UNION ACTIVITY CONTINUES AMONG DAIRIES

Union organizational activity continued at a brisk pace among dairies and related operations in Tulare County this month. About a dozen notices of intent to take access or to organize have been filed, all of them by the United Food & Commercial Workers Union headquartered in San Jose.

One election was held at the Garcia Dairy last month, but ballots have been impounded while the ALRB tries to determine if employees involved in a separate calf-raising operation and others involved in hay and grain production for the dairy should be part of the voting unit.

An injunction sought by the ALRB's regional office in Visalia was denied. It sought re-instatement of a discharged employee by by-passing the usual unfair labor practice hearing. Following denial by the Superior Court the matter will now go to a hearing, and await decision by an ALRB administrative law judge.

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CARD-CHECK LEGISLATION SUBMITTED

As suspected for months, legislation has been submitted in Sacramento to allow agricultural workers to select a union by merely signing a card or petitions, rather than following the secret ballot election process. It proposes that 51 percent of any employee unit can make the determination.

The bill, SB 180, is sponsored by Carole Migden, a Democrat senator from San Francisco. Among the co-authors is Juan Arambula from Fresno. Migden hijacked another bill originally covering health and safety issues, gutted it and inserted the card-check provisions.

The card-check system has long been proposed by unions nationally as a more

favorable means than balloting to gain employee support. At the same time, employer groups have resisted it strongly because of its vulnerability to coercion, strong-arm tactics and abuse by union organizers. Signatures can be gained anywhere, anytime without supervision or oversight. Night-time home visits are a favorite tool of persuasion by union organizers.

SB 180 allows a petition derived from a majority sign-up to remain valid for 12 months. It provides that the validated petition will be presented to the ALRB at the same time it is filed with the employer, who can submit a response, although the duty to bargain begins immediately.

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EMPLOYEE INTIMIDATION CLAIMED

Arguments in favor of the bill are expected to claim that the secret ballot election process intimidates employees because it is held on employer property((not always the case, by the way), and often results in transportation of workers to the election site in employer-provided vehicles.

Arguments against the bill and the process will make the case that the 32-year-old election law in California has worked well, is fair to all parties and for many workers is an important introduction to the nation's election process.

Indications at this stage are that if the legislation should gain approval in the Senate and the Assembly and be sent to the governor that he will veto it. If he finds no other reason he is expected to veto it as a pledge of support for the election law, which would be seriously undermined by passage of such a bill.

Organized labor is pushing for changes in the National Labor Relations Act to establish the unfair card-check system and open the act to mandatory arbitration as well.

Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree fruit League, expressed his organization's opposition to such legislation during a February visit with some legislators and staff members in Washington, DC. He said adoption of such a change at the national level will set a negative precedent that can lead to undermining California's landmark farm labor law.

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HESS MANDATORY ARBITRATION CASE SETTLED

The mandatory arbitration case at the Hess Collection Winery in Napa, which lingered for nearly two years after the union representation election was held, has been settled amicably. A hearing by the ALRB to receive arguments from the union and employer sides has been cancelled.

The election at Hess was the first to be held after the law known as the Agricultural Labor Relations Act was amended in 2002 by the legislature to allow

mandatory, third-party arbitration of contract terms when union and employer representatives are unable to agree.

For most of the two-year delay the case was considered by agricultural leaders and organizations as the vessel to carry their position that the ALRB amendment is unconstitutional. But unfavorable court decisions on the challenge to the law and a refusal by the California Supreme Court to take the case dashed hopes for a sustained challenge.

In the meantime the employer determined to move toward agreement with the United Food & Commercial Workers union, winner of the election, and directed its legal counsel to follow that route. The ALRB, through General Counsel Michael Lee, displayed patience as the employer and union hammered out the agreement.

Dan Berkley, legal counsel for Hess, said the decision was delayed so long that it is almost time to begin scheduling negotiations for a new contract to take effect when the original three-year agreement expires.

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LM-2 REPORT REVEALS A TOP-HEAVY, PURPOSELESS UFW

Labor organizations in the U. S. with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more are required to file an annual accounting with the Department of Labor called the LM-2 report. The filing by the United Farmworkers union for 2006 has just become available.

The report makes it obvious that the UFW has an enormous administrative load in relation to its income and a staff that is probably riddled with nepotism. It is also clear that more than half of its $6.3 million income is derived from contributions and the sale of trinkets, and the amount listed as dues from union members is subject to question.

The union listed total receipts for the year of $6,373,269 and disbursements of $6,624,551, with $2,262,405 coming from dues and agency fees. The category "other receipts" accounted for nearly $4 million of the organization's income.

On the disbursement side the largest expenditure shown is the category of "representational activities,"($2,809,032), followed closely by the category of "general overhead"($2,554,971). Add $154,923 under the heading of "union administration" and the organization's top-heaviness is confirmed.

Another significant disbursement of $369,700 was listed in the category of "political activities and lobbying," with most other disbursements at an incidental level. The union was able to report $290,923 in the "benefits" category.

Beyond that the union appears to be trading dollars, paying generous salaries to staff members and purchasing substantial amounts of legal services, most of them from Bakersfield attorney Marcos Camacho, a former UFW employee.

A listing of all officers and employees is revealing. The nine listed as officers received $481,918, minus deductions, with the union's president, Arturo Rodriguez, leading the pack with a salary of just over $82,000. Second vice president Efren Barajas received slightly more than $73,000, and Treasurer Tanis Ybarra, Jr. was paid $71,850.

Other employees totaled 39, most of them full time, with about six at salary levels indicating part time employment. The full time salaries ranged between $20,000 and $60,000 annually, except for one regional director who received almost $92,000.

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SALARIES DRAW FROM WORKER PAY

For farm worker members of the union these salaries must seem especially fruitful, whether they are derived from union dues paid at 2 percent of the workers' salaries or from contributions and income from the sale of union-promoting novelties.

Income and disbursement for 2006 varied only slightly from the 2005 report. Union membership for 2006 was reported at 4,592, boosted somewhat when 874 retired members and 38 members in service to the union are added.

The UFW enjoyed substantial contributions from other unions, such as $100,000 from the Service Employees International Union, $35,000 from a New York group called Unite-Here, $28,000 from the UFWC,CLC in Washington, DC, $25,000 from the OPEIU, also in Washington, and $15,000 from the California Teachers Assn.

Two individual contributors were listed as giving significant amounts, one nearly $39,000, the other $21,000, and entertainer/actor Kris Kristofferson, $5,000.

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