Ex-Krug workers deliver latest salvo in labor dispute — in person

By JULISSA McKINNON
Register Staff Writer

Charles Krug winery managers Marc Mondavi and Tom Fossey were surprised Tuesday to see a crowd of more than 30 of their former vineyard workers and United Farm Workers representatives standing shoulder to shoulder in the winery’s main office.

The surprise visit marked the first time since midsummer that former Krug employees and their union representatives came face to face with winery managers who fired them last July. The winery terminated 27 vineyard employees following a seven-month stand-off between company and union officials after the workers union contract expired in December.

Workers dropped off a petition Tuesday with more than 17,000 signatures from people pledging to boycott Charles Krug and C.K. Mondavi wines. Roberto Garcia, contract administrator for the United Farm Workers, who is representing the Krug workers, said a few stores in the Napa area have pulled Charles Krug wine products off their shelves. He declined to give a number or name those stores.

Despite reluctance to talk at length with workers and union leaders in the hallway, co-owner Mondavi and Fossey, the winery’s chief financial officer, accepted the petition as they left to a lunchtime appointment.

“We’re willing to meet with you anytime, but we have plans right now. We need to do this as professionals do and set up a meeting,” Mondavi said.

Following Tuesday’s confrontation, Fossey said the company is still open to scheduling a mediation session with union officials, workers and a third-party mediator in the near future.

Father John Brenkle of the St. Helena Catholic Church, who has been a strong advocate for the dismissed workers, recently suggested bringing the union and company leaders together to try to hash out a resolution by way of a third-party mediator. It remains uncertain when or if the meeting will take place. The company has suggested one mediator and the union has recommended two others.

Garcia said the workers plan to continue asking for their jobs back, as well as for lost wages for the months they’ve been unemployed and a new contract.

Fossey declined to state what points the company is willing to negotiate on. But the company hired a vineyard management firm to finish this year’s harvest.

Should the mediation not occur, the labor dispute will eventually go before an administrative law judge. The state’s Agricultural Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against Charles Krug alleging bad faith bargaining last summer, shortly after the company fired the workers. So far a date for the court hearing has not been set, Garcia said.

Fossey said union leaders did not inform the winery of their planned visit Tuesday, and he heard from the winery’s director of production that a large group was headed for the office staircase just before they arrived. The UFW gave the media two weeks’ notice.

Garcia said the union didn’t let Charles Krug management know the group was coming because he doubted they would have agreed to receive the petition in person.

“Do you honestly think they would have given us the opportunity to speak with them if we had sent them a nice little greeting that we’re going to turn in a petition with signatures from people across the country who are supporting they boycott of your product?” Garcia asked. “They would have had guard dogs out there for us.”

He added that time and again, workers have unsuccessfully attempted to speak with the top managers, calling to them as they drive through the winery’s Highway 29 entrance, where workers post themselves during their weekly Thursday night vigils.

For now, the lives of most former Krug workers remain in limbo. During their regular monthly meeting with Father Brenkle, a majority of workers reported they are still unemployed. Several have found jobs, most of which are part-time or temporary, and none with benefits. Those without jobs are subsisting off unemployment and the occasional monetary donations Brenkle collects from the community.

Even for former worker Maria del Rosario Maceda, who has found a new job packaging wine bottles, money is tight. She explained that when she and her husband Apolinar Rojas lost their longtime Krug jobs, they relied on the little savings they had to provide for their family of six children. Maceda said she still hopes to return to her former Krug job, and risked being late at her current job to attend Tuesday’s rally.

Ricardo Guitierrez, 58, who worked 32 years for Krug, said he has not searched for a new job because he is dedicating 100 percent of his energy into attending every single union event and winning jobs back. Guitierrez relies on unemployment and the small income his wife earns as a nanny.

“This year the holidays will be a little frustrating,” Guitierrez said. “But that’s so small, compared to what we’re fighting for. They’ve replaced us with a subcontractor so they don’t have to pay benefits. We’re not just fighting for our jobs, but for the future of all campesinos.”

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