Just shy of five years after they voted on union representation, Fresno, Calif.-based Gerawan Farming employees have had their votes officially certified by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which blocked the count.
The votes, counted on Sept. 18, were certified Sept. 27. The official tally stands at 197 for the United Farm Workers, 1,098 for no union, and 678 were voided or challenged but unresolved ballots.
“I cannot believe what just happened today,” Gerawan employee Silvia Lopez, who in October 2013 filed the initial petition to decertify the United Farm Workers of America as the only bargaining representative for Gerawan workers, said in a news release. “The ALRB certified our votes and results. I am speechless and beyond excited and happy because justice was finally done.”
California Fresh Fruit Association President George Radanovich released a statement welcoming the decision.
“The steadfast determination of the employees, and their employer, in the defense of their right to choose and have their voices count led to this correct and fair outcome, favoring worker choice over the unjust desire to undermine and disregard the will of the farmworker electorate,” Radanovich said in the release. “Today, the ALRB made the correct decision to decertify the UFW and respect the employee’s decision.”
Jesse Rojas, spokesman for Pick Justice, a workers rights group that supported the count, called the decision a “historic and huge victory for the Gerawan farmworkers.”
“Pick Justice is just getting started and will continue to advocate for what is right,” Rojas said in a news release.
“We hope this serves as a signal to lawmakers and bureaucratic agencies to work to put protection of free choice and due process at the forefront of future legislative and rule-making efforts,” Radanovich said in the release.
