UFW Gets New Election for Strawberry Pickers

State labor officials have ruled that pickers at the nation’s largest strawberry grower should be represented by separate bargaining units in Oxnard and Watsonville, increasing the likelihood that the United Farm Workers will once again represent pickers in Ventura County.

The ruling, affirmed Tuesday by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, clears the way for a June election at Coastal Berry Co.’s Oxnard operation.

The expected UFW victory among the 600 workers there will provide a significant boost to the union’s efforts to organize strawberry workers statewide, a four-year campaign that thus far has had limited success.

“We talked to the workers and they’re just really excited,” UFW spokesman Marc Grossman said. “We still need to be certified . . . but we are optimistic that will happen quickly.”

Last June, the UFW lost an election to represent all of Coastal Berry’s workers in Oxnard and Watsonville to a rival union, the Coastal Berry of California Farm Workers Committee.

The UFW filed a slew of objections to that election, including one saying that Coastal Berry’s pickers would be better served by separate bargaining units. A state labor judge last month agreed and the state labor board Tuesday upheld that ruling.

Salinas attorney James Gumberg, who represents rival union Coastal Berry Farmworkers Committee, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But he has said that even if the labor board upheld the decision, he would fight any effort by the UFW to be declared the winner in Oxnard.