Posts tagged Farm Workers
California’s richest agricultural family is shuttering a farm the UFW sought to unionize
August 14, 2025 // The nursery has been operating at a significant loss for several years, Oster said, but he did not say for exactly how long or just how much it has lost. It was not immediately clear whether UC Daviswould recognize the farmworkers union once it takes control of the nursery. In a statement, UC Davis spokesperson Bill Kisliuk said the university is grateful for the gift, which includes the Wasco facility combined with a $5-million startup donation.
“They Actually Had a List”: ICE Arrests Workers Involved in Landmark Labor Rights Case
May 7, 2025 // The raid did not appear to be a broad sweep but rather a targeted enforcement aimed at specific people, according to sources who have been in contact with the families and spoke to The Intercept on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive legal situation. “At first we thought they were enforcing a deportation order, that they had one person that they’re looking for and then everyone else got dragged in — that’s kind of standard,” said one of the people with knowledge of the raid. “But this was strange because they actually had a list of most of the workers on the bus.”
New York Farmworkers Defend Effort to Vote UFW Union Out of Power in Case at NY State Labor Relations Board
October 8, 2024 // Bell’s brief notably attacks UFW union lawyers’ theory that once a union is certified as the monopoly union “representative” of all employees in a work unit, there can be no option at all to remove an unwanted union. “[New York labor law] does not indicate that employees have a single chance at self-organization, and once they make a choice, they are no longer permitted to make any other choice regarding self-organization,” the brief says. “If that were the case, the very action of choosing a representative under Section 703 would deprive employees of the ability to exercise Section 703 in perpetuity….”
Op-ed: Controversy trails labor union wins under card check
May 20, 2024 // During the meetings, according to the reports, organizers also helped workers apply through an online portal for one-time pandemic-relief payments of $600 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA awarded grants to 14 nonprofit organizations, including the UFW Foundation, to disperse the funds to eligible workers. In February, UFW submitted cards to the ALRB signed by 327 of Wonderful Nurseries’ 640 employees. Within days, the company contested the union petition, saying UFW had defrauded its workers. The nursery handed over sworn declarations from 148 employees who said they were tricked into signing the cards and wanted to revoke them. In one declaration, a nursery employee described a meeting at a co-worker’s house organized by UFW Vice President Erika Navarrete. “She had me sign a white card with an eagle and told me to sign a piece of paper. She told me this was part of the process to apply for the $600, but she never explained to me or the others that this was part of the union,” the worker said. “They lied to us.”
Biden Lets Labor Unions Invade U.S. Farmland
May 13, 2024 // The United Farm Workers, the flagship labor union that purports to represent migrant workers, has a reputation for intimidating and deceiving people who aren’t interested in joining. Farmhands have recently accused UFW activists of fooling them into signing union cards by insinuating that they were necessary for receiving Covid-19 relief payments. Many H-2A workers also report feeling tricked by the UFW into believing that their card-check meetings were part of the immigration process.
Farming giant claims UFW lied to farmworkers to unionize under new law
April 9, 2024 // An apparently successful card check campaign to unionize Wonderful Nurseries faces allegations of a scheme involving $600 federal relief funds.
NEW YORK: Lawsuit Calls For Changes In Farm Labor Act
April 1, 2024 // Viau said that there was some progress under the Farm Labor Fair Labor Practices Act. Before, farmers were not allowed to discuss unions at all with their employees, which they now can do. Additionally, Viau said there were some pros and cons to the hearing, specifically that the judge did not give an injunction but agreed that farmworkers deserved these basic rights. Viau said that they will try to convince the legislature through additional steps to continue to try and advocate for these protections. Brian Reeves, president of the NYS Vegetable Growers Association who was also a plaintiff at the hearing, said that nationally unions are not required on farms, but with the cards that farmworkers can sign, if the majority of workers sign the cards and the NY Public Employee Relations Board rules that there is no problem a union will be formed. If workers decide later that they do not want to be in a union anymore, there’s currently nothing they can do.
What’s Working: Why unionizing in Colorado, a modified-right-to-work state, sees limited success
March 13, 2024 // The Peace Act rules require three-quarters of eligible workers to participate in a second vote, if they already successfully voted in an NLRB election. Without it, the union has less bite since it doesn’t represent all eligible workers and cannot collect dues from those who don’t join. The NLRB’s vote needs just a simple majority. “This is where it gets kooky,” said Alejo R. González, political and community coordinator at Service Employees International Union Local 105 in Denver. “So you could literally win the vote 55 to zero and still lose because you didn’t get 75% of the people to vote. That 75% turnout is insane. It’s hard to get that many people to vote. … And a lot of companies won’t start bargaining until that happens.”
Massive California fruit grower is bankrupt. Here’s how many jobs will be lost
January 29, 2024 // The letter also served as notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act, which under federal and state law requires companies to provide at least 60 days advance notice of mass layoffs. A company document of regular full time positions shows there are 5,411 employees. Of those, 3,743 are seasonal employees. Dan Gerawan, the former CEO of Gerawan Farming and Prima Wawona, spoke briefly about the upcoming sale of the farm’s property. Gerawan, the third generation owner of Gerawan Farming, has a pending lawsuit against Paine Schwartz Partners. Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article284696191.html#storylink=cpy
UFW just got big union wins at New York farms. Is the same coming for California?
July 19, 2023 // Like many unions, UFW has struggled to organize over the last few decades, its membership dwindling from 60,000 to around 6,000. Even with legal protection, farmworker organizing is often slow, painstaking work. Many prospective union members are reluctant to give up 3% of their already low wages for dues, and worry that their immigration status leaves them vulnerable to employer retaliation.