LA Times: Bill would make it easier for California farmworkers to unionize

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/01/local/la-me-card-check-20110401

The legislation would give farmworkers the option of unionizing without the usual petition, followed by a secret-ballot election. Instead they could submit cards signed by a majority of workers to state labor officials.


Men work on a farm near Arvin, Calif., in Kern County. California Senate… (Kirk McKoy, Los Angeles Times)
April 01, 2011|By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times


April 01, 2011|By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Sacramento -- State lawmakers acted Thursday to make it easier for California farmworkers to unionize.

The legislation would give farmworkers the option of unionizing without the usual petition, followed by a secret-ballot election. Instead they could submit cards signed by a majority of workers to state labor officials.

The measure was approved on a 24-14 party-line vote by the state Senate and sent to the Assembly on Cesar Chavez Day, the state holiday recognizing the co-founder of the United Farm Workers. Supporters are betting it will get a better reception from Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown than from his Republican predecessor, who vetoed similar bills.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) introduced the bill, saying it was needed to reduce employer intimidation of farmworkers, who must now go to public polling places to ratify unions.

"There are countless cases and countless stories of farmworkers who are told that if they vote to join a union, they will be out of a job the next day," Steinberg told his colleagues. "They are told they will be reported to immigration."

FULL story at link.