From today’s Sacramento Bee:
A Kern County decision handed down earlier this month could be the first step in an industry-wide effort to overturn a 2023 California law making it easier for farmworkers to unionize. The ruling temporarily halts United Farm Workers’ recent organizing efforts at Wonderful Co. — one of the largest agricultural companies in the world. It is the latest twist in a monthslong, powerful battle between the historic labor union and Wonderful.
In February, UFW used the new law to become the union representative for more than 600 Wonderful workers. Under the law, farmworkers can sign authorization cards to vote for union representation, a method supporters say is intended to lessen employer retaliation. Within days, the company contested the election results, and alleged UFW organizers had misled almost half of the farmworkers who signed union cards. UFW immediately countered, saying Wonderful had intimidated its workers to reject union representation. The state Agricultural Labor Relations Board General Counsel has since issued a formal complaint, alleging Wonderful coerced workers to attend meetings and helped them sign declarations to take back their union vote. Wonderful escalated the dispute by suing the ALRB, arguing that the new law was “unconstitutional.”
The July 18 decision in favor of the company could signal looming danger for this advancement in farmworker labor protections. The judge issued a preliminary injunction in the ruling and said Wonderful was “likely to prevail” in its lawsuit.
Read the complete story here.