Wonderful Nurseries, LLC has filed a lawsuit against the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) in Kern County Superior Court, contending that the newly implemented card check law is unconstitutional.

As discussed here, over recent months, a conflict has escalated between Wonderful Nurseries and the United Farm Workers (UFW). In March, the ALRB announced that UFW had submitted 327 authorization cards, representing a majority of the workforce at Wonderful Nurseries. However, nearly 150 employees had previously submitted signed declarations to the ALRB, stating that they did not realize the cards were votes to unionize, and were led to believe by UFW that the cards were limited to accessing $600 in federal Covid relief funds.

According to the lawsuit, the law mandates that employers must begin collective bargaining within 90 days after a union is certified, which in this case falls on June 3. Wonderful asserts that the card check law unfairly excludes employers from the unionization process. Furthermore, the company argues that the new law lacks requirements for dating authorization cards and does not include an independent verification process to confirm that a majority of employees genuinely support unionization. Consequently, the company is requesting an injunction to preventing the Board from enforcing the certification with respect to Wonderful until a verdict is reached in the lawsuit.

The resolution of this legal challenge holds significant implications for the unionization process of agricultural workers in California. Western Growers is closely monitoring the case, and will report on future developments as they occur.