N.Y. farm employees seek to oust union in card-check dispute

Employees at Porpiglia Farms in Upstate New York, led by farm worker Ricardo Bell, are working to remove the United Farm Workers union from representing them.

The employees have filed a decertification petition with the New York Public Employment Relations Board, challenging the union’s legitimacy after a “card check” unionization process. Bell is receiving legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.

New York law requires a card check process for unionization in the agricultural sector, which allows unions to bypass a secret ballot election. Instead, union officials collect signed cards from workers, with those cards being counted as votes.

Some workers, including Bell, argue that this process lacks the privacy of a traditional vote, making employees vulnerable to pressure from union organizers. Bell and his coworkers believe that the UFW did not truly represent the majority of workers and are now seeking to decertify the union.

The UFW was elected as the workers’ representative after a card check process, but Bell and his supporters argue that workers were misled or pressured during the campaign. They claim that workers should have the right to reconsider the union’s representation through a secret ballot.

The UFW, however, has filed a motion to dismiss the decertification petition. Union officials contend that there is an “insulated period” after a union is certified during which employees are barred from seeking to remove the union.

This, they argue, allows the union time to establish its presence and negotiate on behalf of the workers without disruption. The UFW asserts that their representation was legally recognized under New York’s labor laws and that the decertification attempt violates these rules.

In response, Bell and his legal team argue that workers should not be permanently bound by a decision made during a card check drive, especially when there are allegations of pressure and misinformation. They contend that New York law does not prohibit workers from reconsidering union representation.

This legal dispute is part of a larger debate surrounding card check unionization processes. Critics of card check argue that the lack of privacy in this process can expose workers to intimidation. Supporters, however, maintain that it streamlines unionization efforts and helps counteract potential anti-union activities by employers.

The outcome of the Porpiglia Farms case could have significant implications for the agricultural sector in New York, particularly regarding how unions are formed and decertified. Meanwhile, similar cases, such as one involving UFW workers at Wonderful Nurseries in California, indicate that this issue is not unique to New York but part of a broader national conversation about workers’ rights, union representation, and labor law reform.

Both sides await a decision from the state’s Public Employment Relations Board on whether the decertification petition will proceed.