San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau applauds Newsom’s veto of AB 616
Governor’s action protects secret ballot in agricultural labor
– Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 616. The legislation would have allowed yearlong mail-in card-check campaigns for unionizing instead of a secret ballot election. California Farm Bureau led a rally two weeks ago on the Capitol steps advocating for Newsom to veto the bill.
“We want to thank all of our San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau members who took time to call and send letters to the Governor,” Farm Bureau Executive Director Brent Burchett said. “Especially this time of year with harvest and fieldwork keeping everyone busy, we are grateful for members responding to our call to action to amplify agriculture’s voice in Sacramento. This is a big win.”
In his veto announcement, Newsom said “AB 616 creates a new process for agricultural employees to elect a labor representative through a ballot card election. This bill contains various inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection and review of ballot cards. Significant changes to California’s well-defined agricultural labor laws must be carefully crafted to ensure that both agricultural workers’ intent to be represented and the right to collectively bargain is protected, and the state can faithfully enforce those fundamental rights.”
California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson issued a statement in response to the Governor’s action: “The California Farm Bureau is proud of our farmers, ranchers and farmworkers who stood up and spoke out against AB 616 and the threat it represented for the rights of agricultural employees to be free of undue fear and intimidation,” Johansson said.
“The firm action taken today by Governor Newsom in vetoing 616 protects the sanctity of the secret ballot election. It means that strong-arm organizing tactics and coercion have no place in California agriculture.”
