UFW Union Booted by Cal Ag Labor Board from Gerawan Farming

By Chriss Street

The United Farm Workers (UFW) were booted on Thursday as the union representatives for 3,000 workers at Gerawan Farming by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) after a court battle that lasted half a decade.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the decision is a crushing defeat for the UFW, founded by Cesar Chavez in 1962. The union peaked at 80,000 members in 1973, but declined to 26,000 members in 1982, and currently has just 8,274 members — primarily in accommodation and food service, according to the Union Facts website.

Gerawan Farming advertises that the company’s produce is “Blemish-Free, Guaranteed.” The key quality difference is about eight hand-pickings of trees per season, rather than the average of three. Gerawan also hand-packs its shipped boxes.

Gerawan Farming is also the nation’s largest grower of peaches, plums, and nectarines, and employs over 5,000 workers in the Fresno area. The company’s quality strategy explains why it pays the highest farm wages, provides better benefits, fully complies with labor laws, and offers to pay tuition for employees’ children to attend private Catholic schools.

Read the rest of the story on Breitbart News

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