OXNARD : UFW Wins Recount of Workers’ Ballots
Laborers at an Oxnard produce company voted 298 to 278 to join the United Farm Workers union last May, state labor officials found Monday after a recount of contested ballots.
But representatives of Ocean View Produce, a subsidiary of Dole Food Co., refused to recognize the new results, contending that the election was flawed.
“There’s very specific rules on how elections are to be conducted, and questions have been raised on both sides,” said Tom Pernice, a Dole spokesman. “The vote was very close, and there are an equal number of voters who did not want union representation.”
The original results of the May 18 election showed that workers had voted 275 to 231 to join the union, but Ocean View Produce Co. officials challenged 87 additional ballots, arguing the people--mostly farm labor contractors--had no right to vote.
The state Agricultural Labor Relations Board reviewed the contested ballots and decided that 70 should be considered valid votes. Yet Ocean View Produce has questioned how the labor relations board arrived at that figure and refuses to recognize UFW as its employees union.
UFW officials did not return phone calls Tuesday. The election was the UFW’s first in Ventura County in about four years.
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