The Crush - October 2021 - 5

STATE FOCUS
Voices Heard: Card Check Legislation Vetoed
By Michael Miiller
Gov. Newsom in September vetoed AB 616 (Stone, D-Santa
Cruz), which would have given labor unions total control over
the process by which ag employees would choose whether to
join a union. A special thank you to those growers who took time
during this busy harvest season to email Newsom asking for a
veto and to those who attended the Sept. 9 rally in Sacramento.
Your voices were heard.
AB 616 would have created an election process whereby
unions could contact employees by email, text, regular mail
and personal visits to an employee's home and workplace. The
unions would be allowed to help employees complete the ballots
and then unions would collect the ballots. Once the union had
sufficient ballots in hand, the union could send the ballots to the
Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB), which would have
only five days to review and approve the outcome of the election.
Proponents of AB 616 argued this bill was not a card check
measure. Instead, they said the bill would just make it easy for ag
employees to vote by mail by using the 2020 presidential election
as a model. However, in 2020, voters had several methods of
voting, including in person, drop boxes and by mailing ballots
to the county elections office. If the 2020 presidential election
was truly like the AB 616 process, as proponents alleged, one
candidate (either Biden or Trump) would have collected each and
every ballot, tabulated those ballots and then sent the ballots to
elections officials.
In his veto, Newsom stated, " This bill contains various
inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection
and review of ballot cards. Significant changes to California's
well-defined agricultural labor laws must be carefully crafted to
ensure that both agricultural workers' intent to be represented
and the right to collectively bargain is protected, and the state
can faithfully enforce those fundamental rights. "
Similar past " card check " legislation
was also vetoed by Govs. Brown
and Schwarzenegger. In an effort
to avoid repeating history through
continued legislative fights on the
issue, Newsom directed the Labor
and Workforce Development Agency
to work collaboratively with the
ALRB and all relevant stakeholders
to develop new policies for legislative
consideration to address this issue.
CAWG will be a part of that effort and we will work to ensure
that such future legislation represents an authentic collaborative
approach of all stakeholders.
California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson and Duarte Nursery Labor
Manager Patricia Lopez (surrounded by fellow employees) spoke at a Sept. 9
rally at the Capitol in Sacramento. Photo: California Farm Bureau
CAWG.ORG 5

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB616 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB616 https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/AB-616-9.22.21.pdf https://www.agalert.com/story/?id=15293 https://www.agalert.com/story/?id=15293 https://www.cawg.org/

The Crush - October 2021

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