photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Scenes from the July 18 demonstration included signs displayed next to Rodney Strong's
entrance (top left), winery worker supporters marching across from the winery on 
Old Redwood Highway (top right), and a speech of support from 12th District Assembly 
member Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael) (bottom).

Workers at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg are pushing to unionize.

Longtime employees, and a Rodney Strong representative were on opposite side of Old Redwood Highway during a weekend demonstration outside the winery.

Besides a rude gesture from a passing driver, a brief encounter with a drone, and the presence of a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy, Rodney Strong warehouse employees and hundreds of their supporters gathered without issue outside the winery on Saturday, 18 July.

The demonstration was across the street from a company-organized disco party at its Healdsburg hub, in support of a unionization effort.

Over 45 employees at Rodney Strong's warehouse - including maintenance, bottling, distribution, and lab workers - say they've been looking to join the Teamsters Local 665 union since May this year.

Glenn Solis said he's worked at Rodney Strong for the past 18 years.

"We want to decide if getting a union is a solution for us," Solis said.

Solis, who works in shipping & receiving, said he and his co-workers at the warehouse are looking for a card check neutrality agreement.

It's a kind of voluntary recognition of a union by an employer.

"t's going on another year that I haven't gotten a raise and my my cost of living is gone up, insurance has gone up," Solis said.

Solis said so far Rodney Strong has informed the workers of their rights, but he and other employees say the company has hired consultants to dissuade them from unionizing. A spokesperson for Rodney Strong said they believe the unionization decision, "is best made through the longstanding federally regulated process, which provides employees with the opportunity to express their views privately and independently through a secret-ballot election."

Over 250 supporters and family members joined Solis and the Rodney Strong workers at the weekend picket, among them Healdsburg council member Chris Herrod, Sonoma County 2nd District Supervisor candidate Joanna Paun, Rohnert Park council member Jackie Elward, and Assembly member Damon Connolly.

"Let's face it, we appreciate the wine industry in Sonoma County and any success it can have," 12th District Assembly member Damon Connolly said to a group of supporters assembled by North Bay Jobs with Justice. "The backbone of this industry is the workers. Am I right? It doesn't happen without you."

Rodney Strong communications director Christopher O'Gorman noted that the winery's issue is not with the workers exploring unionization, but said, they believe, "a Card Check Neutrality Agreement limits our ability to share information with employees, reduces transparency, and, most importantly, replaces the protections of a secret-ballot election with a process that does not provide the same level of privacy for employees making this important decision."