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What's Happening to Newspapers - Reel Work Labor Film Festival
BY SARAH RINGLER
GRAPHICS BY TONI BAUER
Anyone who has already seen the shrinking of their newspapers, local and beyond, needs to see Saturday's film "Stripped for Parts: Journalism on the Brink." Money grubbing hedge funds, and other entities that care more about making money than providing news, long ago saw that there was a lot of money to be made by selling off and consolidating parts of the papers. Downtown city center newspaper buildings were sold and then staff was later cut to the core.
Like at the Watsonville Pajaronian, today there is nothing left but a staff of three, who now work out of the Watsonville Library, Starbucks and their homes. In the last year, two reporters and an office person moved on and were not replaced. Finally, the tiny office on Brennan Street was vacated and the remaining staff is now officeless. All those expenses turned into profit for Dan Pulcrano and Lee May, who head up the Good Times and dozens of other papers they have have been scooping up over the years between roughly Healdsburg and Paso Robles.
The United States of America was securing its hold on what had been Mexico until The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and now was called California. Watsonville began as John H. Watson came from Georgia to the area to grow potatoes to feed the increasing population of gold miners and others who had moved west. Too many others came to grow potatoes and their value dropped. However, many people settled and the town was formed. The Pajaronian began in 1868 at the same time Watsonville was incorporated. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1956.
At one time, in the 80s and 90s, it occupied an old Safeway building on Main Street and Auto Center Drive which held a giant printing press, collating room, photo dark rooms and several offices for the employees. It had around seventy workers, writing, composing, selling ads, doing office work, running presses, collating papers and getting them ready for kids to pick up and deliver to homes. Much of the equipment used to compose a newspaper has been replaced by the computer. The newspaper, as well as many others that still make hard copies, is printed in a plant in the Central Valley.
What does it mean to not have a robust First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, one that is a shadow of its former self? Come see the film and find out what the research reports about what occurs when this happens.
Reel Work Labor Film Festival presents this year's season of films about real people facing real odds and sometimes winning. Films will be shown in person and online from now until May 18. They are free but donations are accepted. Here are some of the films. For the full program, go here: http://reelwork.org/schedule.htm
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Being 80
(Bob Gliner, 2024, 56 min, Santa Cruz County, USA)
This local documentary showcases a diverse range of vibrant, unique and memorable 80 year olds still finding meaning in their lives through long lived career choices contradicting the stereotype that their minds and bodies are obsolete in a world where only younger generations can make the world work. Speaker: Bob Gliner, filmmaker.
Saturday, Apr. 27, 4pm at Mid-County Senior Center, 829 Bay Ave,, Capitola
Saturday, May 11, 2pm at Felton Branch Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton
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Stripped For Parts: Journalism on the Brink
(Rick Goldsmith, 2023, 99 minutes, USA)
Investigative reporter Julie Reynolds, Denver Post editorialist Chuck Plunkett, and a handful of others, backed by the NewsGuild union, go toe-to-toe with the faceless Alden Global Capital in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism across America. Who will control the future of America's news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service and the lifeblood of our democracy?
Speakers: Rick Goldsmith, filmmaker and Julie Reynolds, journalist.
Watch the trailer for Stripped For Parts.
Saturday, Apr. 27, 7pm at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz
This event is also available online. Register at bit.ly/RW24Apr27
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Into The Weeds
(Jennifer Baichwal, 2022, 97 min, USA)
This event is on Workers Memorial Day. Monsanto has long been a dirty word when it comes to talking about poisons in our food supply. In this powerful film, a Bay Area school district groundskeeper, by accident, was exposed on the job to a big dose of the cancer-causing herbicide glyphosate. As he got sicker and sicker, he kept trying to contact Monsanto about his situation. To no avail, and after he finally got cancer, he finally found a group of lawyers who looked deeply into Monsanto's records and successfully sued them.
Panelists: Mark Weller, Yanely Martinez, Kathleen Kilpatrick, and Woody Rehanek, pesticide safety activists with Californians for Pesticide Reform and Safe Ag, Safe Schools will be on hand to discuss local Roundup bands in our area and other issues around poisons in our foods.
Watch the trailer for Into The Weeds.
Sunday, Apr. 28, at 7pm on Workers Memorial Day at Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz.
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International Shorts
A series of six labor-related short films from around the world.
The Choice: a fable (Laura Lewis-Barr, 2023, 2 min, USA)
A group of Chickens debate an important choice. Adapted from a socialist fable.
Meeting Human Needs (Liz Gibson-DeGroote & Paula Krasiun-Winsel, 2022, 19 min, Canada)
Fight to protect pubic services in Saskatchewan. Paean to Tommy Douglas, Premier from 1944-1961.
$20 Gift Card (Thalia Drori Ramirez, 2023, 8 min, USA)
What is the value of human labor, especially when that labor is performed by Latinos? A $20 Christmas bonus after a year of horrible working conditions?
The City That Works: Portland City Laborers & The Fight For Fair Wages
(Anna Lueck, 2023, 10 min, USA) City of Portland essential workers who keep Portland clean and functional, including park rangers, wastewater treatment plant operators, and road maintenance crews, go on strike due to lack of compensation for the increasing demands and dangers of their jobs.
Tiburcio Parrott - Faces Of St. Helena (Alex Lyman, 2024, 3 min, USA)
The person who overturned the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Fruits of Resistance (Aline Juárez, 2023, 22 min, Spain) Mostly immigrant agricultural laborers in huge greenhouses in Andauzia, Spain, organize for pay and respect.
Filmmakers Panel: Laura Lewis-Barr, Paula Krasiun-Winsel, Suzanne Gallant, Thalia Drori Ramirez, Anna Lueck, Nancy LaFortune, and Aline Juárez.
Tuesday, Apr. 30, 7 pm at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. Also available online: Register at bit.ly/RW24Apr30
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Wednesday, May 1, 2024
International Workers Day
DIY Labor Day Parade on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz
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Freeway Fighters - Divided Highways:
The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life
(Lawrence Hott & Tom Lewis, 1997, 87 min, USA)
America’s desire for freedom and the open road resulted in the construction of thousands of highways during the Eisenhower administration. Through interviews, archival footage and photography, America’s interstate highway system is revealed to have shaped every aspect of American life and affected the nation’s history for better and for worse. Watch the trailer for Divided Highways.
Friday, May 3, 7pm at the Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz
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Labor Song Circle
Aileen Vance brings her “Rise Up! Community Song Circle” to the festival with “We Do the Work!,” a program of labor songs to celebrate International Workers Day. Aileen, along with special guests Julie Olsen Edwards and Bonnie Lockhart will be performing and leading the songs of working people past and present. Together we are mighty; all organizing goes better when we sing together!
Song Leaders: Aileen Vance, Julie Olsen Edwards and Bonnie Lockhart.
Saturday, May 4, 1:30pm, Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, 2402 Cabrillo College Dr., Soquel
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Israelism
(Erin Axelman & Sam Eilertsen, 2024, 84 min, USA & Israel)
Portrays the heavy socialization of young people in many Zionist households in the US and Israel, as told by a few who later questioned that world view.
Prerecorded Q&A with activist Simone Zimmerman followed by live discussion. Music by Robby & Friends.
Watch the trailer for Israelism on YouTube. Hybrid event: Register to join virtually at bit.ly/RW24May5
Sunday, May 5, 7pm Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St, Santa Cruz
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The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane
Maureen Gosling, Jed Riff & Nina Menéndez, 2023, 108 min, USA)
An underground history of a singer-agitator previously overlooked by many storytellers of American history. Dane’s unbending principles guide her through notoriety, obscurity, and finally, music legend.
Speakers: Filmakers Maureen Gosling and Jed Riffe.
Music; Santa Cruz Peace Chorale.
Watch the trailer for The 9 Lives of Barbara Dane on YouTube.
Monday, May 6, 6:30 pm, Santa Cruz Peace Chorale, 7pm film. Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean st.
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5 Broken Cameras
(Guy Davidi & Emad Burnat, 2011, 94 min, Palestine)
A Palestinian farmer’s chronicle of his village of Bil’in in the West Bank including their nonviolent resistance to the building of a separation barrier cutting of their lands for a settlement and the repressive actions of the Israeli army.
Audience discussion follows the film.
Watch the trailer for 5 Broken Cameras on YouTube.
Hybrid event: Register to join virtually at bit.ly/RW24May8
Understanding Gaza Series
Wednesday, May 8, 7pm, SEIU 521 Union Hall, 517 Mission St, Santa Cruz
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Workers of the World,
Drifting
(Somnur Vardar, 2023, 67 min, Turkey)
While watching the dramatic changes in urban texture, we meet two young Kurdish cousins working in construction, just like their fathers and grandfathers did for decades. They both dream of becoming teachers, wanting to break the vicious cycle of construction work. From dormitories to May Day street protests, we get glimpses of their life, hearing their stories of struggle, resistance, families, their hopes and dreams.
Speaker: Somnur Vardar, filmmaker.
Watch the trailer for Drifting on Vimeo.
Virtual event: May 10, 7pm Register at bit.ly/RW24May10
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UNION
(Stephen Maing & Brett Story, 2023, 104 min, USA)
A group of current and former Amazon workers at a warehouse in New York City’s Staten Island challenges one of the world’s largest corporations in a successful unionization drive. Watch the trailer for UNION on Mubi.
Saturday, May 11, 7pm Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz
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A Thousand Pines
(Sebastián Díaz, 2023, 77 min, Mexico & USA)
In this tale of labor and family that shines a light on the precarity of temporary work visas, Raymundo Morales leads a crew of workers who have to make the challenging decision to leave their families in rural Mexico to plant commercial pine forests in the United States.
Speakers: Sebastián Díaz, filmmaker, and Angeles Moreno, graphic designer.
Watch the trailer for A Thousand Pines on YouTube.
Saturday, May 18, 7pm Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz
Hybrid event: Register to join virtually at bit.ly/RW24May18
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We All Go......
BY SARAH RINGLER
If you agree that more public restrooms are needed, call the City Council and Parks Commission in your town. In Watsonville, call the Watsonville City Council at 768-3040, Watsonville City Manager at 768-3010 and the Watsonville City Parks and Recreation Commission at 768-3240. weallgowatsonville@gmail.com
CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
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A Little Labor News from Labor Notes May 2024
LABORNOTES
Newswatch - 2023 was a banner year for unions. Half a million union workers went on strike, and union members won an average first-year wage increase of 6.6%, the biggest for any year since 1988. These new heights of worker power were concentrated in public sector unions representing front-line workers who had to remain on the job and at risk during the worst of the pandemic. Government contracts usually contain skimpy pay bumps compared to those in the private sector. But this time, the public sector was responsible for the largest year-over-year change.
Half a million fast food workers got a 25% bump in pay when California’s minimum wage jumped to $20 an hour in April. These low wage workers are often women, immigrants and people of color scaping by below the poverty line, and their wages had been stagnant for decades. The rule affects fast food chains with at least 60 locations, with exceptions for bakeries, smaller restaurants, and grocery stores. It’s part of a deal between the Service Employees (SEIU) and the fast food companies which created a Fast Food Council within the state’s industrial relations department, but stopped short of collective bargaining.
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The Cobalt Blues
BY WOODY REHANEK
Maybe it was the shock
of dark blue glass;
the trademark bearded man
with a white turban
in a flowing yellow
robe; or the bright
orange metal lids.
What caught our eye was
a pile of Old Man Rehmke's
bottles, cans, & jars
next to his grain field:
Philips Milk of Magnesia bottles,
Hills Brothers Coffee cans,
& vintage glass Tang jars.
Nothing more.
Maybe the stress of dry-land
farming marginal grainland,
plus the acids in coffee
& Tang, gave the Old Man
the cobalt blues.
************
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Mom and calf out standing in their field at Arana Gulch in Santa Cruz.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER
The California Department of Public Health and Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county as well as information on influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Mpox. Since cases of Covid are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.
At-home Covid-19 test kits are currently available at the Watsonville Public Library, Main St.
The three graphs below were updated on Apr. 24.
The first graph is the Effective Reproductive Number. When the line rises above one, it shows that the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.
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.
The third graph below shows hospitalizations.
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.
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Photo TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - While balancing a shopping cart on his head, this man flashes a handmade sign asking for money on a traffic island somewhere near Sacramento
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Labor History Calendar - April 19-25, 2024
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
April 26, 1937: Basque town of Guernica destroyed by German bombing in Spanish Civil War.
April 26, 2018: Arizona teachers strike to protest funding cuts and low pay.
April 27, 1825: First strike for 10-hour day by Boston carpenters.
April 27, 1998: Danish general strike for six-week paid vacations.
April 27, 2018: Colorado teachers join national strike wave against inadequate school funding.
Workers Memorial Day April 28, 1997: Nike shoe workers protest wins wage hike in Indonesia.
April 28, 1998: Danish General Strike for shorter hours begins.
April 28, 2021: Massive strikes against austerity met with police gunfire with at least 10 workers killed in Columbia.
April 29, 1911: Magonistas lauch revolution in Baja California, Mexico.
April 29 1965: Shawl weavers protest poverty and 28 are killed in Srinagar, Kashmir.
April 29, 2013: Unionists and civil rights activists begin weekly Moral Monday protests in North Carolina.
April 30, 1899: 1,200 arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho miners’ strike one day after Bunker Hill mill dynamited, allegedly by WFM strikers.
May 1, 1886: General strike for 8-hour day in Chicago and other cities.
May 1, 1986: 1.5 million join South African general strike against apartheid.
May 1, 2006: Some 2.5 million workers rally in US for immigrants’ rights.
May 2, 1919: Bavarian revolution crushed.
May 2, 1984: 33,000 West German metalworkers strike for 35-hour week.
May 2, 2023: TV and film writers strike later joined by actors in the US.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
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"The artist must take sides. He must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice."
Paul Robeson
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Tzintzuntzán Style Bean Soup
By SARAH RINGLER
I have been making this soup for over forty years now. I’m not sure where I got this recipe but it is very similar to a soup I was served many years ago in a restaurant on the plaza in a city named Pátzcuaro, in the central Mexican state of Michoacán. Many Watsonvillians have roots in this state. Go to towns like Gomez Farias or Zamora, and you will likely see a neighbor or friend.
Michoacán state was formerly part of the Tarascan state, the second largest in Mesoamerica before the Spanish conquerors came in 1518. Before that, the Tarascans were one of the few civilizations in what is now central Mexico who had successfully fought off the Aztecs. After the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, the Tarascan leader, Tangáxuan, sent emissaries with gifts to the victors. Unfortunately, those gifts contained gold. The Spanish became very interested and came to visit with an army in 1522. The Tarascans decided not to fight and in return managed to negotiate some autonomy for a while under Spanish control.
There is evidence of people living in this area that goes back to 2500 BCE. You can go visit the ancient capital, Tzintzuntzán, and see the archeological remains. Today, it’s a small village on the east bank of Lake Pátzcuaro. They still make and sell pottery that is unique to their culture (as shown in the photo here).
The recipe below, except for the butter and cheese, could easily have been eaten 4,500 years ago. There are many other varieties of beans you can use. I wrote down pinto beans in the recipe because they are readily available, but go to the Mexican markets and experiment. It really helps to soak the beans overnight and remember, don’t add salt until the beans are already soft and cooked.
Tarascan Bean Soup
4 1/2 cups cooked or 2 cups dried pinto beans
28 ounce can roasted tomatoes
1 large onion
2 tablespoons butter, olive oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 dried chiles anchos or pasillas
2 cups stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 avocado, sliced
Tortilla chips
Optional: Toasted green pumpkins seeds, ground in blender
If you have dried beans, wash and put in a medium sized saucepan with 4 cups of water. Do not add salt. Soak beans overnight. Drain and put back in the pan with about 6 cups of water, garlic and a bay leaf or some epazote from a Mexican market. Cook beans for about an hour. Add salt and cook for another half hour.
Toast chiles in a dry iron frying pan until they are soft. Put on gloves if you need to and open up chiles and remove seeds. Put a small saucepan with 2 cups of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
Put chiles in boiling water and cook until they are quite soft. Then, put them into the food processors and puree.
Melt butter in a sauce pan, add garlic and onions and sauté for a few minutes. Add the blended chiles and the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the cooked pinto beans and stir some more. Put the mixture in a blender and purée, adding stock as needed to thin it. Put it back in the sauce pan and cook over low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with grated cheese, avocado slices, toasted and ground pumpkin seeds and a few tortilla chips for garnish.
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Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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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.
Copyright © 2024 Sarah Ringler - All rights reserved
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