UFW “Card Check Election” Bill Introduced in Sacramento

Democratic members of the California Legislature are strongly backing a push by the UFW to allow the union to use “card check elections” in place of secret ballot elections for purposes of certifying the UFW for collective bargaining representation.  The bill would allow the UFW to obtain from the ALRB pre-printed election cards for each employee of the targeted employer.  The cards would carry the pre-printed name and home address of the employee and, once signed by the employee, would constitute a vote in favor of certification of the UFW.  If the UFW presented a majority of signed cards to the ALRB, the election would be declared valid.  Similar legislation targeting other industries is moving through Congress, but President Bush has promised to veto any card check bill that reaches his desk.

Agriculture industry representatives testified in opposition to SB 180, pointing out that UFW co-founder Cesar Chavez insisted that secret ballot elections must be included in the ALRA.  Clearly, intimidation or other undue influence over an employee’s decision on union representation can come from both parties in interest – the union as well as the employer.  Barry Bedwell, President of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, noted in testimony in front of the Senate Labor Committee that the ALRB recently issued a cease-and-desist order against the UFW for, among other things, intimidation of union members who had requested to opt-out of having a portion of their dues go to the union’s political action program, as is their right under state law.

“SB 180 strips away an essential worker protection, the right to vote in private without either of the contending parties knowing how you voted,” said Dave Puglia, WG’s Vice President of State Government Affairs.  “It is very disappointing that a large majority of the Legislature’s Democrats have placed their names in support of something so fundamentally unfair and wrong.  Under SB 180, the employer would be unable to communicate with employees as they cast their votes.  The UFW, however, would be both a party in interest and the conductor of the election, having access to employees at their homes and places of work, and, most appallingly, given the power to present the ballot to the employee, urge the employee to vote in favor of certification, watch and record how the employee votes and act as official custodian of the ballots.” 

WG has mounted a major offensive against this legislation and the state’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency has stated its opposition to the bill, placing the Schwarzenegger Administration on record.  SB 180 is authored by state Senator Carole Migden, a Democrat from San Francisco.

 For more information, contact WG’s Dave Puglia (dpuglia@wga.com) at (916) 446-1435.