A 20-year old battle between a fruit company and the UFW may end soon
Farm workers at the giant fruit company Gerawan Farming, Inc, based in Californias Central Valley, considered the breadbasket of the country, voted twice about union…
Workers from the Gerawan company show their opposition to the UFW during a rally on Oct 1, 2014, in Fresno. (Credit: Office of Assemblyman Jim Patterson )
Farm workers at the giant fruit company Gerawan Farming, Inc, based in Californias Central Valley, considered the breadbasket of the country, voted twice about union representation in a 20-year period of time.
The first time, the United Farm Workers, the union co-founded by legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, won. The second time, on November 2013, apparently workers voted to decertify the UFW representation, but nobody knows for sure because ballots were not counted yet due to a legal battle between Gerawan and the UFW.
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When farm workers won union representation in 1992 no contract was signed between the UFW and the company which currently employes around 5,000 workers, mostly seasonal, harvesting nectarines, peaches and plums, and marketing them as Prima products.
Traditionally, agriculture corporations could block unionizing attempts using the court system. This could go on for years and, if a new election were called, then most likely pro-union workers would be gone, changing the elections results.
But in 2002, a new law passed requiring mediation in case both parts dont agree on a labor contract.
So in 2012, the UFW came back to Gerawan asking to discuss a contract. After several meetings last year, no agreement was reached, so UFW invoked its right to a mediator. Gerawan appealed.
By the end of the year, some Gerawan workers, lead by Silvia Lopez, called for elections aiming to kick out the union altogether. On November 5, 2013, workers voted but the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ARLB) has refused to count the ballots until it resolves numerous complaints of unfair labor practices against Gerawan.
Undated photo of farmworkers at Gerawan company showing support to the UFW. (Credit: Courtesy of the UFW Suggested caption)
Hearings started Monday, September 29, 2014, and could last weeks or even months since a dozen attorneys are involved and around 100 witnesses could be called.
The judge will determine if the unfair labor charges which include worker intimidation and forging signatures are true and whether the petition to decertify the UFW will be tossed out. If not, the ballots will be counted and the election results announced.
Ive been working at Gerawan for 15 years, we dont want to be represented by the UFW, said Silvia Lopez, a resident of Madera. I am not against unions, but I refuse to pay dues and not getting heard.
Lopez is part of a lawsuit against the California government because she considers her civil rights have been violated because the ARLB didnt count the ballots from the November 2013 elections. Back in 1992, the UFW won the elections, but those who voted then are not working here anymore, she said.
Nevertheless, Severiano Salas has a different opinion.
Mrs. Lopez isnt a Gerawan employee In the last year she didnt work there, and last year she didnt work more than six months, said Salas, who claimed he was fired from Gerawan for being pro-union. Mrs. Lopez was hired to misinform employees Many people are afraid to express their opinion in behalf of the union.
With the hearing in full swing, a group of conservative elected officials and companys supporters organized a rally on Wednesday, October 1, to call on Governor Brown to instruct the ALRB to count the votes of the Gerawan workers, according to a statement released by Assemblyman Jim Patterson, of Fresno. According to media reports, about 200 workers attended the rally.
A few hundreds miles away, city council members of Berkeley, house of the famous university, passed unanimously a resolution asking Gerawan to implement a union contract issued by a neutral mediator and approved by the state last year, as stated by a UFW news release dated on October 1. The same document expressed the companys attorney suggested suing Berkeley in case such resolution passes.
The question is, will the judges decision end the conflict? Or will it trigger new lawsuits and new confrontations? How a negative ruling could affect the UFW?And, in case the ruling affects negatively Gerawan, will the company agree on negotiating a new contract?
The issue became politically polarized.
If we become unionized, we are going to lose our jobs, thats the law said Lopez, referring to those who oppose the UFW.
Thats completely wrong, a union cant fire anybody Thats a companys decision!, said Salas.
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