Laws: October, 2003 - Number #07

Contracts. The UFW in summer 2003 reportedly renegotiated contracts covering 1,200 citrus workers in eastern Riverside county with Desert Citrus Properties (Ventura Coastal) and with Sun Desert (Sun World). The UFW lost an election at Garroutte Farms, a Watsonville strawberry operation, on a 242-123 vote July 15, 2003, and at Kovacevich "5" Farms August 20, 2003 on a 160-95 vote. Teamsters Local 386 won an election at Bob Borba Livestock on a 3-1 vote on August 8, 2003. The UFW has eight contracts covering 1,100 workers in Napa and Sonoma counties. The 300 workers at Gallo Sonoma voted to decertify the UFW in 2003, arguing that the UFW did not do enough to raise their wages; Gallo workers voted 80-21 for the UFW in 1994. The UFW charged unlawful interference by Gallo, and the ballots were impounded and will not be counted until these charges are resolved. In July 2003, before a first contract was negotiated, workers at the 190-employee Sonoma-Cutrer winery, owned by Brown-Foreman (Fetzer, Jack Daniels), voted 77-31 to decertify the UFW; Sonoma-Cutrer workers voted 62-37 for UFW representation in 2002. The UFW alleged that Sonoma-Cutrer unlawfully interfered, while dissatisfied workers said that the UFW proposed no wage increase in the first year, and a one percent wage increase in each of the next two years. The UFW signed a one-year contract with Anderson Vineyards in Mendocino County in December 1999 that raised wages by two percent to $6.35 an hour. Anderson workers voted for the UFW in September 1998, and voted to decertify the UFW in 2000. The UFW won elections in 2002 at Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, Kunde Russian River Valley vineyards and Redwood Empire Sawmills. The UFW's two-year contract with Guy Chaddock & Co expired on August 13, 2003. Over 100 of the 200 Chaddock workers signed a petition requesting a decertification election, complaining that under the contract, their medical insurance payments have doubled. Daniel Romero, UFW contract administrator, said "this is the first time we represent workers who do not work in agriculture, but we have over 40 years of experience dealing with labor rights issues" and can resolve the issue. The UFW filed a suit in August 2003, charging that Guy Chaddock did not give some workers their full 30-minute lunch break, and several charges that the company committed ULPs. The UFW reported that it won 428 elections on California farms between 1975 and 2001, and negotiated 185 contracts. In 2003, the UFW has 4,000 to 5,000 participants in its RFK health insurance plan, established in 1968, and over 10,000 members of its JDLC defined benefit pension plan, established in 1973, which was making monthly payments to 2,500 retirees or survivors- only 100 of these checks are sent to Mexico. Workers have their pension benefits vested after five years of work under union contracts of at least 500 hours a year, and are eligible for reduced benefits at age 55, and normal benefits at 65. Employers contribute an average $0.18, and a median $0.12 an hour to the JDLC; the range is $0.15 to $1 an hour. RFK health insurance plans cover workers and their families, most have premiums that are 100 percent paid by employers; all limit maximum payments to $70,000. The RFK plans have three components: medical, with employer contributions of $1.08 to $1.75 an hour, dental, $0.23 to $0.37 an hour, and vision, $0.11 to $0.16 an hour--employers contribute an average $1.65 and a median $1.59 an hour. Workers earn a month of RFK benefits if they work at least 80 hours under the contract in the preceding month. RFK administrators report that the three major expenses are pregnancy, diabetes and hypertension. Politics. The UFW jumped into the recall campaign with a "Recall no, Bustamante si" endorsement, and Bustamante promised to "fight for farm workers so they are treated with the respect, dignity and justice they deserve." The UFW organized seven marches around the state in support of a change in state law to allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue licenses without requiring Social Security numbers indicating that the applicant was legally in the US; it was signed into law. Dolores Huerta was appointed to a six-month term on the 26-member UC Board of Regents, ending in March 2004, to clear the way for a major Democratic party contributor, Norman J. Pattiz, to a 12-year term. At the University of Arizona, some students protested a decision to name the Economics building for Yuma-born Cesar E. Chavez in October 2003. Students in favor of naming the building for Chavez said "he is symbolic of a time when they [Hispanics] began to assert themselves and fight the prejudice they were subjected to." Wages. The union wage premium in agriculture is among the highest. The 2002 US Statistical Abstract reported that five percent of the 1.9 million employed wage and salary workers in farming, forestry and fishing were represented by unions, and they earned $585 a week, compared to $385 a week for all workers, suggesting a union wage premium of $200 a week or 52 percent. For the 17 million nonfarm operators and laborers, 20 percent were in unions, and they earned an average $620 a week, compared to $470 for all workers, suggesting a union wage premium of $150 a week or 32 percent. (http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/02statab/labor.pdf)