Workers Reject Union Teamsters Lose Bids To Unionize Fruit-Packing Warehouses

Workers at fruit warehouses in Wenatchee and Yakima on Thursday rejected representation by the Teamsters union.

Workers at the Stemilt warehouse in Wenatchee voted 290 against the Teamsters, 205 for the union, with 62 ballots disputed.

The vote by workers at Washington Fruit Co. in Yakima was 161 against the Teamsters, 121 for the union, with 8 ballots disputed, the Teamsters said.

The vote is a major setback to the union, which has been trying to organize the state’s 15,000 fruit packers for about two years. Thursday’s elections were the first two of the campaign.

“This is a battle in a war, so to speak,” Teamsters spokesman Patrick Lacefield said. “We’re taking on not just a couple of companies, but a whole industry.”

Teamster officials said they plan to challenge the results of the Yakima election. The Teamsters contend workers were intimidated by company threats to close the plant and call the Immigration and Naturalization Service to make trouble for Hispanic workers.

“This election will not stand,” Lacefield predicted, adding the Teamsters have filed numerous complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

There was no answer Thursday night at the offices of Washington Fruit, one of the state’s largest packing warehouses.

But Fred Plath, patriarch of the family that owns the business, said the vote indicates that working conditions are good.

“The people are all treated well,” Plath said.

Packing houses clean, sort and pack the fruit for shipment to stores.

The organizing effort represents a major push by the Teamsters to unionize the 15,000 employees of about 120 packing warehouses. In a joint move, the United Farm Workers union is trying to organize the 35,000 or more workers who pick apples and other fruit in Washington.