California farmworker union bill heads back to Gavin Newsom. Will he veto it again?
A measure that would allow farmworkers to vote by mail in union elections is headed back to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, one year after he vetoed a similar version of the bill.
Assembly Bill 2183, backed by the United Farm Workers, passed the Senate in a 26-10 vote, and returned to the Assembly for a final confirmation vote on changes.
It now awaits a decision by Newsom, who released a statement last Thursday night saying, in its current form, he does not support the bill. That came one day before UFW completed its biggest show-of-force since 2002 and completed a 24-day march in Sacramento to pressure Newsom to sign the bill.
Newsom’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.
If approved, farmworkers can choose to vote at a physical location or by mailing a representation ballot card to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) office.
The legislation has faced staunch opposition from the agricultural industry and grower associations and widespread support among labor groups.
Newsom vetoed a comparable bill last year, citing “various inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection and review of ballot cards. The UFW responded by protesting at a winery Newsom owns and at the French Laundry, the Napa County restaurant where Newsom attended a lobbyist’s birthday at a time in the coronavirus pandemic when he was asking Californians to stay away from large groups.
Since then, Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Santa Cruz, who wrote the UFW bill, has negotiated with the governor to address concerns. These amendments include allowing ALRB to handle and mail all ballots and a sunset date of Jan. 1, 2028. That date would end all provisions of the bill, unless later legislation is approved.
“We know that the governor doesn’t completely agree with how we’ve implemented it, but if we don’t implement with what’s been written, then the farmworkers are really not going to be able to take the vote the way that they feel they need to take that vote,” said Stone, at Monday’s Assembly hearing.
Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles said the bill is “90%” of what the governor asked for.
“This bill, in this form, gives farmworkers a chance to fix a system that has not worked for a long time,” Durazo said.
Democratic lawmakers and Newsom remain at odds over Newsom’s request that the bill include a requirement for employers to receive an advance notice of the specific date of a union election.
“There’s a national standard for how these mail-in elections are run,” Anthony York, spokesperson for the governor’s office, said on a phone call with The Bee on Friday morning. “Thousands of workers have been using them (those standards) to unionize and we believe that should be the standard.”
UFW leaders point out this “standard,” taken from National Labor Relations Act model, does not work for farmworkers, given their history with threats of intimidation and deportation.
“Farmworkers are undocumented and completely vulnerable to intimidation,” Durazo said. “And fears of deportation are too convenient to ignore their reality.”
Opponents argue the bill will lead to forced unionization in the agriculture industry, and is a transparent attempt by UFW to increase its membership. Today, the union has about 6,000 members, down from an estimated 70,000 in the 1970s.
Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield spoke for those in opposition of the bill.
“The system will take away the employee’s ability to privately vote,” said Grove. “It will open the door to employees and their families to be pressured by labor and other organizations.”
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 5:44 PM.
