Officials, farmworkers react to $328,000 settlement, largest in local history of its kind

Nearly two years before 21 H-2A farmworkers reached a $328,077 settlement in lost wages — the largest in local history of its kind — they met with a lawyer from a state agency to learn about their rights on fair wages and safety.

Yesenia De Luna, assistant general counsel from the Santa Rosa office of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board said Tuesday that she met with workers at Healdsburg Plaza before they complained to management in October 2021.

“We don’t have a lot of H-2A workers. They’re the most afraid so hopefully this will be there to give them some encouragement that … there are protections for them,” she said.

The state agency she works with enforces collective bargaining rights and protects agricultural employees under California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Act.

The settlement, which was made public on Monday, was the largest in the Santa Rosa field office’s history, she said, adding that the office opened in 2016.

Healdsburg-based Mauritson Farms agreed to pay $328,077 to 21 former employees who accused the business of not rehiring them after they complained to management about dirty restrooms, not receiving meal and rest breaks, lack of shade and mistreatment.

"We’re proud. We learned our rights and defended ourselves,“ said Javier Chavez, of Oaxaca, Mexico, one of six former workers, who initially complained about worker conditions, with the support of North Bay Jobs with Justice, a local nonprofit and grassroots coalition of over 30 community and labor organizations.

After workers weren’t rehired in 2022, Davin Cardenas, director of organizing with North Bay Jobs with Justice, filed a claim with the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board in March 2022.

The agency then conducted its own yearlong investigation and subsequently filed a complaint against the Healdsburg-based farm, said Julia Montgomery, general counsel for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board.

“Their valor has left us with a legacy that we can fight alongside allies and that relationships between groups, organizations and ourselves as workers can achieve many things like (this) victory,” said Ana Salgado, community co-chair of the executive board of North Bay Jobs with Justice, during a joint news conference held Monday with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board at Healdsburg Plaza.

”(This)victory … it’s for everybody,” she said.

Also in attendance Monday was Healdsburg City Council member Chris Herrod who thanked the “brave” farmworkers who came forward and “opened doors” for others.

The farmworkers involved in the settlement were hired by Mauritson Farms via the H-2A visa program in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 work seasons amid wildfires, flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release from North Bay Jobs with Justice.

The H-2A visa program allows foreign farmworkers to come to the U.S. on a temporary work visa and who usually arrive with the help of a recruiter.

In 2022 the company hired workers via a new, third-party recruiter that hires from Baja California, not Oaxaca where the former employees were from, according to the news release.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows the company hired between 18 and 30 H-2A workers from 2019 to 2022. The company did not participate in the H-2A program in 2023.

About 370,000 H-2A visa workers worked in the U.S. under the H-2A program in 2022, with about 12% or roughly 44,400 coming to California, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“They're often living in isolated areas … A lot of them are afraid to speak up, afraid to come forward, afraid to enforce their rights. There's language barriers, cultural barriers, etc. So, because there's so many barriers and fear in the community, it is difficult for people to have enough courage to come forward and enforce their rights,” Montgomery said.

She, like Salgado, credits the confluence of various actors — workers, the local organization and the state agency — for reaching the settlement.

Mauritson Farms’ general manager, Cam Mauritson, contends the company did not violate the Agricultural Labor Relations Act and that the settlement “is strictly a business decision that allows us to resolve this issue without the need for further litigation. We look forward to focusing on the needs of our business, its employees, and the growing season.”

He was not notified about the news conference ahead of time and is concerned it could misrepresent the terms of the agreement. He believes it is an effort to discredit Mauritson Winery, which “is a separate and distinct business and has no relationship whatsoever to the allegations or settlement with Mauritson Farms,” he said Tuesday in an emailed statement.

As part of the settlement, a notice to employees will be read to workers at Mauritson Farms in English and Spanish and will be posted at the company’s various work sites. The workers’ rights, as part of the notice, are:

• The right to organize themselves.

• To form, join or help a union.

• To speak up about working conditions and request changes from employers.

• To decide not to do any of the above mentioned actions.

“I'm really hoping that the settlement and word of what we achieved here will encourage other workers to feel more comfortable coming forward and seeking out the (Agricultural Labor Relations Board) in addition to their local leaders for support and assistance,” Montgomery said. “Because we are here to help.”

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