University of California

7/4/97 News Report -- Sacramento Bee 

United Farm Workers leaders and Democratic lawmakers on Thursday accused the Western Growers Association of "attempting to sabotage" a neutrality agreement between the union and the nation's largest direct employer of strawberry workers.

On Monday, the Western Growers Association filed charges with the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board in Salinas alleging that an illegal agreement was made between Monsanto Inc., its successor company Coastal Berry Co. and the United Farm Workers that will intimidate strawberry workers into forming a union.

UFW supporters challenged those charges at a press conference at the Capitol on Thursday.

"It is sad that the Western Growers Association is trying to stand in the way of this hopeful breakthrough," said Dolores Huerta, secretary-treasurer and co-founder of the UFW.

A panel of Democratic lawmakers including state Sen. Hilda Solis, chair of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee; Assemblyman Richard Floyd, Labor Committee chair; Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa; and two former members of the ALRB joined Huerta in urging the board to dismiss the charges.

They say the allegations are frivolous and could stand in the way of a peaceful attempt to let strawberry workers form unions in California's fields.

An ALRB representative in Salinas said the charges are being investigated but would not comment on their merits.

The Western Growers Association, one of the nation's biggest lobbying groups, claims that an illegal "back-room deal" was made between union and corporate leaders last month to ensure a pro-union vote at the company.

However, the UFW says the agreement simply allows the union to freely recruit workers without fear or intimidation. Union leaders say the agreement also ensures that the company will negotiate in good faith should workers choose to unionize.

Monsanto and its agricultural subsidiary Gargiulo Inc. recently sold their Watsonville-based company to Coastal Berry Inc., and the agreement was honored by the new owners.

At issue is specific language in a June 17 press release sent by the AFL-CIO and Monsanto. The first sentence of the press-release announced agreements for a "free and fair union representation election at Gargiulo's former berry operations in California."

Doug Kerr, vice president of the Western Growers Association, said the press release leads workers to believe that they have no choice in whether to have a union.

"The workers need to decide, not the union and not the company," said Kerr. "That the company and the union agree to when an election is held is a violation of the ALRB. Any reasonable worker would feel intimidated into believing that he should obviously support the union."

The UFW supporters says that's not true. They say the agreement represents a positive breakthrough in cooperation between growers and union workers. "This is the first time in many, many years where we've actually been able to organize a national campaign for the strawberry workers without having to do a boycott, without having to organize a strike," said Huerta. "If we can do this, it's going to be a new day in agriculture."

UFW supporters say the Western Growers Association is groping for a reason to stall UFW efforts to recruit workers -- especially since Coastal Berry represents approximately 15 percent of the $750 million industry.

The United Farm Workers are currently in the throes of their biggest campaign in years, attempting to organize the state's 20,000 non-union strawberry workers who earn about $8,500 a season. In April, thousands of workers and supporters marched through Watsonville to support the UFW and AFL-CIO campaign.