Farmworkers Can Unionize by Card-Check Agreement

For decades, California’s farmworkers could only gain union recognition through on-site elections.  Last year, Governor Newsom signed a law allowing farmworkers to form a union through mail-in ballot elections or through card-check agreements.  But he did so on the condition that the United Farm Workers and California Labor Federation agree to roll back the mail-in ballot option.

As a result, earlier this year Governor Newsom signed AB 113, which removes the mail-in ballot option.  Only 75 farm workplaces can be certified by card check between now and January 1, 2028, when the law expires.  Still, the law is a major victory for farmworkers, who marched from Delano to Sacramento last year and made this issue impossible for the Governor to ignore.  Card check allows workers to build support for a union before notifying their employer, which reduces the risks of union-busting and intimidation.

For further information regarding card-check agreements, contact your labor law counsel.