Food Processors End Walkout

Striking workers at one of the world’s largest food-processing plants voted today to approve a contract with the plant’s new owners, ending a bitter 19-month walkout.

A spokeswoman at Teamsters Local 912 said that the new contract with NorCal Frozen Foods was approved on a vote of 543-21. Details of the contract weren’t available immediately, but reportedly included wages of $5.85 an hour, matching the wages of other canning operations in the area. The strike by 1,000 workers against Watsonville Canning & Frozen Food Co., which began in September, 1985, has been marked by violent demonstrations.