1 p.m. Monday, September 14, in Salinas
Coastal Berry workers demand action from ALRB against ‘sham’ election
A delegation of Coastal Berry Co. strawberry workers on Monday will ask Agricultural Labor Relations Board Regional Director Fred Capuyan when he will issue a complaint based on detailed evidence submitted nearly two months ago linking the July 1 violence and petition for a "sham" union election at the state’s largest berry ranch with anti-union company foremen and supervisors.
The UFW has asked the ALRB to throw out the July 23 election at Coastal Berry based, among other things, on a series of unfair labor practice charges it filed on behalf of workers in mid-July.
The evidence–including numerous declarations signed under penalty of perjury by Coastal Berry Co. workers–shows that top company foremen and supervisors urged an anti-union mob to use violence to disrupt harvesting at Coastal Berry on July 1. Several pro-UFW workers and peace officers were injured in the melee by anti-union workers. The same foremen and supervisors later admitted they ordered the attacks on pickers and law enforcement officers.
The evidence also documents that management personnel, with direction and help from key foremen and supervisors wielding the power to hire and fire, illegally collected the signatures on petitions to have a union election by threatening pickers if they didn’t sign.
Who: Coastal Berry Co. strawberry workers led by UFW Vice President Efrén Barajas.
What: Asking ALRB Regional Director Fred Capuyan when he will issue a complaint against foremen and supervisors responsible for violence and illegally collecting signatures for a union election.
When: 1 p.m., Monday, Sept. 14, 1998.
Where: ALRB office, 112 Boronda Rd., Salinas.
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