West Coast Berry LLC agrees to nearly $60,000 to settle unfair labor practice charges
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – West Coast Bery Farms LLC of Santa Maria has agreed to pay almost $60,000 in lost wages and offer reinstatement to 18 agricultural workers to resolve claims filed with the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (CALRB) alleging an illegal response to a strike.
According to charges brought to the CALRB, 18 workers engaged in a two-day strike and signed a petition to West Coast Berry Farms LLC seeking a raise in their per-box wage as well as their hourly wage last season.
After the strike, West Coast Berry Farms LLC increased the per-box wage by 15 cents and when those 18 workers sought to work the next season, they claimed the company refused to hire them due to their participation in the previous strike detailed a press release from CALRB.
The settlement was finalized on Jan. 31, 2024, and West Coast Berry Farms LLC agreed to reinstate all 18 workers and pay them $58,607.13 in lost wages state CALRB.
According to the CALRB, the company also agreed to respect the right of farmworkers to collectively seek improvements to working conditions without future retaliation and CALRB agents will visit West Coast Berry Farms LLC's worksites to read a notice about their rights under the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act.
“[I]t is the policy of the State of California to encourage and protect the right of agricultural employees to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives of in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”
California Agricultural Relations Act of 1975
The California Agricultural Relations Board is headquartered in Sacramento, but also maintains field offices in Oxnard, Salinas, Santa Rosa, Visalia, and Indio.
Anyone seeking the state-wide organization's help in our local area can call the CALRB office in Oxnard at 805-973-5062 or use the state-wide toll-free number at 800-449-3699.
