"Resolution was going to be difficult, but I knew we had to find a way," said Sakuma Brothers Farms CEO Danny Weeden.

Unlike the major fruit-growing state of California, Washington State does not have an Agricultural Labor Relations Act and its history of union action in the produce sector has been limited.

Sakuma Brothers Farms CEO Danny Weeden

This is what makes a recent union vote at Sakuma Brothers Farms so significant, marking what may be a turning point in a heated labor relations struggle that in many cases has been marred by allegations of foul play from both sides.

In a release, Sakuma said seasonal hand harvest employees voted Monday to elect Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ) as their representative. The vote was 195 in favor, 58 for no, three void and four challenges.

In addition, there were 117 eligible voters who did not cast a vote.

The company thanked the neutral parties of retired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) director Richard Ahearn and Kerstin Lindgren of the Fair World Project for their assistance in making the election process "open, safe and fair".

In a statement given to www.freshfruitportal.com, Sakuma CEO Danny Weeden gave his perspective on the lead-up to this election, and what it means for the future of the company and berry growers in general.

"Since I arrived on the farm over a year and a half ago, I've have been challenged with how to resolve the labor issue. It was difficult, because there was a long history of mistrust between Sakuma and FUJ," Weeden said.

"During my time here we have done everything possible to take the high road and to be above board on every issue.  Unfortunately, it would be difficult for me to say this was true of others.

"Resolution was going to be difficult, but I knew we had to find a way."

Weeden said the central issue for him was always whether Sakuma employees did or did not actually support FUJ.

"I truly believed that it was my responsibility to give every one of our employees the fair and open chance to make that decision on their own," Weeden said.

"The challenge was that there was no legal infrastructure or process through which to do it.   The National Labor Relations Act did not cover agricultural workers and the state of Washington does not have an Agricultural Labor Relations Act.

"Although Sakuma did a great job of communicating to all the harvest employees about their rights of freedom of association there was no process to easily allow them the opportunity to exercise that right."

In response, in January Weeden met with representatives of the National Farm Workers Ministry in Washington D.C. to discuss common interests in the concerns for farmworkers, and to share with them the good things Sakuma was doing for its employees.

This included the establishment of a listening committee designed for workers to report directly to him with any concerns or suggestions, and a supervisory training program with an added focus on Mexican cultural diversity.

"We also discussed the lack of legal framework for allowing farm workers the process for voting and one of their board members asked why Sakuma couldn’t just create a process," Weeden said.

"At the time, I couldn’t see how that would be possible. However, it got me thinking and asking more questions about if it was a possibility.

"I asked Driscoll’s if they had any resources that might help Sakuma with this and they referred me to Brian McGovern who had done similar work in Oregon using a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)."

After talking about the concept with McGovern and the team at Driscoll's, Weeden "fully believed" an MoU leading to a secret ballot election was the way to go.

"So I took the initiative, with the full backing of the board, to approach FUJ, with hopes that we could find a way forward," he said.

"To help us in this I reached out to Kerstin Lindgren with the Fair World Project to get her thoughts on the concept of the MoU and to see if she would help us in introducing the document to FUJ, which we did back in July.

He said the structure of the MoU was such that Sakuma could not do any campaigning with employees and placed no restrictions on FUJ.

"t called for a secret ballot election so our employees could express their freedom to associate – or not associate – with FUJ," he said.

"So the outcome of the vote didn't surprise me, as there wasn't, I suspect, a reason to not give it a try."

He said this outcome "had to be the way forward".

"acing significant economic issues, climate changes effecting our crops, lower market prices, competition from developing world regions have put tremendous pressure on farmers in the states, particularly for us who are heavily dependent on hand harvested crops," Weeden said.

"n order for us to even have a shot to be sustainable, we have to get the labor issue right. I'm hopeful that we have done that, though, we still have to work out a contract.

"The good news is the MoU also outlines the negotiation and arbitration process leading to a rational contract. I am hopeful Sakuma and FUJ will now work together constructively towards a positive future for everyone."

www.freshfruitportal.com