California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed Assembly Bill 2183 into law on Sept. 28, a highly controversial bill that will expand union rights for farmworkers.
The legislation was introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) and creates additional ways for farmworkers to vote in a union election, including by mail and through authorization cards submitted to the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board.
The California Farm Bureau (CFB) was opposed to the bill from the get-go.
“The governor’s unfortunate decision to sign this bill will create a mail-in balloting system that threatens the integrity of secret ballot elections and leaves farm employees vulnerable to intimidation by union organizers with an obvious interest in the outcome,” said CFB President Jamie Johansson in a statement.
“It also forces California’s farmers and ranchers to choose to give up free speech and private property rights in a dubious trade to allow their employees a real voice in a union election.”
