UFW May Get Second Chance at Vineyard Labor Vote

The results of a September 2005 election in which workers at Giumarra Vineyards narrowly voted against joining the United Farm Workers should be thrown out, a hearing examiner for the state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board has recommended.

The election had been seen as a defeat for the UFW in its organizing efforts at Giumarra, one of the country’s largest table grape growers, with vineyards extending over many miles of the Central Valley. In the election, workers voted 1,266 to 1,141 against having the union, with 123 additional ballots in dispute.

The hearing examiner, James Wolpman, found evidence that crew foremen led some workers to believe that they could lose their jobs if they voted for the union, according to an Aug. 7 report that indicated between 186 and 199 voters were exposed to this misconduct. Wolpman recommended then that the disputed ballots be counted to gauge whether the number of votes subject to misconduct was enough to have affected the election’s outcome.

But after receiving an administrative order from the labor relations board, Wolpman said that votes exposed to misconduct should be taken from the tally of “no union” votes and added to the count of those who favored the union. Wolpman said because that math would reverse the election’s outcome, he would recommend a new election. The board is not expected to act on the suggestion for several weeks, and a final decision may not be handed down until next year.

“We don’t agree with it,” said Joseph Herman, a lawyer for Giumarra. He said the examiner had rejected 32 of 37 separate claims by the union of “objectionable acts by the company.”