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[–] [S] 31 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

The impending closure and layoff of more than 500 workers come just months after the workers of SoCal Berry Growers voted to unionize. In July, employees unionized under United Farm Workers of America

There has got to be something illegal about this.

So the workers unionized a few months ago, then all of a sudden before any labor contract negotiations can even take place, the farmers aren't making a profit anymore?!?

Sounds like the farmers will declare bankruptcy, organize a shell company as a "new employer" and offer the newly-unemployed workers non-union jobs.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    I read a lot more about water pricing than labor. 500 workers to grow $800M crop doesn't sound like straw that broke the camel's back, although I'm sure the farmers resent the threat of having to pay a fair wage. I read it as the inevitable consequence of trying to grow high water-use crop in a desert, especially in the middle of a war pushing up diesel and fertilizer costs.

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