BOARDMAN - The United Farm Workers says it has advised Threemile Canyon Farms it is ready to conduct an election.
"An overwhelming number of workers at Threemile Canyon Farms have signed union authorization cards, indicating their desire for our union to represent them," said Erik Nicholson, the union's regional director in Tacoma.
But Len Bergstein of Northwest Strategies in Portland, a spokesman for Threemile Canyon Farms, disputes that workers are ready to hold a vote. He said today the union has not notified the farm it's time to move forward with an election.
Threemile Canyon Farms and the UFW signed an agreement Aug. 21. Nicholson said Threemile agreed to immediately negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the union when a majority of workers indicate their support by signing union authorization cards.
The union believes that has occurred and is calling for a card-check election, as provided in the agreement. It states a neutral third party will verify the signed cards against company payroll records.
"We've got a formal, written agreement," Bergstein said. "We'll wait and receive some official notice from them."
Nicholson said farm managers and the union have agreed to ask Gov. Ted Kulongoski to name the neutral third party to verify the percentage of workers who have signed cards seeking representation.
Bergstein objected to the union notifying the media first.
"If they've got the cards, they're suppose to tell us," he said. "We're supposed to go to a neutral party."
Bergstein said the agreement specifies the two parties are to follow each step jointly.
"We're assuming they wouldn't want to violate the contract they've signed with us," he said. "There has been no joint request by the parties to go to the governor."
Threemile Canyon Farms wanted workers to vote by secret ballot regarding union representation, but Oregon law does not require such elections. Threemile Canyon Farms is trying to change that.
In a related matter two weeks ago, labor attorneys filed a wrongful discharge lawsuit against RDO Bos Farms, owner of Threemile Canyon Farms. The action, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleges a supervisor fired Gerardo Sanguino for refusing to sign an anti-union petition and in retaliation for having joined co-workers asking for a raise.
Sanguino's claim seeks unspecified damages and his immediate reinstatement at the farm.
Bergstein said the company is taking a neutral position on the union's organizing efforts and declined to comment on the lawsuit.
"Generally, I think things will be resolved," he said.
The UFW has been organizing workers at Threemile Canyon Farms for the past three years. Farm managers want workers to decide for or against union representation by secret ballot, but the union has declined. When farm managers and union representatives signed the agreement, it opened the door for union organizers to lobby workers at the farm before and after work and during lunch breaks.
