The United Farmworkers Union won an election held July 11 at a Firebaugh vegetable farm the Agricultural Labor Relations Board confirms. In the vote at Gargiulo Inc, the UFW won vs no union by 186 – 40 out of 228 votes.Two ballots were contested.
The victory by the farmworkers union is the second in recent weeks with the vote at a Chular vegetable farm,George Amaral Ranches won by the union 265-65 June 21. The ALRB has yet to certify the results which can take a few weeks.
Lawyers for Amaral claim a union strike by the UFW is a violation of the law after the union demanded a contract after the vote count.
The UFW got it first major contract in the tomatoes a few weeks ago at
Tracy-based Pacific Triple E Farms,one of the largest fresh tomato grower the employes around 800 workers.
Also in recent weeks Salinas Valley grower D’Arrigo Bros. was ordered by a judge to “cease and desist” from assisting or encouraging any decertification campaign against the United Farm Workers union, The union and grower have been at odds over a contract for decades.
The union founded by Cesar Chavez has had a bust summer so farm after years of not much activity.Some believe a change in the state law that make it easier to prove bad faith in farm elections as well as a labor shortage in the fields may be making a difference this year.
“The labor supply is very tight right now,” said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau. Growers of commodity crops being harvested now are “scrambling to keep crews in place,” he said according to a local newspaper.