Pacific Triple E Produce, a Tracy-based grower, packer and shipper of market tomatoes, has reached an agreement with United Farm Workers for a three-year union contract.

The contract was ratified at the UFW office Thursday, June 28, in Stockton. Jon Esformes, operating partner of Triple E, and Arturo Rodriguez, UFW president, signed the document.

In announcing the labor agreement, Esformes declared that the contract will allow Triple E to continue “to enhance the level of mutual respect the firm has had with its employees for many years.”

“When the UFW approached us last fall, we found that we held many common ideals, which allowed us to quickly establish the line of communication that was honorable, transparent and non-confrontational,” Esformes said.

He noted that Pacific Triple E is a fourth-generation firm that has been in business for more than 50 years. Pacific Triple E has operations at his packing shed on Linne Road in the Carbona area south of Tracy.

Its parent firm has another market tomato operation and company headquarters in Palmetto, Fla.

Rodriguez, the UFW president, said the contract with Triple E is “a great victory for these workers.”

“The three-year contract we are signing with Pacific Triple E also makes them the best-paid tomato workers in the nation,” he said.

The contract provides wage increases of 12 percent to 57.4 percent over the life of the agreement for hourly and daily-rate employees. Other highlights of the contract include a pension plan, grievance procedure, seniority and job security, Rodriguez said.

Pacific Triple E works with growers throughout this area to grow tomatoes — “greens” and “pinks” — for the fresh market and has crews pick the tomatoes in the fields. The harvested tomatoes are packed at the Carbona facility before shipping to all parts of the country.

The first phase of the shipping season already has been started at the Linne Road packing plant. A second phase could extend through October, depending on the weather and the market.