FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – Organized labor claimed a victory in a decades-long fight with one of the nation’s largest fruit growers when a judge ruled that the company interfered with its employees’ vote on whether to reject union representation.
A decision issued late Thursday sets aside an election held nearly two years ago by workers at Gerawan Farming Inc., which hires thousands of people annually to harvest nectarines, peaches and grapes in California’s Central Valley. It says Gerawan used unfair labor practices in its support of a key worker who organized the campaign against the United Farm Workers.
The farmworkers’ votes remain locked up and uncounted amid the dispute.
The decision says a Gerawan employee, Silvia Lopez, unlawfully asked for and received $20,000 from a fruit growers association affiliated with Gerawan to fund the anti-union fight. It says that on one day, Lopez physically blocked workers from the farm to collect roughly 1,000 signatures calling for a vote to reject the UFW, and Gerawan unfairly granted Lopez time off work to lead the effort.
Gerawan also made a “well-timed” wage increase to win the favor of workers, Administrative Law Judge Mark Soble said, citing evidence he considered to dismiss the petition that sought the vote.