California Gov. Newsom Signs Farmworker Unionization Bill Into Law

After vetoing similar legislation last year and threatening to do so again last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday signed Assembly Bill 2183 into law, making it easier for farmworkers in the state to participate in union elections.

The Democratic governor’s about-face on the measure represents a major victory for labor leaders. It follows a monthslong push by United Farm Workers of America (UFW) and the California Labor Federation (CLF) and comes in the wake of pressure from President Joe Biden and two high-ranking national Democrats with California ties—Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A.B. 2183, which the CLF called “the most consequential private sector organizing bill in our state’s history,” gives farmworkers a streamlined way to unionize without having to cast a ballot at a polling place on or near growers’ property following a monthslong anti-union campaign.

Proponents say the newly enacted law, which contains several provisions aimed at preventing union-busting and dozens of agriculture industry groups opposed it, will make it harder for bosses to subdue and retaliate against the workers who provide most of the nation’s fruits and vegetables, many of whom are undocumented and fearful of deportation.

When California’s Democratic-led Legislature approved the bill last month, Newsom’s office expressed opposition. The governor only signed it after his administration, the CLF, and UFW “reached a ‘supplemental agreement’ on provisions that will be introduced in the next legislative session,” the New York Times reported Wednesday.

According to the Associated Press: “The agreement includes a cap on the number of unionization petitions over the next five years and will allow state regulators to better protect worker confidentiality and safety, Newsom’s office said. It would do away with an option for workers to unionize through mail-in voting that the current language carries, but keeps a ‘card check’ election process.”

Under the revised law, farmworkers will still have the opportunity to “vote from home or anywhere else they feel comfortable,” reducing the likelihood of employer intimidation, UFW legislative and political director Giev Kashkooli told the news outlet.

The effort to secure free and fair union elections follows “years of dwindling union membership among California farmworkers,” the Times noted. “There are more than 400,000 agricultural workers in the state,” but the percentage who are part of a union is “statistically zero,” according to recent estimates based on data from a 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey.

Also on Wednesday, Newsom signed A.B. 2530, which protects the healthcare benefits of striking workers. As Unite Here put it, the newly enacted law allows workers to “exercise their right to strike for better jobs without jeopardizing their families’ access to care.”

Originally published at Commondreams.org.