforce in the context of pesticide use; and (7) Potential violations of civil rights law. 

The Tribunal will be attended by residents of agricultural communities from across California. It will end with a preliminary statement by the judges on the evidence presented, followed by an Advisory Opinion based on witness testimony. The goal of the Tribunal is to bring the experience of thousands of workers, students, and residents to the forefront so that legislators, agency staff, organizers, attorneys, and the public can consider necessary reforms. 

To request reasonable accommodations for a disability, please emailcenters@law.uci.edu. Register here: Webinar Registration

Judges and speakers include: 

Caroline Farrell, Professor of Law and Director, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic, Golden Gate University School of Law

Robert Chacanaca, President, Monterey Bay Central Labor Council (retired), Cupa Tribe

Dr. Caroline Cox, Senior Scientist, Center for Environmental Health (retired)

Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences and Chief, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, UC Davis School of Medicine

Dr. Ann López, Executive Director, Center for Farmworker Families

Bianca Lopez, Co-Founder and Project Director, Valley Improvement Projects

Dr. Gregg Macey, Director, Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources, UCI Law

Timothy Malloy, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

Nayamin Martinez, Executive Director, Central California Environmental Justice Network

Dr. Sarait Martinez, Executive Director, Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Ingígena Oaxaqueño 

Asha Sharma, Organizing Co-Director, Pesticide Action Network North America

Lothar and the Hand People  

By WOODY REHANEK

Her laugh was both menacing

& contagious. Laffing Sal inhabited

San Francisco’s Fun House entrance,

then came the hissing air jets

in the floor, lifting skirts & dresses

as distorted mirrors twisted

human figures into grotesque

shapes mixing fun with adrenalin…

In the late 60s, the Family Dog held

Concerts in the Edgewater at Playland,

Just as entropy was taking its toll.

Lothar was the name of an electronic

instrument – a theremin – played by

moving your hands over antennae to 

create special sound effects. 50 years

later, I still savor that smidgen 

of history when LOTHAR AND THE HAND

PEOPLE played at the old ballroom

Just off the Great Highway in 1971.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

A towhee makes a routine stop on a fence in Pajaro Village in Watsonville.

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - Slight Dip in Rt Number

By SARAH RINGLER

The California Department of Public Health reports on Covid-19 for The Santa Cruz County Health Department. They regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. Since cases are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.

I just checked the state's website and the current total of confirmed Covid deaths in Santa Cruz County is at 326, up from last week's 324.

The three graphs below give a picture of what is happening currently. The first graph below shows the Rt Number. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing. The last 9 weeks have risen above one.

The second graph below shows data that the Health Department collects for Covid from wastewater at the City Influent, for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county. This graph shows wastewater level to be below Center for Disease Control's moderate risk threshold.

The third graph below shows hospitalizations. Click to see more information on hospitalizations HERE.



The vaccination data for the county has stayed fairly constant increasing very little over time. Go HERE for new information on vaccination records, treatments, vaccines, tests, safety in the workplace and more.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street - Part of the Capitola Mall, that used to be occupied by Sears, is now Spirit Halloween, the "World's #1 Halloween Costume Store, according to their website. There are over 1,300 pop-up stores across the US with about 20 just in the South Bay. Several are in abandoned Sears. I think you'll be amazed. Note the plastic meat cleaver and pipe wrench below. This is only a tiny selection. There are several life sized models of decorated doorways that will provide inspiration and sales. I talked to a mom who brings her son there everyday for entertainment. According to the clerk, the most popular products that they just can't keep in stock are items related to the 1988 horror comedy movie "Beetlejuice." Everything in the store carries the Spirit label and I couldn't find anything that wasn't made in China.

Labor History Calendar - Sept. 1-7, 2023

a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget

Sept. 1, 1903: 30,000 women from 26 trades march in Chicago Labor Day parade.

Sept. 1, 1920: 500,000 Italian metal workers occupy their factories.

Sept. 2, 1921: Mine owners bomb West Virginia strikers by plane.

Sept. 2, 2016: 150 million government workers strike against privatization and for a higher minimum wage in the world’s largest strike in India.

Sept. 2, 2021: 13^th KCTU president in a row arrested for organizing massive labor protests in South Korea. 

Sept. 3, 1891: Cotton pickers strike in Texas.

Sept. 4, 1894: New York City tailors strike against sweatshop conditions.

Sept. 5, 1882: 30,000 march in New York’s first Labor Day parade.

Sept. 5, 1917: Palmer raids on all IWW halls and offices in the US>

Sept. 5, 1934: 325,000 US textile workers strike against pay cuts; two killed.

Sept. 6, 1869: Avondale Mine Disaster – 110 miners killed. It led to the first mine safety law in Pennsylvania.

Sept. 6, 1934: Scabs and police fire on textile strikers killing 7 in South Carolina.

Sept. 7, 1893: 2 locked-out coal miners killed while picketing in Featherstone, England. 

Sept. 7, 1993: Chemical workers occupy Crotone, Italy plant to block closing.

Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.

"Never argue with an idiot. They will

only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience."

By George Carlin



Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Stargazy Pie

By SARAH RINGLER 

Because of the Internet and my inclination towards things that are different or unusual, I had to try this recipe. I was researching sardines for a previous column after seeing them at the grocery store.  I came across this very strange photograph of a fish pie with the fish jumping through the pie at a website from Great Britain. I had always heard that British food was boring and bland and this recipe did not fit that profile. Eventually I could not get the recipe out of my mind. So, I built up courage and decided to try and make it. 

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program lists them as a “Best Choice” fish in terms of sustainability and they are healthy to eat. They are very high in omega-3 fatty acids,  which reputedly decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease —  always a good thing. 

I had never heard of sardines existing outside of a can and remember the stories of sardine canneries in Monterey in the 1900s made famous by John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row”. 

Here it is. Amaze and surprise your friends and family. Or maybe even better, just show them the photograph. I probably should have stopped there myself.

I think that the pie tasted very good. One problem is that sardines have a very strong flavor. Between the bacon, wine and cream, the strong fish flavor is subdued. The puff pastry makes for a nice rich and flaky topping.

Stargazy pie

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 slices of bacon

2 teaspoons flour

2 tablespoons white wine

1 cup fish stock or water

1 pint whipping cream

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped in small cubes

2/3 pound sardines – about 2 8-inch sardines

1 small peeled Yukon Gold potato, very thinly sliced on a grater

7.5 ounces puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Heat the butter in frying pan and cook bacon over medium heat until it is done but still soft, not crispy. Add the onions and cook until they are transparent.

Add the flour and stir to cook it a bit. Then stir in the wine and fish stock and keep stirring to avoid lumps of flour. Bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes.

Add the cream. Bring back to a boil and simmer until the mixture has reduced to half the original amount. Remove from the heat and add the chopped parsley and eggs. Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out a pie pan and lightly grease it with butter.

Thinly slice the potato and spread it over the bottom of the pie tin.

Prepare the sardines. Cut the heads and tails off of the sardines and clean them, or just slice along the bone into thin fillets. Save one head and tail for decorations. Lay the fillets on the bottom of the pie pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pour the cooled sauce over the fish. Roll out the puff pastry so that it can fit over the pie pan. Place it over the pie pan and trim to fit. Make two slits in the pastry and insert the head in one and the tail in the other. Brush the top with the beaten egg and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve with green vegetables or a salad. Serves about four. 

Welcome to Serf City Times Our county has problems and many people feel left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer. 

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