Baja farmworkers’ strike

Amid the glow of late-night warming fires in San Quintin, Mexico, on Wednesday night, striking farmworkers listen to an announcement about a long protest march planned for the next day.

About an hour before dawn Thursday, a farmworker watches state police cars drive along the Baja Trans Peninsular Highway and a makeshift encampment in San Quintin, Mexico. Officials were on edge before thousands of laborers gathered for a protest march.

Bearing a flag that reads, “We are workers, not slaves,” striking farmworkers sprint past a pickup of fellow laborers during a 12-mile protest march to San Quintin, Mexico.

With coastal fog hanging over the rich farmland in San Quintin, Mexico, marching farmworker families chant slogans about respect, dignity and a living wage they hope will be forthcoming as the Baja labor strike goes into its second week.

Farmworker leader Fidel Sanchez greets a crowd of thousands as he walks to a meeting with agribusiness bosses who are not meeting the wage demands of striking laborers in San Quintin, Mexico. The 2-week-long strike has crippled produce exports to the U.S. and shows no signs of ending. Growers have offered a 10% raise to workers who earn about $10 a day.

A large group of striking farmworkers pray on the roadside in Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico. As a farm laborer strike enters is in its second week, agribusiness representatives are resisting farmworkers’ demands for a living wage.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Baja California state police in riot gear keep an eye on striking farmworkers gathered across Baja’s main north-south highway in Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Farm laborer leader Fidel Sanchez criticizes the growers who are offering to raise their $9/day wage by only 8% at a meeting in San Quintin, Baja, Mexico. Next to him is Bonifacio Martinez, who said to a grower, “Your salary is in the clouds. Ours is in the dirt!”   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Farmworkers harvest strawberries in Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico. Some ranchers have opted to offer a slightly higher salary, drawing a small percentage of workers back to the fields.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

On a roadside in Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico, a bedsheet painted with the demands of striking farmworkers reads, “Salary $300 [pesos] a day” ($20.00 U.S.).  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Tension shows on the faces of striking farmworkers in Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico, as they await news of ongoing salary negotiations. A hand-painted sign on the wall reads, “We want a life.”  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Strawberries ripen in a field that was abandoned by farmworkers in Colonet, Baja, Mexico.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Farmworkers protesting low wages at Mexican export farms yell at a produce truck passing through Colonet, Baja, Mexico. Thousands of workers went on strike this week, leaving markets on both sides of the border reporting short supplies of strawberries and other spring produce.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Striking farmworkers and their families share donated food on the side of the main north-south cargo truck highway in Colonet, Baja, Mexico. They are committed to letting ripe strawberries destined for U.S. markets rot in the fields until their average $1-an-hour wage is improved.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Passengers in a car gesture in solidarity with farmworkers lining the coastal highway in Colonet, Baja, Mexico.  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Farmworkers protesting low wages at Mexican export farms yell at a produce truck passing through Colonet, Baja, Mexico. The coastal highway is a major route for fresh produce from throughout Baja to the U.S. Some trucks were delayed by angry strikers.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A police truck patrols near some of the thousands of striking farmworkers in San Quintin, Baja, Mexico.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Bernardo Velasco, 47 stands on the Baja Trans Peninsula Highway. “We’ve been here for years working for the same wage. We’ve had enough.”  (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Mexican state police keep an eye on farmworkers striking for better wages and conditions.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A Mexican federal police officer barks out orders to farmworkers to stay off the Baja Trans Peninsula Highway.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Striking farmworkers yell at a northbound produce truck on the Baja Trans Peninsula Highway.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

A farmworker wearing traditional dress of her Oaxaca, Mexico, pueblo listens to strikers debate with government officials about raising the minimum wage.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Strawberries ripen in shade canopies and open fields in Colonet, Baja, Mexico.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

Striking farmworkers sit in the shade along the Baja Trans Peninsula Highway in Colonet, Baja.   (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)