GALLO SONOMA WORKERS DUMP THE UFW

In a highly significant election last month the workers at Gallo Sonoma decertified the United Farmworkers union. The vote count was 125 for terminating the contract, while 95 voted to retain it. Twelve ballots were challenged; not enough to affect the outcome.

Objections have been raised by the UFW, and it has notified the ALRB of its intent to appeal the decision. Those close to the process consider the points in the proposed appeal as weak, and not likely to prevail.

The outcome is expected to have a significant impact on workers at other vineyards in the entire Napa-Sonoma-Mendocino wine grape area. It leaves the UFW with only two or three small contracts among employers in that area.

The decision a month earlier by the Hess Collection Winery in Napa to settle a contract negotiation amicably with the United Food and Commercial Workers union also is likely to discourage workers from alignment with the combative UFW in future organizing attempts.

The election at Gallo terminated a seven-year-long arrangement. The workers chose the UFW as their bargaining representative in a 1999 election. But it took six years to negotiate a contract.

Before the contract's first renewal in 2003 the Gallo workers held a decertification election. The UFW charged that supervisory employees exerted undue influence on the workers, and the votes were never counted.

Earlier this year the company and the union agreed to a contract extension through 2011, cut short by the valid decertification election last month.

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CARD CHECK APPROVAL BY LEGISLATURE EXPECTED

The bill in the state legislature to establish a "card check" system for agricultural workers to give their assent to union representation seemed to be on its way to approval in the Assembly late last week after earlier endorsement by the Senate, where it originated.

The bill, SB 180, has enjoyed strong support by Democrats in both houses and by all aspects of organized labor, which exercises powerful lobbying forces in the state Capitol. Even so, the bill's progress was sidetracked for a few days by the Independence Day holiday.

Agricultural and business interests pinned their hopes on a no-nonsense presentation of the bill's overwhelming flaws to members of the governor's staff, asking that he veto the measure when it reaches his desk. He has 12 days to veto or approve the measure after it is sent to him.

Proponents of the bill made changes in the measure in the late stages, supposedly to insert language to prevent strong-arm intimidation of workers by union organizers wanting them to sign petitions approving union representation.

As agricultural employers and their representatives have stated repeatedly, minor language changes don't correct the basic negative thrust of the measure. Its effect will be a complete undermining and destruction of the secret ballot election process in place for the past 32 years for farm workers to express their approval or disapproval of a union seeking to represent them.

Last month a measure in Congress to make similar changes in the National Labor Relations Act was soundly defeated. When the ALRA was passed in California in 1975 its similarity to the NLRA was emphasized. Allowing a "card check" system to be established in California moves the state's landmark law further from the national mainstream

Except for one or two Democrat legislators who represent predominantly agricultural districts the bill has received unanimous support from both senators and assemblymen in that party. Opposition by Republican legislators has been practically as steadfast.

If the governor vetoes the measure its opponents are hoping for a strong message of rejection from him, as opposed to a conciliatory note that might encourage proponents to launch a new campaign behind a slightly revised measure.

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ACCESS PETITIONS ABOUND

In its annual display of enthusiasm(or frustration) the United Farmworkers union filed 19 notices of intent to take access(NA) in Kern County during the last week of June and the first week of July. The United Food and Commercial Workers union filed one.

Table grape growers in the Arvin and Delano areas received nearly all of the NAs filed by the UFW, while the UFCW petition was filed on a dairy.

Although growers reported seeing a number of new, young faces in the company of UFW personnel the public docket log maintained by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board's regional office in Visalia indicated that only two representatives were responsible for the 19 petitions filed.

Traditionally it has been the UFW's practice to file a large number of NAs to coincide with the beginning of the table grape harvest, first in Arvin and later in Delano. The union consistently has fattened its ranks with interns on summer vacation from college.

It has been the union's choice to not follow up with the NA filings, turning only a tiny number of them into notices of intent to organize(NO). Also it has become the reaction of workers to largely ignore the filings, which provide union organizers opportunities to speak to them at their work locations during strictly limited time periods(before and after work and at lunchtime).

However, this year it appeared that some of the new faces were sent by other AFL-CIO unions as a training exercise. They were active in distributing leaflets by the thousands, hoping to persuade workers to attend a rally in Lamont June 26. Whatever the leaflets promised wasn't enough as observers reported the rally fizzled. Another rally was planned for early July at the UFW's Forty Acres compound in Delano

HESS BEGINS NEW CONTRACT NEGOTIATION

Negotiations began last week between the Hess Collection Winery in Napa and the United Food and Commercial Workers union, a somewhat historic event because the year-long contract between the two was the first imposed by the ALRB after the agency's empowering act was amended to provide binding arbitration. The contract specified by the arbitrator expired June 30

The two parties will examine all contract issues, addressing what the employer identifies as flaws in the previous agreement. One goal will be to clarify worker classifications, seeking flexibility in work assignments more in line with the day-to-day requirements of the winery.

Negotiations are taking place in Napa, but not on winery property. A new management team at Hess has been described as more conciliatory and reasonable than previous personnel which expressed a strong resistance to the binding arbitration rule on constitutional grounds.

The constitutional issue is still a major concern for California agricultural employers, but testing it through the courts will require a firmly committed employer, backing by other employers and their organizations and deep pockets.

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PLOT THICKENS FOR WASCO ROSE GROWER

Complications continue following the sale of Wasco rose grower and catalog sales giant Jackson-Perkins, both for the new owners and the United Farmworkers, which represents about 800 workers there.

The catalog sales company that purchased the rose-growing portion of Jackson-Perkins is negotiating a deal with Western Horticultural of Bakersfield, the company that bought the land and buildings in Wasco. The objective is one more two-year growing cycle for the rose crop, but a reduced volume.

Western Horticultural has indicated it wants to utilize the acreage it purchased for almond planting and maintenance. Indications are that some acreage can be set aside for a smaller-than-usual rose crop as almond planting gets underway. Of course, a smaller planting and volume means fewer workers. From the union's standpoint that can be translated in one way only - reduced income from dues.

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