14-04-2025
What's ‘workplace democracy?' The purpose & history of unions in Stanislaus County
Recent labor negotiations in Modesto highlight an active labor movement despite attempts to disrupt collective bargaining at the national level. It's also a reminder of the history of labor unions in the Central Valley.
On April 1 before 9 a.m., members of United Domestic Workers Local 3930 (UDW) donned green shirts and gathered outside the doors of Tenth Street Plaza in Modesto, preparing to speak before the county Board of Supervisors to call for a pay increase as part of ongoing contract negotiations. Theirs was one of two labor negotiations discussed at the meeting that day.
An hour and a half into the Tuesday morning meeting, seven members of UDW spoke during public comment to increase pay for in-home supportive services, a service currently subsidized by MediCal through federal, state and local county funding.
Divon Briseno, an in-home supportive care provider who started by taking care of his son with developmental delays five years ago, spoke at the podium. In-home supportive services providers 'deserve better than borderline poverty,' he said.
Astrid Zuniga, President of UDW 3930, said she and her members have been going before the Board of Supervisors for 16 or 17 years. 'We are there voicing our opinion every Tuesday that we can be there,' she said.
On the same meeting's agenda was a consent calendar item to approve a contract with the county's deputy sheriffs union that resulted in pay raises. At District 3 Supervisor Terry Withrow's request, it was made a separate item so the successful negotiation could be celebrated.
'We had a lot of meetings where we had sworn deputies here, and we appreciated their input and as we said all along, 'We will get to a spot that works for everybody,' and we did,' he said. 'I just wanted to celebrate that.'
The National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act of 1935, codified the right to collectively bargain and create unions and established the National Labor Review Board. Since then, unions have had a role in creating the eight-hour workday, child labor laws, anti-discrimination laws, paid sick leave and other rights and protections for workers.
The agricultural worker movement led by the United Farm Workers union is memorialized in Modesto with Cesar Chavez Park and, in front of the Peace/Life Center, a mural dedicated to UFW's efforts
'We have a right to organize, and the workplace is one of the most important places to do that,' said Will Kelly, executive director of the North Valley Labor Federation, a collection of labor unions in North San Joaquin Valley. 'Workers have a protected right to engage in collective action.'
Lorena Gonzales, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions (AFL-CIO), said the only way to have fairness is to have unions, so workers have a voice on the job. 'Without a union, a worker may have an opinion, but they have no protection for exploring that opinion and there's no need for the employer to even listen to it.'
A strike by truckers and transportation workers by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters local 356 in 1967 locked out workers and idled approximately 800 cars in Stanislaus and Merced counties. The local union representative at the time said it was in violation of their bargaining rights, according to previous Bee reporting.
The local Cannery Union also had a series of strikes reported in The Bee dating back to the 1930s. Cannery Union Local 748, now Teamsters 948, still operates out of 1222 I St., which has been a union building since 1950 and was dedicated as a city landmark in 1996.
The constitutionality of the NLRB and, by extension, the NLRA are being challenged in federal court by corporations including Starbucks and Elon Musk's SpaceX. One such challenge argues that provisions restricting the president's ability to remove NLRB members are unconstitutional.
Gonzales said billionaires have too much power and it's caused an imbalance, 'and the only counterbalance to that is the collective voice of workers — workplace democracy.'
Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, which makes determinations on labor cases for workers at the federal level, was fired by the Trump administration on Jan. 28. She was reinstated under a court order March 6. That decision was granted a stay on March 28, leaving her fired. But most recently, the decision was made to reinstate her again on April 7.
Gonzales said the NLRB was severely underfunded even before recent changes, but the current situation has brought chaos.
Though there are concerns about the NLRB being able to meet the demands of workers at the federal level, a new bill making its way through the Assembly aims to give workers in California at least, another option.
A prospective new state law, Assembly Bill 288, is intended to help public and private employees in California who have exhausted their appeals at the federal level, to come before the state and have their labor case heard there.
'What we're trying to say is if you exhaust your federal remedies, and there is no remedy to be had because of dysfunction, because of chaos, because of court cases that you can pursue that remedy administratively in California through our means to allow people to organize.'
She said that the process for filing complaints in California is quick and determinative and has worked for private employees like agricultural workers, child care providers, and home care workers.
On April 5, Sandy Moreno, regional manager with UDW/AFSCME Local 3930, which she said represents around 6,000 members in Stanislaus County, stood in front of a crowd of protesters with a microphone in her hand at Tenth Street Plaza.
'When essential services are cut, everyone feels it, everyone here today, especially the most vulnerable among us,' she said. 'We will continue organizing, we will continue mobilizing, and we will continue to be in these streets because these are our streets.'
President Donald Trump has also signed an executive order barring federal workers from collective bargaining, called 'Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs,' an action that is being reviewed in federal courts.
'The federal workers have already lost their right to organize,' Zuniga said, referring to the executive order.
The House bipartisan Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is currently reviewing a bill that would nullify Trump's executive order.
The most visible labor action is by far strikes. Kelly said it is an extension of workers' First Amendment rights. In 1962, the Supreme Court upheld the right to strike with or without a union.
The focus of a strike is to intentionally withhold labor, and generally comes after multiple attempts to negotiate with employers.
Before a formal strike, workers will engage in other tactics which can include protest marches, rallying letter writing to bring attention to their concerns.
Unions decide collectively what actions will be taken including if and when they strike, through a ballot system, where members have a say in what actions ensuring the process is democratic.
'The highest level of that collective action is going on strike and that needs to be protected otherwise everything else falls apart,' Kelly said.
Zuniga, the president of UDW 3930 and a home care worker for her son, said the workers she represents are often disrespected and looked as less than for the work they do.
'Without the union, we wouldn't have a shot,' she said.
