Coastal Berry Tops UFW in Balloting

An upstart labor union was declared the winner Tuesday in an election to represent workers at the nation’s largest strawberry grower, more than two months after berry pickers in Oxnard and Watsonville cast ballots in the high-stakes contest.

Final election results at the Watsonville-based Coastal Berry Co. showed 725 workers had voted for the Coastal Berry of California Farm Workers Committee contrasted with 616 for the United Farm Workers.

The Coastal Berry committee already led the UFW by 90 votes in the June 4 balloting, but 92 disputed ballots remained uncounted. Most of those ballots were counted Tuesday, sealing the committee’s victory.

But the issue isn’t settled yet.

The UFW has filed more than 200 objections to the state-supervised election, alleging a variety of election day violations, including voter intimidation. Officials with the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board are reviewing those allegations, a process that will stall certification of the election for weeks or even months.

“This is just the beginning,” Marc Grossman of the UFW said. “Regardless of the outcome, the UFW will not be deterred from continuing to organize farm workers in the strawberry industry and other crops.”

For the UFW, there is more at stake than the right to represent Coastal Berry’s 1,500 employees.

The UFW has waged a costly three-year campaign to win a contract at Coastal Berry as a crucial first step toward organizing California’s 20,000 strawberry workers.