The proposal that would strengthen union rights for California’s farmworkers has received backing from the White House. President Joe Biden released a statement this past Labor Day weekend supporting the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act, which would expand how farmworkers can vote in their union elections. Vice President Kamala Harris also endorsed the bill in a tweet.
“Farmworkers worked tirelessly and at great personal risk to keep food on America’s tables during the pandemic,” the president said. “In the state with the largest population of farmworkers, the least we owe them is an easier path to make a free and fair choice to organize a union.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had previously supported the bill. Endorsements from the nation’s leaders only add to the immense public pressure facing Gov. Gavin Newsom, who vetoed a version of the law last year. While California lawmakers passed the bill last week, Newsom has not yet signed it, even though he won many of the changes he requested.
RELATED STORY: California lawmakers pass farmworker bill as 24-hour vigil urges governor to sign
“I strongly support California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act (AB 2183), which will give California’s agricultural workers greater opportunity to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions,” the president’s statement said. “Government should work to remove—not erect—barriers to workers organizing. But ultimately workers must make the choice whether to organize a union.
”Unions transform how we work and live: higher wages, better benefits, like health insurance and paid leave, protections against discrimination and harassment, and a safer and healthier workplace,” the statement continued. “Unions built the middle class. And, unions give workers a voice. Workers’ voices are heard and heeded. Organizing or joining a union, that’s democracy in action. And it’s especially important today for Black and Brown workers whose voices have long been silenced through shameful race-based laws and policies.”
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As previously noted, the legislation would expand union election voting and allow farmworkers to cast their ballots through mail. This could protect many from intimidation that’s not uncommon when workers have to vote right where they also work. Last month, farmworkers launched a 335-mile march to convince Newsom to support the new version of the bill working its way through the legislature in recent months.
But as farmworkers reached Sacramento during the final leg of their march, Newsom said he wouldn’t support the bill in its current form, but was open to negotiations. Lawmakers then passed an amended version of the bill. But the proposal still sits on the governor’s desk even as he signed a landmark fast food workers’ bill that faced opposition from business groups. AB 2183 has similarly faced opposition from Big Ag. Newsom should continue to be bold and sign AB 2183 as well.
In her tweet, Harris said California’s farmworkers “have gone above and beyond to provide food for people across our nation. It's long past due that we create an easier path for these workers to organize a union.” Pelosi similarly noted that farmworkers feed our families, “but far too many can’t provide for theirs because they are exploited and don’t have a voice on the job. We can mend this injustice by expanding workers’ rights. I urge the governor to sign #AB2183 for the farmworkers and For The Children.”
This bill expanding farmworkers’ rights sits as the state is also facing a “brutal” heatwave where laborers are working in triple-digit temperatures. Cynthia Burgos, a farmworker from Bakersfield, told The Washington Post that “it’s just a miserable experience.” Temperatures there have hit 111. Cal/OSHA had warned several farmworking-rich communities were expected to see similar temperatures, and reminded employers of their obligations to provide fresh water, cool-down breaks, and training in case of heat-related emergency. But United Farm Workers’ Elizabeth Strater told The Washington Post it has been a struggle to get employers to adhere to rules.
“Farmworkers have collapsed and even died in these conditions,” the report said. Asuncion Valdivia collapsed and died after working for hours in 100-degree sun back in 2004. “On a day last year that surpassed 100 degrees, Burgos and other workers initiated a work stoppage because the only drinking water available was extremely hot. She is not working during this heat wave because she has been on leave to campaign for a state bill that would expand union voting rights for farmworkers.”
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