Susan Wood - North Bay Business Journal
May 28, 2025
North Bay Jobs with Justice announced the settlement Wednesday. The complaint had accused vineyard management company of retaliating against a group of farmworkers who had joined a labor protest in July.
More than 40 North Bay farmworkers and supporters, many chanting and carrying signs, gathered at Healdsburg Plaza on Wednesday to mark a victory over claims of unfair labor practices by a vineyard management company.
A settlement reached by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board May 21 ordered Redwood Empire Vineyard Management to pay $33,548 in lost wages to seven workers.
The farmworkers accused the Geyserville company of removing them from duty during the 2024 harvest because of their role in a mass protest last July that led to a temporary shutdown of the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge.
Farmworker Jose Alejandro Cuevas Fuentes filed a legal complaint Sept. 5 against Redwood Empire Vineyard’s human resources manager for “retaliating against him and others” by erasing their names from the grape harvest sign-up sheet. Others accused of retaliation included the office manager and chief of operations, the owner, and a supervisor.
“I’m here because I want to make sure what happened to me won’t happen to any other farmworker because it made me feel as low as I could be,” Cuevas said to the crowd, calling the experience “a humiliation” at one point. “I was feeling down, but now I feel pride.”
Fuentes, who now works for Sonoma Cutrer, spent six years at the vineyard management company. He told supporters, including at least a handful of fellow co-workers, that he’s grateful over the outcome.
“We’re here to celebrate a huge victory,” North Bay Jobs with Justice lead organizer Aura Aguilar said, adding workers must keep fighting to achieve dignified wages for all.
The farmworker advocacy group joined Fuentes legal fight, filing its own claim of a labor practice violation on Oct. 28. The two complaints were consolidated into the state labor board’s case.
Following an investigation, the board found reasonable cause that Redwood Empire Vineyard Management was aware of the employee protest and manipulated internal hiring procedures to exclude workers who participated in the march.
Beyond providing back pay within 10 days from the May 21 settlement date, company executives must also reinstate the workers for this year’s harvest, undergo specialized training, and get rid of contract language that allowed the company to fire workers who tried to negotiate higher wages.
Co-owner Tyler Klick declined Tuesday to comment on behalf of Redwood Empire Vineyard Management in the case. His firm oversees more than 2,000 vineyards that sell grapes to brands such as Silver Oak, Kendall-Jackson Wine Estate and Ramey Wine Cellars.
The dispute highlights a battle between farmworkers and the $1.2 billion wine industry dating back to 2021, when North Bay Jobs with Justice developed a farmworkers bill of rights aimed at improving work conditions and wages. Sonoma County farmworkers have pushed to increase their pay by up to $25 an hour. The current industry wage rate averages $19.50.
The friction was underscored when former U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su visited Wine Country a year ago while using Balletto Vineyards as a backdrop to announce new federal farmworker protection rules, particularly those related to the H-2A program.
This isn’t the first legal challenge of its kind against a member of the wine industry.
A separate complaint was filed with the California labor board against a contractor for Foley Family Farms in September 2023. Dos Vinas Vineyard Management was accused of firing eight workers when they asked for a raise and used their sick days. The case was settled last fall, with Foley’s contractor ordered to pay $18,000 in lost wages.
North Bay Labor Council Executive Director Jack Buckhorn said he was “a little surprised” the Redwood Empire Vineyard Management case led to a settlement.
“Employers usually fight this stuff,” Buckhorn said. “The only reason we see employers settling is if there’s evidence they made these threats. Rarely does it come out in a worker’s best interest.”