Posts tagged AB 2183
Op-ed: Controversy trails labor union wins under card check
May 20, 2024 // During the meetings, according to the reports, organizers also helped workers apply through an online portal for one-time pandemic-relief payments of $600 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA awarded grants to 14 nonprofit organizations, including the UFW Foundation, to disperse the funds to eligible workers. In February, UFW submitted cards to the ALRB signed by 327 of Wonderful Nurseries’ 640 employees. Within days, the company contested the union petition, saying UFW had defrauded its workers. The nursery handed over sworn declarations from 148 employees who said they were tricked into signing the cards and wanted to revoke them. In one declaration, a nursery employee described a meeting at a co-worker’s house organized by UFW Vice President Erika Navarrete. “She had me sign a white card with an eagle and told me to sign a piece of paper. She told me this was part of the process to apply for the $600, but she never explained to me or the others that this was part of the union,” the worker said. “They lied to us.”
Farming giant claims UFW lied to farmworkers to unionize under new law
April 9, 2024 // An apparently successful card check campaign to unionize Wonderful Nurseries faces allegations of a scheme involving $600 federal relief funds.
California Governor Confirms Unionization of Agricultural Employees Through “Card Check” Process: Your Top 3 Takeaways
May 22, 2023 // Governor Newsom recently signed a bill into law clarifying that a single alternative to the traditional secret ballot method – an alternative known as the “card check” election – may be used for unions to organize at agricultural work settings in California. AB 113, which was signed on May 15 and takes effect immediately, amends last year’s controversial AB 2183. As we previously reported here, AB 2183 provided that employers could enter an agreement called a “Labor Peace Compact” where they would agree to act neutrally with respect to unionization. In turn, instead of participating in a card check election, these employees would vote either in-person through the traditional secret ballot election or through a secret mail-in ballot election. AB 113 eliminates the secret mail-in ballot election and the “Labor Peace Compact” altogether.
New California law that facilitates farmworker unionization could already see changes
May 12, 2023 // In a Majority Support Petition, a union would be certified to represent workers after it submits proof that it has the support, typically in the form of collected signatures, of a majority of workers within a workplace to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Unions prefer the majority support process because the formal election process can be a drawn-out process that gives employers time to discourage unionization, sometimes through illegal means, such as threats.
CA Farmworkers’ Right to Unionize by Mail May Change
March 8, 2023 // If a majority voted to unionize, the employer had to recognize the union. Labor advocates say this process poses significant barriers for farmworker unionization, as many workers fear employer retaliation. More than half of California’s farmworkers are undocumented. Also a 2021 Supreme Court decision put limits on union organizers’ access to growers’ property. Farmworkers are not covered by the union protections afforded most other workers under the National Labor Relations Act. California’s agricultural workers didn’t gain the right to unionize until 1975, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, after years of United Farm Workers activism to improve work conditions.
Farmworker union bill may impact Valley more than other new laws
January 3, 2023 // Farm workers and supporters of the bill celebrated its signing as a huge win for equalized rights for farm workers. Delano Mayor Bryan Osorio was one of the supporters who began the march with farm workers as they departed for their journey. “This was a very important bill for the United Farm Workers, and many allied organizations across the Central Valley and across California, who want farmworkers to have a better or safer way of voting in union elections,” Osorio said. California agricultural groups said the bill and supplemental agreement represents a dramatic departure from rules protecting farm employees from coercion in union votes. “We’re disappointed,” said California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson. “‘Card check is simply devoid of that privacy and the right to freely decide how you want to be represented based on what’s best for you and your family.
More Power Given to UFW To Unionize Farms
October 31, 2022 // Manuel Cunha, Jr., Nisei Farmers League President said that he was “very disappointed that many of his members and their workers have had their right to a secret ballot taken away by the passage of AB 2183.
Labor Unions Trying Again for “Card Check” for California Farmworkers
April 14, 2022 // Card check elections give employers cause for concern. Commenters have noted that by taking away a voter’s secrecy, the employee’s vote is subject to intimidation because there is no longer voter anonymity – union representatives are able to track an employee’s votes. A union may also prefill a ballot card and present it to employee for signature without anything more. There is also concern of unions intimidating and threatening workers who do not sign off on the ballot cards, or pro-union employees using peer pressure to change a co-worker’s “vote.”