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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Labor board orders hearing on unfair practices charge against
Gallo
Tuesday April 15, 2003
By MICHELLE LOCKE
Associated Press Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) State labor officials have ordered a
hearing on a complaint that Gallo of Sonoma helped push for an
election to cut ties with the United Farmworkers union.
In a decision released Tuesday, the Agricultural Labor Relations
Board dismissed two other charges of unfair practices brought by
the union, including a claim that Gallo promised workers benefits
if they voted against the UFW.
However, the board ordered a hearing on a third charge alleging
that Gallo was involved in setting up the election. In a complaint
calling for the hearing, Salinas-based ALRB regional director
Freddie Capuyan said that a foreman encouraged farm hands in his
crew to sign a form calling for the decertification election.
The filing of the complaint means that results of the March 13
vote will remain locked in the Santa Rosa bank vault where ballots
have been kept since the election. The hearing has not yet been
scheduled.
Gallo had filed countercharges, including a complaint that the
union threatened the employee who filed the petition for
decertification; those charges are still under investigation.
Union officials, whose success in getting a contract with Gallo
three years ago was viewed as a show of strength in wine country,
interpreted the board's ruling as a victory.
``The UFW has insisted from the beginning that this
decertification campaign was totally orchestrated by Gallo
management, which is patently illegal,'' said spokesman Marc
Grossman.
The union planned to appeal the dismissal of their charge that
Gallo tried to bribe workers into voting against UFW, Grossman
said.
Gallo officials, on the other hand, viewed the dismissal of the
two UFW charges as vindication for management and said the
remaining charge is unfounded.
In a statement, the company said the individual named in the
complaint is not a foreman and did not solicit votes.
``It is unfortunate that this charge will further delay the
counting of the votes. We have said from the beginning that this
was an issue between the UFW and its members, not us. We believe
that a majority of the workers signed the petition,'' the company
said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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