Portland Oregonian

Fired farmworker sues, points to union drive

Attorneys for a farmworker filed suit Thursday against an arm of the state's largest dairy as part of a continuing struggle over unionizing workers.

The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges that a Threemile Canyon Farms subsidiary near Boardman wrongfully fired worker Gerardo Sanguino for refusing to sign an anti-union petition.

The United Farm Workers union has been attempting to organize about 300 workers there since 2003, and last month obtained an agreement with Threemile Canyon allowing UFW representatives to circulate cards among workers to determine whether they want the union to represent them.

Erik Nicholson, a union organizer, said the dairy has continued a pattern of trying to squelch the organizing effort by intimidating workers.

Len Bergstein, a spokesman for the dairy, which runs more than 15,000 milking cows, said he had no comment on the suit's specifics. But he said Threemile Canyon is committed to allowing workers to choose whether they want to organize.

-- Alex Pulaski