A lawsuit from the Wonderful Company says the United Farm Workers conducted a “fraudulent” union authorization vote at one of the ag giant’s nurseries. The company sued the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board for authorizing the UFW.

Now, 20 workers from Wonderful Nurseries have joined the lawsuit, saying the union coerced them during the “card check authorization” vote.

The UFW did not respond to requests for comment.

The certification of the UFW as the monopoly bargaining representative at Wonderful Nurseries in Wasco lasts least three years and includes all workers, whether they want to be represented or not, according to a news release from the nonprofit National Right to Work. The group is challenging the vote.

Virginia-based National Right to Work is a legal fund challenging mandatory union representation. The group successfully challenged a union vote at a Volkswagen plant in 2014, ultimately overturning the United Auto Workers authorization by a narrow margin.

The group provided Wonderful workers with free legal aid.

“Wonderful Nurseries workers, who are desperately trying to defend their freedom from an unwanted UFW union, are finding themselves fighting not only UFW lawyers, but also the full weight of California’s top-down, draconian labor policy,” said NRW Foundation President Mark Mix. “By granting union bosses the authority to sweep workers under their control with suspect ‘card check’ campaigns, then having the government impose a forced-dues contract over the objection of both workers and businesses.”

Workers Allege ‘Fraud, Duress, Trickery’ During Union Vote

A 2022 California law allowed card check and mail-in ballot votes to be accepted by the ALRB. The lawsuit contends the “card check” method keeps workers from being able to vote in secret. Attorneys say union agents secured support from workers through “fraud, duress, trickery, deceit, misrepresentation, and/or other unlawful conduct.”

“UFW union officials deceived us just so they could gain power in our workplace,” said employee Claudia Chavez in an NRW news release. “Instead of just letting us vote in secret on whether we want a union, they went around lying and threatening to get cards and now are cracking down on anyone who speaks out against the union.”

The certification by the labor relations board mandates representation for workers at Wonderful Nurseries for three years, including paying union dues.

The union often says representation provides protections for marginalized workers who largely make up the farm labor workforce. A contract for workers at a New York apple farm announced Sunday secured pay raises, limitations on disciplinary actions, and a first-ever retirement plan, among other allowances.

Union Wins Raise the Bar for Other Employers: UFW

Elizabeth Strater, UFW’s director of strategic campaigns told PBS in 2024 the Wonderful vote represents a need in the community.

“Every time there’s a union win in the community, that raises the standard for other employers,” Strater told the outlet.

The lawsuit acknowledges that while the worker’s suit lines up with Wonderful’s interests, workers’ rights are also at stake.

If UFW is the certified bargaining unit, workers would lose the right to strike, the right to decline financial support, the right to vote on employment terms, and the freedom of labor, the lawsuit stated.

“In this case, the Employees have taken a principled stand against the UFW and (they allege) its unlawful, misleading, and fraudulent tactics to contrive a fraudulent majority, which has now led to its invocation of a process by which the State imposes terms and conditions of employment upon the Employees,” the lawsuit stated.