Recently, employees at Christopher Ranch, the local company that has made Gilroy synonymous with garlic, received a life-changing announcement: All workers making minimum wage would be paid $15 an hour by 2018, four years earlier than California law requires.
“We thought the state was moving a little bit too slow and we wanted to be ahead of the curve,” said Ken Christopher, third-generation garlic grower at the family-owned firm, which sells 60-80 million pounds of garlic a year at $2 to $4 a pound, for a revenue of at least $120 million. “We believe in the Fight for $15 and a living wage for employees.”
Six hundred employees out of 900 are impacted by the new company policy. They also do not have to wait until next year for a pay raise—their hourly wage increased to $13 an hour starting in January.
“We saw that the magic number was 13,” said Christopher, who, like many agribusiness owners in the state, has had to deal with a shrinking workforce over the years.
“When we raised wages to $11 [California’s current minimum wage is $10.50] we didn’t get one new applicant. When we went to $13 at the beginning of the year we saw a surge in applications and filled every position. There are now 150 on the waitlist.”
The Dispatch talked to three Christopher Ranch employees earlier this week about the pay rise and what it means for them.
For these former field workers and general laborers, the wage increase has been transforming.
“Now I have extra money to go out with my kids, save and pay my bills.” said Antonio Alcalan, who works on the machines that crack the garlic bulbs before they are peeled.
“When you are paid a piece rate you can make more money, but you have to travel for the work,” said Jose Abel Arteaga Villalobos, who would commute in his own car from his home in Hollister, to Salinas, Soledad, Greenfield and places farther away to work in the fields. “Some companies have busses and transportation for their workers, mine didn’t.”
The hourly wage is also consistent at Christopher Ranch, as is the work.
“Sometimes you are laid off for long periods when you work in the fields,” said Jesus Cardenas, who, before he was processing specialty foods for retailers like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods at Christopher Ranch, was harvesting strawberries.
The state’s agricultural industry has been dealing with an ever-shrinking workforce as movement across the southern border has stalled and legislators on Capitol Hill have failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
In 2013, when the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act made its way to the U.S. Senate, strawberry growers in the state teamed up with Silicon Valley technology companies to lobby Washington to pass the hallmark bill. It ended up going nowhere, fast.
“The last couple years it has been very hard to find workers,” said Christopher. “The labor force is not going to get much bigger. It’s really competitive.”
Christopher said that while other growers have been shockingly positive about their announcement, what they are doing does not necessarily apply to everyone in agribusiness.
“We really pride ourselves on being the best—amazing customer service, great distribution and a quality product,” said Christopher. “We are not the cheapest garlic out there and what we get in return allows us to reinvest in our workforce.”
But, says Christopher, “in doing the right thing we have helped our productivity as well.”
Christopher Ranch, who grows half of its total supply of garlic within 100 miles of Gilroy—the rest is grown primarily in the Central Valley—is on track to process 80 million pounds for the upcoming season.
