Blue Diamond Workers United

Sacramento Bee publishes Blue Diamond workers' op-ed

Just before the Sacramento City Council voted in December to support the Blue Diamond workers, the Bee ran an editorial slamming the resolution and the council members who sponsored it. Blue Diamond Organizing Committee members got upset enough to request a meeting with the paper's editorial board. The Bee agreed. The editorial board members who attended the January meeting listened hard and asked hard questions. At the end, the workers asked for a chance to air their point of view. The piece below is the result.

Respect for workers and right to unionize

By Ivo Camilo - Special To The Bee

Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, March 23, 2007

Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B7

When is a free election not?

The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved the most sweeping change in U.S. labor law in almost 60 years. The Employee Free Choice Act, approved March 1, aims to level the playing field between employers and employees in union elections. The experience of workers trying to organize at Blue Diamond Growers here in Sacramento shows how much we need this law.

Read the whole op-ed.

By Tula Connell, Dec 11, 2006 - Originally posted to AFL-CIO Weblog

Photo Credit: Katy Fox-Hodess

Marcy Rein, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) communications specialist, sends a great example of how hard it is under current labor law to win the freedom to sign on with unions through a majority verfication (card-check) process. Over the weekend, organizers from throughout the AFL-CIO union movement discussed strategies for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require employer neutrality and majority verification. Here, Rein describes the ultimately successful efforts of workers at Blue Diamond Growers in Sacramento, Calif., to win approval by the Sacramento City Council to go through the majority verification process in deciding whether they will join the ILWU.

By Denise Winebrenner Edwards - People's Weekly World, 12/14/06 13:23

By an overwhelming majority, Sheraton Grand Hotel employees ratified a union contract on Dec. 5 that contains higher wages, a lower workload, a doubling of employer-paid health benefits over the life of the contract, and a guarantee that the contract will continue even if the hotel is sold.

Most of the hotel workers gladly signed up to support employees at other hotels in their negotiations for better contracts. There are four other unionized hotels in Sacramento where contracts have expired.

By Jim Downing - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer, Last Updated 1:34 am PST Wednesday, December 6, 2006

The 2-year-old labor conflict at Blue Diamond Growers escalated sharply Tuesday evening, as the Sacramento City Council passed a resolution urging the company to agree to the demands of union organizers.

"I think the council showed very clearly that we support what the workers are trying to do here," said Councilman Steve Cohn, a co-sponsor of the measure.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed 6-3, essentially asks the company not to engage in anti-union campaigning.

By Jim Downing - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer, Published 12:00 am PST Tuesday, December 5, 2006

More than 11 years ago, the city of Sacramento approved a multimillion-dollar incentive package to keep then-struggling Blue Diamond Growers almond cooperative from leaving town.

Since then, Blue Diamond's fortunes have shifted, with four straight years of rising returns to growers. The company had record sales last year of $675 million, up 9 percent.

That success has translated into profits for the co-op's 3,500 member almond farmers, but some workers at the 700-employee headquarters and processing plant just north of Sacramento's midtown have grown disgruntled. For the past two years, the company has been embroiled in a battle with its workers over efforts to organize into a union.

By Jim Downing - Sacramento Bee Staff Writer, Published 7:08 pm PST Monday, December 4, 2006.

For the past two years, the Blue Diamond Growers almond cooperative has been embroiled in a battle with its workers over efforts to organize into a union.

The issue is scheduled to move to the City Council chambers Tuesday, when council members are expected to consider a resolution urging Blue Diamond to agree to the demands of union organizers. Blue Diamond has 700 employees at its headquarters and processing plant just north of Sacramento's midtown.

The city has no official jurisdiction over labor issues at a private firm, but some council members say Blue Diamond opened itself to public scrutiny when it agreed to take a multimillion dollar incentive package from the city to keep then-struggling almond cooperative from leaving town.