California Card Check Aims to Abolish Secret Ballots

Western Growers Calls on Governor to Veto

IRVINE, Calif., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif released the following statement on today's passage by the California State Assembly of the United Farm Workers-sponsored Senate Bill 104.

"If Governor Jerry Brown signs the card check bill, SB 104, he will effectively abolish a farm worker's exclusive right to vote by secret ballot in a state-supervised election process. We doubt the governor has forgotten what he and Cesar Chavez fought for in the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975—the secret ballot as the exclusive means of determining the true wishes of the workers. With a card check system, every worker's vote is made public to the employer, the union organizers and co-workers. Union organizers trying to get signatures would be able to shove the cards in front of a worker with no one else around. This clearly exposes workers to unwanted pressure and possible intimidation by the union. This legislation is not about advancing the cause of farm workers; SB 104 is only about advancing the cause of a union that cannot persuade workers to vote for it without having a union organizer looking over the worker's shoulder."

About Western Growers:

Western Growers (www.wga.com) is an agricultural trade association whose members from Arizona and California grow, pack and ship 90 percent of the fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in California and 75 percent of those commodities in Arizona. This totals about half of the nation's fresh produce. Western Growers is headquartered in Irvine, Calif.

SOURCE Western Growers Association