By Blake Jackson
Farmworkers from New York and California are taking legal action against laws in both states that allow union officials to gain bargaining power without worker elections. These workers argue the “card check” method used to gain union control violates their rights.
Ricardo Bell and Jean Fenel Estrame, working at Porpiglia and Cherry Lawn Farms in New York, have filed a federal complaint challenging the Farm Laborers’ Fair Labor Practices Act (FLFLPA).
Meanwhile, 20 workers from California’s Wonderful Nurseries are disputing similar rules under the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA).
Both laws allow union officials to bypass secret ballot elections. Instead, they can collect signed cards from a majority of workers, then immediately gain certification as their representative. Critics say this opens the door to coercion and misrepresentation.
In California, workers accused union officials of false promises and misleading actions, such as saying COVID-19 benefits required card signatures or presenting cards only in English to Spanish speakers. Some illiterate workers were reportedly misled about card content.
Bell and Estrame argue that New York’s law goes even further by not allowing workers to file complaints against unions. Their complaint also claims that the law harms their immigration status under the H-2A visa program.
“These farmworkers from New York and California are challenging the use of so-called ‘card check’ organizing campaigns in the agricultural sector… Card check is a process designed to trample workers’ individual rights,” said Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Foundation.
The lawsuits seek to restore workers’ rights to secret ballot elections and legal protection from forced union representation.
Photo Credit: istock-alenamozhjer
Categories: New York, Government & Policy