His siblings gathered around an oblong table covered in steaming
tamales. The merry chatter of children with new toys. The melody of
Spanish holiday music.
These are symbolic images of Arreguen Nolberto’s last
Thanksgiving.
But when he returned in September from a traditional three-week
family vacation to his hometown of Colima, Mexico, Nolberto
discovered that reliving such memories this holiday season would be
improbable.
Nolberto has been on strike with other Vons employees for seven
weeks to protest a new labor contract that lowers healthcare
benefits.
“I came back with my family, and I worked for only a week
until I was told to go on strike,” Nolberto said.
He currently strikes 6 days a week for six hours a day and
receives $40 daily for his participation. Despite the decrease in
his paycheck, Nolberto pledges to strike until acceptable
negotiations are reached. He will not look for another job, either,
Nolberto said.
With such a meager salary, supporting a wife and three children
““ Nasario, 2, Maria, 4, and Jose, 6 ““ can be
challenging. He and his wife, Maria, are worried, Nolberto said;
bills are hard to pay.
Because they are so discouraged by their lack of finances,
Nolberto and his wife balk at the idea of celebrating Thanksgiving.
Though they usually drive to San Bernardino to be with his sister
and five brothers who live there, neither he nor his wife is
enthusiastic about traveling this year.
“Dressing up and pretending to be happy does not sound fun
right now,” Nolberto said. “We do not feel like
celebrating when we have so little money.”
But being financially hard-pressed is not an unfamiliar
experience for Nolberto. He left Mexico and his family’s
plantain farm in 1978 to elude financial difficulty and to pursue
the American dream of success.
Nolberto thought he had truly succeeded when he acquired legal
residence and made the transition from farm work to Vons
employment.
“I was so happy that I wasn’t illegal anymore and
had gotten a good-paying job,” he said. “I even bought
a house in West Hollywood to celebrate.”
Between Nolberto’s wages and his wife’s
McDonald’s salary, the family led a modest yet comfortable
lifestyle during Nolberto’s five years of Vons employment.
They could even afford to take a yearly vacation back to Mexico to
visit Nolberto’s parents and remaining siblings.
This year’s getaway, however, ended abruptly when the
United Food and Commercial Workers union decided to protest the
proposed contract.
The UFCW union’s decision impacted the Nolberto family
significantly. Nolberto’s wife recently quit her
McDonald’s job to raise toddler Nasario, so the
family’s income was already reduced before Nolberto even went
on strike. They currently rely on $240 a week to support their five
family members.
In addition, the Nolbertos spent sizeable portions of money from
their savings on their vacation in Colima. They relied on returning
to a stable weekly income, but now that Nolberto is on strike, the
family currently has little in the bank to support it.
Money is so tight that the Nolbertos purchase just enough food
to subsist. They buy only the groceries that are crucial, Nolberto
said.
Luckily, their children are mostly unaware of the current
situation. Only Jose, 6, notices a difference.
“They are sad,” Jose said about his parents.
“They didn’t give me a truck like last year.”
Not being able to provide anything except the bare necessities
makes Nolberto feel like an unworthy father, regardless of what his
family thinks, he said.
His wife feels emotionally down as well. She frequents a local
Roman Catholic church to pray and attend services because she feels
it will help.
“It is all I can do,” she said. “God will help
me.”
Nolberto and his wife have clung to each other even closer
lately. Being financially unstable has strengthened their marriage,
Nolberto said.
“We still love each other after 20 years,” Nolberto
said.
“No strike will destroy our family,” he said.