Ballot-card bill approved; Farm Bureau urges veto ByKevinHecteman
Board with ballot cards signed by a ma- jority of employees in the potential bar- gaining unit. The b i l l wou l d re f e r t o t he s e - cret-ballot system as a “polling place election,” according to the legislative counsel’s digest. The California Farm Bureau opposes the bill and will host a state Capitol rally against the measure on Sept. 9 at 11 a.m. It argues that secret-ballot elections,
conducted under the supervision of the ALRB, better protect employees from intimidation or coercion from any party with a vested interest in the outcome. Farm Bureau contends that the bal- lot-card system would allow union or- ganizers to fill out ballot cards, pressure employees into signing them, and then return them to the ALRB. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this is tantamount to a
system called “card check,” in which a union seeking to organize a workplace only needs a simple majority of signed authorization cards to become the employees’ bargaining representative, even if a majority of employees want a secret-ballot election. Fa rm Bu r e au P r e s i den t Jami e Johansson said he was extremely disap- pointed that the Senate approved the bill in late August. “The fact is that there will be farmem- ployees who show up to work one day only to find that they are part of a union, without ever having an opportunity to voice their own desire,” Johansson said. “They are already suffering from lost jobs due to drought, reduced paychecks due to the overtime law, and now the Senate takes their right to vote away.” Having cleared the Senate, the bill now goes back to the Assembly for concur- rence on amendments before heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We sincerelyhope the governor values the dignity of farmemployees enough to protect themfromintimidation, preserve their right to vote and protect the sancti- ty of the secret ballot by vetoing this bad bill,” Johansson said. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.) CDFA seeks grant proposals for ag education funds California Department of Food and Agriculture is accepting proposals for the 2021 California Agriculture Special Interest License Plate grant program, or CalAgPlate. The application deadline is Sept. 30. Through CalAgPlate, grant funds for agriculture education are generated from sales of agriculture-themed license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles. The funds promote agri- cultural education and leadership activi- ties for students at the K-12, post-second- ary and adult education levels. The CalAgPlate program projects $225,000 in grant funding available. Since theprogram’s inception, it has fund- edmore than $1.6million in youth educa- tional activities. Funding is available on a competi- tive basis for state-adopted Agricultural Education Programs, government agen- cies and nonprofit organizations that ad- minister agricultural educationprograms. Prospective applicants are encouraged to visit the program’s website at www. cdfa.ca.gov/calagplate for detailed ap- plication instructions. People can help support agricultural education and the CalAgPlate program by purchasing a special interest license plate at their local DMV office or online.
A bill that would replace secret-bal- lot elections for union organizing with a system known as “card check” is one step closer to the governor’s desk after clearing the California Senate. Assembl y Bi l l 616 , authored by Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, would allow farm employees in- terested in organizing to submit a peti- tion to the Agricultural Labor Relations
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16 Ag Alert September 8, 2021
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