Profitable Industry Attracts Union Organizer’S Interest

He was a union scout on a trip with winemakers.

Erik Nelsen climbed aboard the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers tour bus a few weeks ago, notebook in hand, joining about 75 vineyard managers, owners and winemakers for a tour of Mattawa Valley vineyards.

With a ready smile and eager to join in conversations, Nelsen was on a fact-gathering mission. He wanted to scope out what appears to be Washington’s fastest-growing agricultural industry. But unlike his traveling companions, Nelsen isn’t planning on growing grapes or starting a winery. He was working for the United Farm Workers of America.

“They think that I want to start a vineyard,” Nelsen confided during the tour. “I’m here because there’s money in this industry.”

The growers association was surprised to learn Nelsen had been on board. “Well, we opened it up to everybody,” said Wendy Peay, executive director of WAWGG. “But I didn’t know who he was.”

But Peay added that Nelsen’s presence didn’t seem to affect the tour. “The purpose of opening it to everybody is to recruit new members.”

Nelsen said later that “in terms of profit per acre, grapes are number two behind cherries — and with grapes there is less risk.”

The business is also more demanding of labor, the union says, which is one reason the UFW is targeting the wine grape industry.

Where cherry orchardists need workers for just a few weeks during harvest, vineyard operators can make use of employees through most of four seasons. Starting with pruning in February or March, through the summer when the fruit and leaves need to be cut back, and on to harvest in October, vineyards can use workers almost year-round.

The union’s first success with wine grape workers came in 1995, when the farm labor organized at Stimson Lane Ltd., parent company of Ste. Michelle winery. Stimson Lane is the state’s largest wine grape and wine producer.

Organizing workers wasn’t easy.

“It took eight years of boycotts, demonstrations and agitations against the grower,” Nelsen said.

But in 1995, the majority of fewer than 100 farm workers voted on union representation. Now more than 200 Stimson Lane employees are covered under the labor contract.

“They have seniority and a grievance procedure,” Nelsen said. “The worker has a voice on the job.” The workers also have medical and pension plans.

“We’ve been able to establish a pretty good relationship with them and have kept grievances to a minimum by working things out ahead of time,” said Guadalupe Gamboa, the United Farmworkers’ regional director. “The workers feel secure. We think when they’re secure and feel they’re well-treated, they’re more productive.”

The company acknowledges the alliance.

“We’re in the third year of our second contract with the UFW,” said Katie Sims, spokeswoman for Stimson Lane. “The company and the union have worked really hard to establish common ground. For us it has been business as usual.”

Unionizing Stimson Lane was the UFW’s first step in organizing Washington’s farm labor.

The United Farm Workers estimates about 5,000 people are now employed on grape industry farms. But along with the industry, the number of workers grows every year.

United Farmworkers organizers said grape farmers will be easier to work with than fruit orchardists - where they haven’t yet succeeded in establishing a union shop.

“Grapes aren’t easy to grow. They’re not a quick buck,” Nelsen said. “People in this sector of agriculture tend to be more forward thinking and hopefully enlightened when it comes to their workers.”

Nelsen found the Mattawa Valley bus tour valuable. “I learned a lot about the production of grapes,” he said. “I also got to learn who some of the growers are without them hating me because I represent the United Farmworkers.”