Gotta love California Unions

[RuralEngineer]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... =yahoo_itp

Employees of Gerawan Farming can earn more than $15 per hour (the state industry average is $8.70) plus modest retirement and health benefits. The Gerawans also pay for the workers' English-language instruction and their children's Catholic school tuition. Silvia Lopez, who has worked on the farm for 15 years, says "there's no place that they care about safety and benefits like Gerawan," and that workers can talk to the owners if they have a problem.

The United Farm Workers muscled its way onto the farm in 1990 but quickly lost support. In that year, the UFW won an election to organize Gerawan workers (with just 536 total votes) and in 1992 was certified by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Yet after holding just one bargaining session, the union lost interest and never procured a contract.

Then, after nearly two decades without negotiations, UFW organizers turned up last October and demanded a contract that would require employees to pay 3% of their wages in dues (between $600 and $1,000 a year). Gerawan also says that the union wanted the company to fire workers who didn't pay up.

If anyone was wondering what was driving the demand for mechanization giving rise to all the new machines for harvesting crops here in recent years, I give you exhibit A. the UFW.  Now instead of these people having jobs that pay almost 2x minimum wage (which for unskilled workers in this economy, isn't terrible) plus medical and some retirement they may be out of a job and replaced by mechanization or the business closes and the economy loses that productivity.  The sad part is that it doesn't sound like the workers even want this, only in the land of Fruit and Nuts could a union come in and unilaterally impose a labor contract on workers over the objections of both the management AND the workforce (actually that is probably possible in a few other blue states too, not sure).

[dragoncar]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... =yahoo_itp

Employees of Gerawan Farming can earn more than $15 per hour (the state industry average is $8.70) plus modest retirement and health benefits. The Gerawans also pay for the workers' English-language instruction and their children's Catholic school tuition. Silvia Lopez, who has worked on the farm for 15 years, says "there's no place that they care about safety and benefits like Gerawan," and that workers can talk to the owners if they have a problem.

The United Farm Workers muscled its way onto the farm in 1990 but quickly lost support. In that year, the UFW won an election to organize Gerawan workers (with just 536 total votes) and in 1992 was certified by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Yet after holding just one bargaining session, the union lost interest and never procured a contract.

Then, after nearly two decades without negotiations, UFW organizers turned up last October and demanded a contract that would require employees to pay 3% of their wages in dues (between $600 and $1,000 a year). Gerawan also says that the union wanted the company to fire workers who didn't pay up.

If anyone was wondering what was driving the demand for mechanization giving rise to all the new machines for harvesting crops here in recent years, I give you exhibit A. the UFW.  Now instead of these people having jobs that pay almost 2x minimum wage (which for unskilled workers in this economy, isn't terrible) plus medical and some retirement they may be out of a job and replaced by mechanization or the business closes and the economy loses that productivity.  The sad part is that it doesn't sound like the workers even want this, only in the land of Fruit and Nuts could a union come in and unilaterally impose a labor contract on workers over the objections of both the management AND the workforce (actually that is probably possible in a few other blue states too, not sure).

So... whenever I reap the benefits of mechanization (e.g., run my roomba) I will give silent thanks to the unions?

[RuralEngineer]

I'm not sure if the roomba was developed to combat the entrenched housekeeping union, but otherwise that's the idea. We're always having discussions about the impact of automation and worker displacement but here we have evidence of a union driving the behavior in real time!