Farmworkers union fights against secret ballots

By E. J. SCHULTZ
Sacramento Bee
Monday, May 14, 2007

With the farm labor movement in its infancy, legendary organizer Cesar Chavez won a major victory in 1975 with the passage of a state law that guaranteed secret ballot elections for farmworker unions.

Now the union Chavez helped found is fighting against secret ballots, claiming the process allows for company intimidation _ and ultimately, union losses.

A bill backed by the United Farm Workers union would allow for workers to sign cards instead of cast ballots in union elections. If a majority of workers sign up, the union would be certified almost immediately.

Senate Bill 180 was authored by Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.

"Farmworkers' lives are hard enough _ this will make the process easier for them to express themselves," said Richie Ross, a UFW lobbyist.

But industry leaders say the legislation is "undemocratic."

"It infringes on the very fundamental right of the farmworker to a secret ballot," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League. "I don't believe you correct a perceived injustice by creating a bigger injustice and taking away the employee's rights."

The right to secret ballots is cemented in the 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act. In the wake of the law, farm unions had great success securing union contracts. But organizers have been stung by losses in recent years.

Farm unions, including the UFW, won only a little more than half of all elections _ 73 of 132 _ between 1990 and October 2005, according to data from the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees elections.

Labor leaders, in part, blame the process. Farmworkers wishing to join a union must first submit a petition signed by a majority of employees. The ALRB must then hold a secret ballot election within seven days.

Unions claim that during the waiting period, businesses discourage yes votes by intimidating workers. The UFW says tactics include threatening to close down if the union wins, firing or blacklisting pro-union workers, or threatening to shutter company housing.

Such threats are considered unfair labor practices and are illegal under state law. The remedy is to set aside the election results.

SB 180 would allow for workers to choose an alternative method known as "card-check" organizing.

Employees wishing to join a union would be asked to sign cards. If more than 50 percent of workers sign up, organizers would submit a petition to the ALRB. The ALRB would then have 48 hours to verify the signatures and certify the union.

The bill also would levy new fines for unfair labor practices.

SB 180 passed the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on a 3-2 vote, with Republicans opposed. It will be heard today by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position. But his administration's Labor & Workforce Development Agency opposes the bill, saying in a letter that the proposed change "undermines" the right to a secret ballot election.

Bedwell said the card-check system is unfair because it limits the company's chance to state its case -- by reminding employees of their current benefits, for example.

"Both sides should be heard," he said.

Workers might agree to an election but vote against a union once in the voting booth, he said.

"At that point, they look at it and (say) I don't believe the union is going to do anything more than what is already done for me," he said.

But union officials say their message gets drowned out because organizers have limited access to workers in the days before an election.

"The current system is like an election in which one side gets television (advertising) ... and the other side doesn't get TV -- they only get to go door to door," Ross said.

Access wasn't as big an issue in the union's early days when organizers could reliably find workers laboring on the same fields day after day, he said. Now, with labor contractors involved, workers get shifted to a different location almost every day, so it's "tough to even find them," Ross said.

The UFW believes that card-check organizing would level the playing field because organizers would not have to worry about companies campaigning against the union in the days leading to an election.

Card-check organizing is not unprecedented. Some public sector employees are covered by the provision, including teachers and local government workers. In addition to farmworkers, labor leaders are fighting for a card-check system for tribal casino workers.

The Legislature's Democrats last year blocked ratification of several gaming compacts agreed to by the Schwarzenegger administration because the deals left out card-check provisions. The issue continues to stall approval of the deals this year.

(Contact E.J. Schultz at eschultz(at)fresnobee.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)