SUMMER CAMPAIGN DISPLAYS UNION'S OBSOLETE ARMS

The annual summer war games of the United Farmworkers union netted a dozen or more notices of intent to organize filed among Kern County table grape growers in August and September. Each filing requires that the union present signatures of at least 10 percent of the workers of each employer named.

When the filing occurs the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, in this case the regional office in Visalia, acquires the complete payroll list from the employer named. If 10 percent of the names match those on the union's petition the path toward a secret ballot election continues

HALF THE WORKFORCE REQUIRED

The next step is presentation of the payroll list to the union, to allow it to make further contact with workers and seek additional signatures on a petition calling for an election. If at least 50 percent of the employees listed sign the election petition a date is set for balloting, usually within seven days.

By September 11 none of the filings had progressed to the level of an election, and the grower community seemed relatively confident that none of them would.

So what is the union's purpose in filing the notices of intent to organize if a strong showing for union membership is not apparent among employees? One, the process serves as a training ground for interns and summer workers who enlist for union duty.

Second is the publicity value and the public perception of progress toward a collective bargaining milestone. And third, of course, is the terror that such filings are intended to convey. Because the United Farmworkers has been so closely identified with the economic terror of boycotting, and because that instrument has been the platform for its most notable gains the organization can't seem to(or doesn't want to) abandon terrorism. Being identified as a terrorist organization doesn't seem to disturb union policy makers in the least.

The military style of the recruitment and training exercise by the union was emphasized last summer when several retired and former union personalities spent a

week or two roughing it in pup tents in the battalion staging ground at Forty Acres, the union's compound near Delano. Apparently some of the troops were bivouacked there this summer as well.

While the terrorism mindset of the union probably appeals to many of its supporters (Remember that contributions far exceed dues as part of its operating budget.) the military mimicry doesn't seem to be compatible with the liberals, leftists. peaceniks and assorted anarchists who are asked to cough up support for the union's forays against mutual trust and straightforward employee relations.

The dichotomy might help explain why the United Farmworkers union often(increasingly)seems to be marking time more than winning any battles.

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BILL TO BLITZKRIEG SECRET ELECTIONS GETS NEW IDENTITY

The measure in the State Legislature to undermine the secret ballot election process for farm workers and substitute a corruption-susceptible card check system has been given a new identity. It originated as SB 180 submitted by San Francisco Senator Carole Migden, but now is identified as SB 650 by Democrat Senator Alex Padilla from the San Fernando Valley.

Friends of the United Farmworkers accomplished the face-lift by hijacking and making 14 pages of amendments in a Padilla transportation bill, literally gutting it and substituting language originally written for the Migden bill. The only significant change is inclusion of a five-year sunset provision, which does nothing to improve the measure.

Apparently the furious effort to place the provisions of the bill before the governor were the result of signals by the governor's office that he had no intention of signing the Migden bill, which would have put the $34 billion agricultural industry in California in jeopardy. The new Padilla bill has the same potential. It probably will be on the governor's desk next week, and he has 30 days to sign or veto it.

With the State Legislature scheduled for adjournment this week the last-minute push by union advocates probably was calculated to create confusion, and muddy the waters, but pulling the wool over the governor's eyes is a challenging assignment, even for those who make their livings at it. Even though the governor called for a two-week special session, only specific issues can be considered. Health care is specified, and perhaps water will be.

Another last-minute legislative shenanigan was being pulled in the legislature's final week by Fresno Assemblyman Juan Arambula. Earlier he authored a bill requiring farm labor contractors to list on their workers' paychecks the name of any farm employers they worked for.

Arambula revised his bill to say it does not impose any new liability on employers. However, the new language creates an even greater paper blizzard than his

original text. By the way, Arambula signed on as a co-author of the original SB 180 card check proposal, and probably will claim similar status on the new SB 650.

It is amazing that the state's(and nation's) number one agricultural county is represented by a legislator who supports one measure after another that aims to make life difficult for farmers. Financial support from union sources has an amazing effect on legislative integrity.

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RULING REVISES "NO-MATCH" PROCEDURE; FRUSTRATES SSA

Just as employers, especially farmers in California, were bracing for the threatening letters expected to originate with the Social Security Administration(SSA) telling them to fire workers whose social security numbers did not match those in the agency's master file, a federal judge put the brakes on.

San Francisco Judge Maxine Chesney ruled that employer involvement in a matter between an employee and the Social Security Administration amounts to a breach of privacy and cannot be condoned.

The SSA announced its plan to notify employers about firing mis-match employees in early August. The judge's ruling came later in the same month. By early September the SSA predicted a bureaucratic logjam if the agency is not allowed to mail the 141,000 letters it has prepared.

LETTER DELAY ALARMS SSA

Lawyers representing the SSA and the federal government said any delay in the mailing or any requirement that the mailing be revised would cause significant harm to the agency and "interfere with its ability to carry out its core functions."

The Department of Homeland Security(DHS) was a party to the action against those with mis-match status by insisting that they be fired within 90 days after employers receive the letter of notification.

The latest aspect of the dispute apparently is the result of a lawsuit filed last week by the AFL-CIO, several California labor groups and the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) asserting that the new rules mean that employers must fire thousands of legal workers, including American citizens and it discriminates against Latino employees.

Apparently Judge Chesney's ruling does not prevent the SSA from mailing the letters as long as reference to the DHS rules is not included. SSA personnel say revising the letters requires 30 days, and delaying the action past September will cause a backlog spreading into the first half of 2008. The reason for that was not explained.

Part of the basis for the lawsuit by the unions, labor groups and the ACLU was a statement in a report last December by SSA's inspector general saying that 17.8 million of the agency's 435 million names contained errors that might result in a discrepancy report about a legal worker.

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JACKSON-PERKINS WORKERS CONTINUE UNDER CONTRACT

About 665 field workers at the former Jackson-Perkins rose growing operation in Wasco are continuing to perform cultural practices for the roses under a contract between the United Farmworkers union and the new owner of the rose production company.

Last month the UFW issued a news release taking credit for negotiating a $1.6 million settlement with the new production company to compensate employees to be laid off. Apparently it was nothing more than a publicity stunt because the full complement of field workers remains employed. Only some administrative jobs have been vacated, and they were not covered by the union contract.

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MIS-MATCH SEMINARS UNDERWAY

A series of seminars began last month to help employers understand their responsibilities and options in regard to employees whose social security numbers don't match those on record at the Social Security Administration. Attorneys from two law firms experienced in agricultural labor relations are conducting the meetings in several locations.

The seminars feature presentations by the law firm of Saqui and Raimondo and the law firm of Barsamian and Moody. The meetings by Saqui and Raimondo continue next week with a seminar in the Napa-Sonoma area September 19, concluding with one in Palm Desert September 26. The firm held earlier meetings in San Diego, Fresno, Oxnard, Salinas, Santa Maria and Tulare.

Barsamian and Moody has teamed with major employer organizations and the Agricultural Personnel Management Association for seminars scheduled October 2, 4 and 5. The October 2 meeting will be held at the Stanislaus Co. Ag Center in Modesto from 10 a.m. to noon. The October 4 meeting is scheduled for the Kings County Ag Building in Hanford from 9 to 11 a.m. The meeting on October 5 will be held at the Fresno County Farm Bureau in Fresno from 10 a.m. to noon. They are being presented without charge to those who attend.

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