Farmworkers allege Napa Valley vineyard management firm fired them for seeking hourly wage raise

The California agency responsible for protecting agricultural workers’ labor rights has opened an investigation into a Calistoga-based vineyard management company.

Jessica Arciniega, regional director for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, said the agency opened an investigation on Sept. 8 into Dos Viñas Vineyard Management, LLC after a group of farmworkers filed a complaint against the company on Sept. 1.

The group of eight agricultural workers allege that the company’s owner, Mariano Navarro, fired them after they sought a $1 per hour raise, according to the complaint, which also states the workers asked about sick time off.

Officials with the vineyard management company did not respond to Press Democrat email and phone messages seeking comment about the workers’ allegations.

The workers initially filed their claims of wrongful termination through North Bay Jobs with Justice, a Santa Rosa-based social justice grassroots coalition of 32 organizations, that advocates for workers’ rights.

Farmworkers, along with members of the coalition, also picketed outside the company’s offices on Sept. 8 to demand recuperation of lost wages.

The workers said they were hired in May. They claim they were told they would work through the end of the grape harvest. Their last day of work was on Aug. 23, according to Maria Martinez, one of the workers who filed the wrongful termination charge.

There is not an exact timeline for when the investigation will end, though the agency will try to complete the investigation in “no more than six months,” Arciniega said.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.