Supervisors back United Farm Workers in Garawan Farms dispute

The Neighborhood Services and Safety Committee put San Francisco on record in support of Garawan Farms workers’ right to be represented by the United Farm Workers and urged the company to implement the terms of a contract certified after a state election and subsequent mediation. Supervisor David Campos introduced the resolution and asked colleagues for support; the committee approved the resolution by unanimous consent.

Supervisor Campos recounted the history of organizing at Garawan Farms, said the Agricultural Labor Relations Board certified the UFW following a 1990 election, and described a 2013 mediator-imposed three-year contract that included retroactive wage increases. Campos and cosponsor Supervisor John Avalos framed San Francisco as the first city to introduce the resolution and urged other jurisdictions to follow.

Irv Hirschenbaum, first vice president of the United Farm Workers, and multiple farm workers spoke in public comment. Hirschenbaum described a multi-decade organizing campaign and said Garawan Farms repeatedly refused to implement the contract; he said the contract was finalized in February 2013 and that refusal to implement has led the union to pursue appeals and other remedies. Workers provided first-person accounts of injury, lack of timely medical care, and economic hardship linked to alleged employer noncompliance.

Campos asked for support and the committee approved the item by voice consent. The transcript records speeches by union leaders and multiple farm workers urging immediate implementation; no company representative appeared in the hearing record.