Krug accused of unfair firings
Siding with UFW, labor board to file complaint over employee practices
Published: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 2:27 a.m.
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board said Monday it will accuse Charles Krug Winery of failing to conduct good-faith contract talks with 26 United Farm Worker employees the winery fired Friday.
The labor board will file an unfair labor practices complaint against the St. Helena winery later this week. The state agency, which oversees labor relations between agricultural workers and their employers, claims Krug refused to negotiate with UFW members seeking to replace a three-year contract that expired Dec. 31.
"We reviewed the evidence provided by both parties, and the decision is made to go to complaint," said Freddie Capuyan, a regional director for the labor board.
A hearing will be held before an administrative law judge later this year to decide whether the labor board or Charles Krug Winery will prevail in the dispute.
Krug's chief financial officer, Thomas Fossey, who handles union negotiations for the winery, said Monday that without seeing the complaint he could not comment on it.
"It is a complaint that will go to an administrative law judge to see if it will be maintained or dismissed," Fossey said.
The UFW has represented farmworkers at Charles Krug for more than 20 years. After the latest contract expired Dec. 31, Krug told the United Farm Workers it planned to let the UFW employees go because it was turning over management of 500 acres of vineyards to an outside land management company.
Charles Krug Winery has hired Jack Neal & Son in St. Helena to manage its vineyard, President Mark Neal said Monday.
The Krug winery said it was hiring the land management company because of the expertise it could bring to the job. Krug took the position that the new management company could install nonunion employees.
The UFW filed unfair labor practice charges against Krug with the labor board, saying the Krug farmworkers voted long ago to be represented by the UFW, and anyone doing that job is covered by the union.
"The workers have the right to union representation. They can't change that," said UFW spokesman Marc Grossman.
After reviewing materials provided by both Krug and the UFW, the labor board has sided with the UFW.
At issue in the hearing before the administrative law judge will be whether the employer of the workers in the fields is Krug or Neal, Capuyan said.
"The complaint will allege that those employees are Krug employees," Capuyan said. "If the employer is Krug, he has to bargain with the union. If the employer is found to be the land manager, he has no obligation to bargain with the union."
A Krug spokesman said Krug tried to negotiate the changes with the United Farm Workers.
"I have tried to bargain with the UFW regarding the effects of our reverting to a land manager," Fossey said. "The UFW has no interest in it."
The UFW said it will not bargain over its members' right to union representation.
The bitter dispute has prompted the farmworkers union to launch a nationwide boycott of Charles Krug wines. It's also holding a series of vigils and marches at the winery and elsewhere and leafleting customers in front of stores that carry Krug wines.
"We're continuing marches, we're continuing the vigils," said UFW contract administrator Roberto Garcia, who works in the union's Santa Rosa office.
Krug originally said it would lay off the United Farm Worker employees July 1, but it extended their employment one week while it answered questions and provided documents for the labor board.
The UFW workers last year earned $9.60 to $12.50 an hour, plus pension, health care and vacation, Fossey said. Neal said his company pays $11 an hour and 100 percent health benefits after 90 days.
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board in Sacramento oversees union elections and unfair labor practice charges filed by both farmworkers and employers.
Its action in the dispute between the UFW and Charles Krug is the latest of several it has taken involving UFW disputes with Sonoma and Napa county grape growers in recent years.
For example, in 2003 the board sided with the UFW in its claim that E&J Gallo Winery illegally tried to influence Sonoma County vineyard workers to vote to oust the union. Last year it accused the UFW of repeatedly refusing to cooperate with Gallo during negotiations to renew the workers' contract.
The Charles Krug Winery is owned and operated by the Peter Mondavi family, led by Peter Mondavi Sr.'s sons Marc Mondavi and Peter Mondavi Jr. It has about 130 employees, Fossey said.
The UFW office in Santa Rosa represents farmworkers at three companies in Napa County and three in Sonoma County.
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