BY ELLEN SMITH
WATSONVILLE, California -About 750 farm workers walked off
the job here July 24. Workers blocked gates and prevented
trucks from picking up loads of strawberries for delivery at
several of Coastal Berry's largest ranches.
The one-day walkout was organized to protest the results of what the United Farm Workers (UFW) is calling a sham election, in which the "Coastal Berry Workers Committee," won the right to represent workers by a vote of 523-410.
The "Coastal Berry Workers Committee" is an antiunion outfit, backed by the growers, whose primary purpose is to prevent the United Farm Workers from organizing the workers at Coastal Berry.
By July 27 most of the workers were back in the fields. However, several farm workers at the UFW union hall early that morning told Militant reporters that some UFW supporters hadn't been allowed by the bosses to return to work.
One young strawberry picker, who asked that his name not be used, said the reason the phony "union" won was because so many workers were intimidated by the bosses, and that the employers were using the election as a way to divide the workers. "We will win!" he insisted.
According to UFW president Arturo Rodriguez, "It was the workers that initiated the strike, and they're the ones that are angry and upset.... The workers came to us and said, `That's it. We've had enough.'"
Coastal Berry is the central coast's largest strawberry grower, producing 15 percent of the strawberries consumed nationally. About 1,500 of the state's 20,000 strawberry workers are employed by this company during the peak season, making this grower a major target of the UFW's organizing drive in the fields.
The UFW declined to be on the ballot, calling the election a sham. Several hundred farm workers and supporters demonstrated outside the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) in Salinas July 22 to protest the holding of the election.
Strawberry workers testified to the intimidation and violence used against them to convince them to sign the petition. "This election is based on violence, intimidation, and lies," said Rosalinda Guillén during the rally.
After the ALRB decided that the election could take place, the protests resumed the next day during the counting of the ballots.
The union is challenging the election, charging that an atmosphere of violence and intimidation initiated by the company made a free and fair election impossible. About 150 supporters of the pro-company outfit attacked pro-union workers in the fields July 1. Several workers were injured.
According to union officials, company representatives threatened to fire workers who didn't sign election petitions. The UFW is also filing charges with the ALRB over irregularities in the voting process. UFW organizer Alma Hernández said that the ALRB "is giving more legitimacy to the sham union than they have to the years-long struggle of the UFW."
If the ALRB certifies the election, the UFW will challenge the certification by alleging that the "Coastal Berry Workers Committee" is not a union.
The Committee has put forward no proposals other than a desire to keep out the UFW.
As José Fernández, one of the organizers of this committee, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I guess we could ask for more money or bonuses or something."
If the election stands and a contract is negotiated between the grower and this company union, the UFW would be prevented from representing the workforce for at least one year or the duration of the terms of the contract.