Secret Ballot Elections

... AB 2386, the legislation sponsored by former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and called "The Secret Ballot For Farmworkers" bill. The legislation passed the Senate Monday, 23-15. It's headed to the governor's desk, where it could face a veto. There is a strong argument for the legislation, but the bill's name is highly deceptive. Or to put it another way, the bill would do the opposite of what the legislation's name might suggest. 

California farmworkers already have the right to decide via secret ballot whether they want to be represented by a union or not. This has been true since the Agricultural Labor Relations Act passed in 1975. And while federally supervised secret ballot elections are the law for almost all workers, farmworkers in the Golden State have a better set-up for these elections than almost anyone else. Loose deadlines and language in the National Labor Relations Act have permitted companies in most industries to delay such elections for months if not years. Companies often use that time to fire workers who are leading the organizing or otherwise intimidate workers. In California, the ALRA guarantees farm workers -- once union cards are in and certified -- only a seven-day wait before the election is held. Farmworkers face sophisticated anti-union campaigns like other workers, but these campaigns are shorter because of ALRA. The law governing farmworkers is the envy of union organizers in other industries.