Farmworkers may be able to vote at home in union elections
When Baldomero Perez, a farmworker who lives in Bakersfield, voted in a union election in 2016, he saw many of his colleagues were fearful when they went to cast their ballots. Farmworker union elections often happen on the grower’s property. Perez, who works in the table grape, blueberry and mandarin industries, thinks farmworkers should be afforded the same options as Californians voting in state elections — including the option to consider their ballots at home and then drop them off or send them back in the mail.
“I’ve seen how different it is when people cast their vote by mail,” Perez said via a United Farm Workers translator. “The vote is safe, and they don’t receive pressure from anyone.”
California lawmakers are advancing a bill sponsored by UFW that would give farmworkers more ways to vote in union elections. AB 616 would allow workers to
receive ballots and fill them out wherever they please, on their own time. Then, they could hand deliver or mail their ballots to the state board that oversees farmworker union elections, or give them to a union organizer to deliver in a signed and sealed envelope.
It’s headed to the Assembly for a final vote after clearing the Senate last Thursday.
The bill comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that dealt a blow to farmworker organizing. In June, the conservative court overturned a long-standing California rule that allowed organizers to meet with farmworkers at their place of work. Farmworkers often also live in housing provided by growers on the farm property, making them even more difficult for organizers to reach.
Business groups and legislators opposed to the bill argue that it leaves workers more vulnerable to pressure or coercion from union organizers or coworkers. But supporters say it’s not uncommon for employers to dissuade workers from forming unions, sometimes through illegal tactics.
Few California farmworkers are unionized
Even before the Supreme Court ruling, few farmworkers in the state were unionized despite California’s status as the birthplace of farmworker organizing. Of the more than 407,000 farmworkers in California last year, just 6,626 were a part of UFW, the union founded by activists Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and others.
Right now, if a farmworker in California wants to organize their worksite they have to go through a couple of steps. Organizers must present a petition to
a state board and the employer showing that a majority of employees are interested in having a union
election. Then, an in-person secret ballot election is held, often at the worksite. If a majority of workers vote to form a union, the employer is required to recognize the union.
AB 616 would still allow in-person elections, but Assemblymember Mark Stone, who authored the bill, says the goal is to give farmworkers another way to vote — one that lines up with Californians’ option to vote at home in regular state elections.
“We found that being able to get ballots to people on their schedule, and (in) the way that they want to process it, increases participation,” said the Santa Cruz Democrat.
Under this measure, workers could cast their vote in the presence of another person. It’s important to note, however, if workers feel they have been coerced into voting a certain way — by a union representative, a colleague, or by their employer — they can bring complaints to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which oversees farmworker union elections, and potentially get the election overturned.
United Farm Workers bill labeled ‘job killer’
The California Chamber of Commerce, which has tagged the measure as a “job killer,” says it effectively eliminates secret ballot elections, which help protect workers from undue influence. “The benefit of a secret ballot election is it allows (workers) to go in and — in secret — write down what their choice is,” said Chamber lobbyist Ashley Hoffman.
The Western Growers Association, which also opposes the measure, makes similar points about the possibility of worker coercion and argues that if the bill were passed, organizers wouldn’t be required to give ballot cards to every worker. Once more than 50% of workers sign ballots expressing their desire to be represented by a union, the process can end. Stone disputes that workers who want a ballot might not get one.