Farm Union Election Voided

SACRAMENTO (AP) – State farm labor officials have set aside a hotly contested union election at one of the region's largest strawberry farms, saying scores of workers hadn't been given proper notice that the election was being held.

The ruling released Thursday by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board upheld a decision last November by an administrative law judge, who tossed out a union election won by the Coastal Berry Farmworkers Committee.

The election, held last July, followed a fierce organizing dispute between the committee and the United Farm Workers over which union should represent the 1,500 workers at Coastal Berry, which has fields in Watsonville.

After the election, the Coastal Berry Farmworkers Committee claimed victory. But UFW officials called the election a sham, saying the committee coerced workers by threatening them with the loss of their jobs. Company officials also complained about the committee's tactics.

The ALRB, ruling on the narrow issue of notification, said 162 Coastal Berry workers at a farm in Oxnard had not been given sufficient notice of the union election.