C&H Sugar diverts raw sugar shipments amid labor dispute, prompting contamination concerns

More than a month into a labor dispute at the C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett, the fight is expanding beyond the picket line and into Richmond.

With Crockett warehouse workers on strike, C&H Sugar has diverted some raw sugar shipments arriving by ship to the Levin Terminal in Richmond for unloading and storage. Aerial video from the area shows piles of raw sugar stored at the terminal, with barriers placed around the material.

The move is drawing concern from workers at the Richmond terminal. Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, which represents longshore workers, declined to unload the sugar in solidarity with the striking Crockett employees.

Michael Villeggiante, Local 10 president, said the Richmond facility has never handled raw sugar before.

"They say we do bulk cargo. I asked, when have you ever done sugar here? Never. Never," Villeggiante said. "They need a way to make money and this is all about money."

Villeggiante says his concerns go beyond the terminal's lack of experience handling sugar shipments. He also questions the conditions at the facility and what materials are typically handled there.

"Coal, cement you name it! And they are using the same equipment," he added.

Labor groups have raised concerns about uncovered coal stored at the terminal and whether dust from the material could potentially contaminate the raw sugar.

Striking workers in Crockett say the Richmond operation is not comparable to the setup at their facility. Manny Loera, a belt foreman at the C&H plant, says the refinery was specifically designed to handle these shipments.

"It gets dumped here straight from the ship with a crane onto our conveyor belts, straight into our silos and straight to processing once we need it," Loera said.

C&H Sugar disputed the concerns, saying handling raw sugar at bulk terminals like Richmond's Levin Terminal is common practice around the world.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the company said:

"It is a common practice for raw sugar logistics globally to be handled via bulk ships and bulk terminals similar to how it is being handled at the Levin Terminal. In terms of quality, there is no difference in using this terminal or using the refinery's. Raw sugar is not food grade until it moves through a sugar refinery. Once it has been processed in our refinery, we assure the quality of our finished sugar."