June 5, 2006
NLRB Finds Foster Farms Guilty Again,
Orders them to Bargain with IAM
The National Labor Relations Board has again ruled that Foster Farms violated the National Labor Relations Act when it refused to recognize the IAM as the representative for more than 2,000 workers at their Livingston, California facility.
In addition to ordering Foster Farms to bargain with the IAM, the NLRB called for the union's certification year to be extended to allow time for the bargaining process to take place. In September 2005, the workers voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the IAM, and Foster Farms has refused to follow NLRB and court orders to recognize the vote.
This ruling is the latest in a series of decisions that have found the Poultry company in violation of Federal Labor laws. This decision comes two months after a federal judge in California issued a temporary injunction under Section 10(j) of the NLRA, ordering the company to recognize and bargain with the IAM.
The League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley had been representing the Foster Farms workers, but reached impasse in attempts to negotiate a contract with the employer. In September on 2005, the workers voted overwhelmingly to affiliate with the IAM, and Foster Farms has refused to follow NLRB and court orders to recognize the vote ever since.
IAM Western Territory GVP, Lee Pearson, stated that “we are continuing to fight the same battle time and again with this employer. You would thing that the law would be obeyed, especially after the workers expressed such an overwhelming support for the IAM and the courts have slapped Foster Farms hands repeatedly. We will win in the end, and we applaud the NLRB for again standing up and demanding that this big company follow the same rules that everyone else has to play by. DBR Jim Beno, and his entire staff in District 190 have worked hard to bring some relief to these workers, and the workers have not given up. We will stay the course until we bring them their justice.”
