University of California

7/14/97 Report -- Work in Progress, a publication of the AFL-CIO 

Update from the AFL-CIO
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STRAWBERRY ALERT --July 14, 1997

IN THE FIELDS OF WATSONVILLE.  Card by card, the union grows. Each day, the 1,500 workers at Coastal Berry, the largest direct employer of  strawberry pickers, move closer to having a union. Union committees are
getting bigger. Many workers who had fought the union (during years of anti-union rhetoric from foremen) now are holding open discussions, asking questions about what a union would mean. At the largest of Coastal Berry s two divisions, open support for the union varies from 60 percent to 90 percent. Progress is slower among the other, smaller division, where there will be an intensive focus in the coming week. The UFW will not petition for an election until an overwhelming majority of workers have signed cards.

NO ONE EVER ASKED BEFORE. Strawberry workers are filling out union surveys that ask about their concerns and hopes, as a first step indeveloping contract demands. The surveys are helping organizers and union activists open a broader discussion about what workers want and expect. The survey is the first attempt by anyone to ask these workers for their opinions even workers who had been opposed to the union eagerly fill out the surveys. Results will be tabulated and given to workers soon in flyers and newsletters. Workers also are filling out registration forms to determine eligibility for back pay under the $575,000 settlement of a class action suit alleging illegal off-the-clock work with Coastal's predecessor, Gargiulo.

CAMPAIGN PROFILE IS HIGH. Frequent Spanish-language radio advertisements in the Central Coast feature the voices of Coastal Berry workers talking about their hopes for and expectations of a union. "Think about your future and the future of your children," says a woman worker in one ad, following a lead-in that states: "Coastal Berry workers are building a new company, protecting jobs and improving lives." Upcoming ads will feature farm workers who already have union contracts.

COMMUNITY SPEAKS UP. Outside of Coastal Berry, community leaders are challenging Driscoll and its growers to stop their aggressive anti-union campaign. Hundreds of community leaders signed and paid for full-page ads in the Watsonville and Salinas newspapers, asking, "Why won't Driscoll follow the leader?"

EFFORT TO STOP PROGRESS INTENSIFIES. The Western Growers Association, a powerful lobbying group with a leading Driscoll grower on its board of directors filed a charge with the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board alleging illegal collusion between Coastal and the UFW. The basis for the allegation: a press release stated that a union election in line with California law was expected soon. Most view the charge as more evidence that powerful forces in agriculture will continue to fight workers and try to stop an election, even with frivolous allegations. The  allegations are ironic, as well the WGA has spent years fighting workers and their unions, and now claims that neutrality by an employer violates workers rights.