NATALIE HANSON Press Democrat
Jun 30, 2026
A family-owned Healdsburg winery is fighting an attempt by the Teamsters Union to organize its production workers, but officials with several unions say they’re hoping a groundswell of support from laborers across industries shows a growing desire for organizing as the wine industry struggles.
Teamsters Local 665, which represents workers in eight Bay Area counties across various industries, says the majority of bottling, warehouse and other production workers at Rodney Strong Vineyards are in favor of union representation. Union organizers petitioned the winery in May to enter into a neutrality agreement and allow a “card check” process to recognize the union without holding a formal election.
Rodney Strong Vineyards managers have rejected the petition, saying any unionization effort should go through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) secret-ballot election process.
“Card check neutrality agreements restrict our organization’s right to make its views known, dilute transparency and rules protecting employees’ individual choices, and — most important — deprive each employee of the right to make a choice free from pressure or influence by taking away the right to a secret ballot election,” the company said in a statement.
The organizing employees say they are pursuing a collective bargaining agreement with support from Teamsters Local 665 and North Bay Jobs with Justice, due to concerns about layoffs and stagnant wages. Some vineyard workers at other wineries have already seen their hours cut by as much as half as vintners increasingly turn to employing day laborers on H-2A visas.
It’s the largest organizing effort at a Sonoma County winery in decades, Teamsters Local 665 president Mike Yates told The Press Democrat, at a time when the wine industry is in crisis amid declining rates of U.S. alcohol consumption.
Founded in 1959, Rodney Strong Vineyards operates 12 estate vineyards and employs 173 workers who produce 550,000 cases annually.
After Rodney Strong’s management rejected their petition for a neutrality agreement and card check union recognition process, more than 150 workers and labor advocates rallied at the 1,158 acre winery on June 20. Workers said at the rally that the company laid off 25 employees in February and health insurance costs will rise July 1, while wages have not increased within the last year.
The Teamsters Union provided quotes from workers like warehouse lead Rafael Malfavon, with 10 years at Rodney Strong, who said his wages have put him in a position “where I have to make hard decisions like whether I buy food or new shoes.”
“The company talks a lot about how we are a family, but how are we going to feel like a family when I can’t even afford to rent my own apartment? I had to take on a second job, and I feel tired, frustrated, and more than anything depressed that I only have time to talk to my wife during my 15 minute breaks at work,” Malfavon said.
Abraham Silva, a barrels and cellar worker with 19 years at the winery, added “I have seen injustices to us as workers in the winery when we complain about problems, and management doesn’t help us. When a manager gave me a warning, and yelled at me really badly, I felt really disillusioned when I was only doing my job. I am not the only one who has experienced this, and all of us as workers deserve to be respected.”
The company’s rejection of a card check neutrality agreement means workers would typically next go through a NLRB secret-ballot election process. That would require organizers to file a petition supported by at least 30 percent of eligible employees so the federal agency can determine whether to hold an election and schedule a vote.
But Rodney Strong production workers say they are still hoping for voluntary recognition by the vineyard, citing support from other community and labor groups who attended the June 20 rally such as Graton Day Laborer Center, Santa Rosa Teachers Association, North Bay Organizing Project and SEIU 2015.
Rise of ‘card check’ recognition
The rise of neutrality agreements and card check union recognition in the 1990s was “a major development in labor-management relations in this country,” Fordham University School of Law Professor James Brudney wrote in 2004, with over 80% of union organizing taking place without an election.
The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, a pro-business group formed in 2005 to oppose card check recognition, claims the process replaces “a neutral, NLRB-supervised secret ballot election with organizing campaigns too often based on intimidation and deception.”
Yates told The Press Democrat in an interview that card check neutrality agreements are a standard approach for the union, which helped organize workers with similar agreements in other industries, including members at Recology in San Mateo who voted to ratify a new five-year contract in May.
Card check agreements are beneficial for both employees and employers, Yates said: “It clearly states that neither side will use intimidation or coercion for the union obtaining cards or for the company.”
Rodney Strong Communications director Christopher O’Gorman disagreed, saying in a statement that decisions about workplace representation should “be made through the longstanding federally regulated framework, which ensures a transparent process where employees can express their views privately and independently without intimidation.”
The federally supervised election process “best protects employee choice,” the company said.
Organizers told The Press Democrat workers have only heard from the company through meetings with a retained consultant with labor relations consulting organization Redd Group, whose CEO is Jesse Rojas.
The Redd Group did not respond to requests for comment before publication. O’Gorman did not respond to questions about whether there have been layoffs or wage changes within the last year, and whether Rodney Strong retained Rojas.
Yates said retaining a consultation group is “normal” for a company, “to try to talk people out of going union.” He said he wants to see the company and employees find a mutually beneficial agreement: “When you’re working together, good things happen and companies are successful. But when it’s an us versus them mentality, it’s a lot harder.”
“I’m not looking to go to war with Rodney Strong, I’m looking to help the employees improve their working conditions,” Yates said. “And I mean the full picture — their ability to provide health care for their families, to provide for their families. Most of these employees really like working at Rodney Strong, which I don’t always hear. But they need some help.”
Vintners ripe for organizing?
It’s unclear if other vintners in the North Bay are concerned about their employees organizing.
When asked if Sonoma County Winegrowers has heard of similar situations at local wineries, head Karissa Kruse declined to comment. The nonprofit Sonoma County Vintners Foundation — whose president, Alexandra O’Gorman of Foley Family Wine & Spirits, is married to O’Gorman at Rodney Strong — did not respond to requests for comment.
Yates said that in the last year, the Teamsters union has gotten more calls about interest in organizing across multiple industries “than ever before.” While the United Farm Workers (UFW) successfully led unionizing efforts in the 1970s which led most table grape growers to sign union contracts, there have been few similar efforts since then.
In Napa County, the UFW has contracts with C. Mondavi & Family for its Charles Krug and St. Supery Winery for its Dollarhide Estate Vineyard. In Sonoma County, the union represents workers at Balleto and Gallo of Sonoma.
The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union says it represents 5,000 of about 57,000 production, sales and warehouse distribution workers at wineries around the country.
Both the UFW and UFCW signaled support for the organizers at Rodney Strong. Armando Elenes, secretary-treasurer for the UFW, said “We stand in solidarity with the winery workers at Rodney Strong Vineyards in their fight for a union, as workers across the California agricultural industry also fight for their own first union contract with the UFW.”
UFCW International division coordinator Cliff Thomas told The Press Democrat that “There’s no question that the California wine industry, like the wine industry worldwide, is undergoing changes, and with those changes comes uncertainty for thousands of workers.” He said 42 employees at Turner Road Vintners, owned by E. & J. Gallo Winery, on May 20 voted to join UFCW Local 186D, which represents distillery and wine workers from Charles Krug, Mondavi and Franzia.
“We hear from winery workers every day, who are looking to secure improved wages, better working conditions, and legally-binding protections against layoffs – all of which can be guaranteed with a union contract,” Thomas said. “We are always ready to support workers, whether an industry is booming or facing a downturn. Their hard work should be reflected in strong union contracts.”