Too many farm workers who voted for the United Farm Workers in state-held elections have been waiting for a long time, some as long as 22 years, for the state to act on their cases so they can negotiate the union contracts that will improve their lives. They keep waiting, even under Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. Hundreds of workers at Ace Tomato Co. and San Joaquin Tomato Co. in San Joaquin County overwhelmingly voted for the UFW in 1989. In 1995, the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board ruled the growers bargained in bad faith and ordered the workers get the back pay they lost. Today, 8,030 days later. they’re still waiting for their back pay. Most workers voted for the UFW at Kawahara Nuseries Inc., in the Gilroy area, in early 2010. More than 150 of them have waited 543 days (and counting); 197 days (and counting) since Gov. Brown took office. More than 300 workers at Nurserymen’s Exchange Inc. in Half Moon Bay voted for the UFW in August 2010. Another 50 workers who voted for the union at California Florida Plant Co. in the Salinas Valley have been waiting since February 2010. How long do farm workers need to wait for Gov. Brown’s law to work?
Arturo S. Rodriguez, President
United Farm Workers of America