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Jorge Aguirre
I have been working for Gerawan Farming for 17 years. In all this time, I have experienced psychological pressure like getting tickets for not meeting production goals. They would push us for production and whoever didn’t comply would get a warning and a ticket and sometimes no warning, just a ticket. And if you were given a ticket, they would stop you for the whole day. Being such a large company, you would think they would have enough wheelbarrows. But instead it was a fight every day and we would have to leave our homes at 3:30am to be able to get a wheelbarrow and be able to work and we used to have to stand by the wheelbarrow so that at the start time we could grab the wheelbarrow. This was all unpaid waiting time.
Since coworkers and I have been organizing with the UFW, there have been many changes. In the 17 years I have been there I have not seen so many changes for the better. Wheelbarrows are now placed at the foot of the rows. All of our materials would be in good condition, if we would get a flat, they would come and repair it. This is good treatment all farm workers deserve. This is why I want everything written and respected in our contract. And a lot of people think the company will win but with the Union we can win.
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Guadalupe Martinez
Before the UFW came to Gerawan, in past years if you got sick from the heat, all of the supervisors would intimidate you, telling you they were going to lay you off. If you didn’t work fast enough, they would call the ticket person to give you a ticket and to pressure you. The women that were pregnant in my crew were afraid to report if they felt sick because the supervisor would send them home and would not recall them the next harvest season. We received a lot of pressure from our supervisor, threatening us that the other crews were leaving us, for us to hurry. The scissors they would give us no longer were sharp and were loose, and as a consequence we would hurt our hands. We would get blisters in our hands from trying to apply pressure. Also for one bad or rotten grape, they would stop you, even if it was 8am. They did not care if you had to pay transportation or babysitting.
This season, thanks to the UFW, there have been many changes. They no longer stop us and the wheelbarrows are ready in the fields, loaded with material. My coworkers work more comfortably and no longer receive tickets, the supervisors don’t stop us early and there is less pressure. We have a voice in the field because we now have the backing of the UFW. All of these changes have not only benefitted us as workers but also our own families.
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Fidel Garcia
I have worked for Gerawan Farming “La Prima” since 2004 and I see the changes since the Union came to the company. First, they raised the hourly wage to $10 when we were earning $9 and that has already benefitted me and my family. Now they treat us better and they don’t pressure us as much as before when they used to practically be behind us and when there was somebody who wouldn’t meet production or was a bit slower and would fall behind, all you would hear was “Go faster” and that worker would not return to work. They wouldn’t tell him anything. His ride would just not pick him up the next morning. This didn’t seem fair to me for them to do that. Now it is different. Because the Union is here, the supervisors treat us better. Now they don’t pressure us and now if you do something wrong they give you a ticket. But they don’t send you home anymore, you just get a ticket. Now the supervisor treats us with respect, they respect the people. Also now we can to go to the bathroom during work time when previously we could only go during lunch and sometimes we could not wait. Also in the harvest they now have all of our materials ready for us to work and without us having to fight for a wheelbarrow.
This is why I want the contract we have with the Union be valid because that is our job security and I want this to continue.
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Robert Zamudio
In the crews where we support and we want a contract they retaliate against us by not giving us work regardless that many of workers have many, many years working there and without justification they were laid off while others with less time on the job were kept working only because they are on the side of the company. I was working with the crew of Rigoberto Hernandez and for supporting the union I was laid off and I called my foreman and he told me there was no more work. At this time the grape was just about to begin. They did the same with other co workers in other crews that also supported the Union. They stopped them while other crews kept working. The attitude of the company was very evident and became notorious for ‘stopping us for supporting the union’.
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Blanca Cruz
In 2012 I was raising the guide for grapevines and we are constantly looking up since we are working very fast and we don’t have time to look down and I stepped into a gopher hole. When I fell into the gopher hole they notified a foreman, Jesus Perez. He did not pay me any attention, he merely sent us an assistant so I would not fall behind. He did not ask about my foot or my hand because when I fell, I also had my hand swell up and felt a sprain. I felt very bad because they did not care about me. A coworker tied a handkerchief around my hand to help stabilize it and that is how I worked all day, with one hand.
I have also worked with a contractor there and there they do not put the bathrooms close by. Sometimes we go without eating lunch so that later we do not have to go to the bathroom. Once I saw one of my coworkers step in feces, probably from another worker who didn’t have time to go to the bathroom and so he went in the row of grapes.
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Primitivo Gutierrez
I am proud to be on the negotiating committee that is working/fighting to get our UFW contract; we’ve put so much into this contract. It is very important for us to have a contract because we need benefits, better work conditions, we farm workers are the ones who suffered thecompany abuses of power… lots of stress and fear of being fired if we try to do anything, fear of discrimination for exercising our rights, the company makes threats ofclosing, cutting trees also threatened to not having a job next season. It’s time for thecompany to respect our rights as workers and human beings that we are. I believe it is the right thing to do. I have had bad experiences in this Company (Gerawan Farming) andas well as many other Gerawan workers. We are excited that the mediator made the decisionand we will finally have a UFW contract. Gerawan should respect that having the UFW represent us is our decision and the workers have spoken. We want the company to implement this contract right away. Si Se Puede!"
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