U.S. Supreme Court decision on Fresno County plant hailed by employers, unions disappointed
The impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court decision affecting how union organizers are able to meet with farmworkers are being felt throughout the Valley and especially in Fresno County where one of the companies involved in the case is based.
In a 6-3 opinion, the court struck down a 1975 California law allowing union organizers to visit farmworkers at their job site during non-work hours for a limited number of days a year.
One of the two agriculture employers involved in challenging the issue was Fowler Packing, one of Fresno County’s leading growers and shippers of fresh produce. The other company was Cedar Point Nursery, in Siskiyou County.
The employers and their lawyers argued that the union visits were sometimes disruptive and deprived the property owner of the right to keep unwanted people off their property.
Agricultural organizations and their supporters applauded the decision Wednesday.
“Today’s ruling is a huge victory for property rights,” said Pacific Legal Foundation senior attorney Joshua Thompson, who argued the case before the court.
“Today’s decision affirms that one of the most fundamental aspects of property is the right to decide who can and can’t access your property.”
Fresno lawyer Howard Sagaser, who was co-counsel with the Pacific Legal Foundation, said California’s law is outdated and was created at a time when there were far fewer ways to communicate.
“Now, people have cell phones and access to the internet and innumerable television stations, radio stations and media publications,” said Sagaser. “There is also Facebook and Twitter, so to say you can’t reach an audience is to ignore all those various means.”
Ian Lemay, president of the Fresno-based California Fresh Fruit Association, said the ruling brings California agriculture in line with other industries that don’t have to provide union organizers access.
“For 45 years, California’s farmers have seen their property rights ignored by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board by allowing organizers onto their property,” Lemay said.
“No other industry in the United States, including California, has had to allow union organizers onto their property in a similar manner. We appreciate both Fowler Packing and Cedar Point’s efforts in leading the fight to restore the same property rights that are enjoyed by all other industries in the United States, to California farmers.”
Meanwhile, a United Farm Workers official said the court chose property rights over human rights by denying the union access to an agriculture employer’s property and their workers.
Elizabeth Strater, director of strategic campaigns for the UFW, said the ruling is disappointing but not surprising, given the challenges the union has faced in organizing agricultural workers.
“I don’t see this as a major blow as much as I see it as a continued blow to any type of basic equity in our farm labor system,” Strater said. “This ruling gives farmers’ property rights more weight than farmworkers’ human rights.”
Strater said preventing union staff from visiting workers in the fields or packing houses means one less opportunity the union has to protect vulnerable workers.
She also added that farmers have exaggerated the claims that union organizers were “storming” or “invading” a work site or building.
“I am pretty sure if the average American is thinking about storming, they are not thinking about farmworkers or the UFW,” Strater said.
Officials with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board vowed Wednesday to continue working to preserve fundamental labor protections for the state’s essential farmworkers despite the ruling.
The state agency oversees the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which established collective bargaining for farmworkers in the state.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has only reinforced how farmworkers need more information, more resources and more protections. Without basic information and basic labor rights, farmworkers who are the backbone of California’s economy will be left behind,” said ALRB Chair Victoria Hassid.
“We are committed to developing a process that meets the requirements of the high court’s ruling and continues to protect farmworker rights in light of agriculture’s unique circumstances.”
Officials at Fowler Packing could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.
This story was originally published June 23, 2021 at 12:13 PM.
