Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images
Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would have relaxed the vote to organize farm workers into unions by eliminating the secret ballot.
The Bill, Assembly Bill 616 , would have allowed farm workers to receive ballots at home and fill them out outside the workplace . Previously all union elections were held personally as secret ballot elections .
The veto came when the organizers and supporters of the United Farm Workers (UFW) were on their first day of marching to Sacramento.
Shortly after the veto was announced, the UFW , a union that is often a staunch supporter of Newsom, said it would march “towards the French Laundry, hoping to finally meet with the Governor.”
The proposal was not without controversy, drawing claims from farmers’ advocates that it could create intimidation and coercion of workers by UFW organizers without the oversight of state regulators at the Agricultural Labor Relations Board.
Opponents of the measure argued that the bill was a form of “card control” , which, in a union election, is a process in which workers simply sign cards in support of the union.
In California employers must recognize the union if the majority of workers present cards to unionize.
You may be interested in: Newsom signs law that makes California the first state in set quota limits for retailers like Amazon
Governor Gavin Newsom said the bill “contains several inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection and review of voting cards.”
The bill was drawn up in the wake of the US Supreme Court ruling that stripped UFW organizers of the ability to enter farm properties to organize workers.
In its ruling, six of the justices held that the so-called “rule of thumb” from the Agricultural Labor Relations Board violated the Fifth Amendment prohibition of taking private property for public use without compensation fair.
It may interest you: It may interest you: Workers of Nabisco, maker of Oreo cookies, are on strike in five states