Governor's Response on 'Card Check' Exceeds Deadline

Growers and others in agriculture were anxiously awaiting the decision last week by Governor Schwarzenegger to approve or veto the bills on his desk regarding a proposed "card check" system as a replacement for secret ballot elections by farm workers considering representation by a labor union. AG ACCENT's deadline couldn't wait. He had until Sunday, October 14 to decide, but this publication went to the printer October 11.

Readers who are members of organizations such as the California Grape & Tree Fruit League, Western Growers, Nisei Farmers League, Growers Harvesting Committee, Ventura County Agricultural Ass'n., Grower-Shipper Associations in Salinas and Santa Maria and Farm Bureau will receive bulletins today from them about the governor's action if they don't find it in their local newspapers or other news sources.

As a monthly publication it's tough to stay in step with the governor's flexible schedule.

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Respected Ag Lobbyist Passes

Roy Gabriel, director of labor affairs for the California Farm Bureau Federation, was found dead in his hotel room in Washington, DC early this month. He had traveled there to keep several appointments with legislators and others in behalf of the AgJOBS program supported by many agricultural employers.

Gabriel had served in a lobbying capacity with the California Farm Bureau Federation for nearly 35 years. In the late 1990s he took an extended leave of absence to serve as chief deputy director of the State Department of Industrial Relations, returning to Farm Bureau after more than a year of state service.

While his lobbying assignment covered several issues supported by Farm Bureau in Sacramento and Washington, he was especially attentive to farm labor matters. He was a persistent and articulate voice in presenting the position of California's agricultural employers to legislators from urban areas.

Gabriel was a vital link between Farm Bureau and the Agricultural Action Committee and a reliable channel of information for items reported monthly in AG ACCENT and for the FELS(Farm Employers Labor Service) Newsletter published by California Farm Bureau.

His presence will be missed by those on both sides of the political spectrum in the legislature and in state offices, and his dedicated service will be long remembered.

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UFW Flunks the Organization Test

None of the 15 or so notices of intent to organize filed by the United Farmworkers union on Kern and Tulare County table grape growers earlier this summer has progressed to an election. Chances are extremely slim that any of them will.

Not only was follow-up by the union missing, but almost half of the notices failed to meet the basic criteria - signatures of a mere 10 percent of the workforce at the employer targeted.

The earlier report of the filings in AG ACCENT surmised that they were like those of large numbers of notices of intent to take access filed nearly every year for the past 10 or more. It appears they were little more than a publicity effort and a false boost of confidence for union members and supporters.

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Radio Host Links Hillary with UFW Founder

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has found that the notorious communist/activist Saul Allinsky, well known as mentor to the founder of the United Farmworkers union, also has a current day protégé in Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Earlier this month Limbaugh revealed an exchange of letters between Allinsky and Clinton in several references which underscored the underhanded and dishonest tactics espoused by Allinsky, Clinton's acceptance of them and her agreement with his government-busting philosophy and program.

After an apparent concentrated course at Allinsky's Chicago headquarters in the '60s the founder of the UFW first attempted to establish textbook community service organizations. Later he forged a partnership with union leader Larry Itliong, from which the UFW emerged in the format it has followed since, although with reduced vigor in recent years.

Growers who have been through the UFW's terroristic secondary boycotts of table grapes, lettuce, Gallo wine and on occasion several other commodities, the enforced will of the hiring hall and subsequent proposals for economic disaster can well imagine how an "Allinsky-ite" might handle the reins of power from the White House. Democrats on the radical fringe might cheer such an administration, but responsible party members must have some serious reservations.

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Dairy Compost Bagging Declared non Agricultural

A federal court ruled recently that an Oregon dairy should not have considered compost bagging by its employees as agricultural work. The court said Three Mile Canyon Dairy in Boardman should have paid the employees overtime for work beyond 40 hours per week.

The dairy had contended that the compost bagging fell under the federal Farm Labor Standards Act(FLSA) as most work on dairies does, exempting it from overtime provisions.

The ruling resulted in a settlement of $250,000, bringing each of 130 workers about $1,000.

A notice about the ruling from the California law firm of Saqui and Raimondo cautions that many "secondary" agricultural activities do not fall within the exemption. Some in this category include packing, shipping and processing of outside products and retail activities. It urges employers to review their operations to make sure overtime is not required.

The notice points out that some California court cases have resulted in six-figure settlements as well as significant attorney's fees. It adds that such claims are likely to increase as union organizing efforts accelerate in the dairy industry.

It is noteworthy that the Oregon dairy signed a contract with the United Farmworkers union this summer after a long campaign was waged by the union.

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Oregon Packing Plant Debuted the 'No-match' Dilemma

The issue of non-matching Social Security numbers for workers in agriculture and other industries is apparently lodged with or between various federal court judges, and is likely to remain there for some time.

Congress is trying to regain a measure of respect after it failed to enact reasonable immigration reform legislation, and has been made to realize the harshness of orders by the Department of Homeland Defense requiring employees to be fired if they can't clear up no-match notices received by their employers.

A forerunner to the "no-match" dust-up occurred in June when immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) agents raided two Portland packing plants operated by Del Monte and staffed by American Staffing Resources, Inc. Indictments were returned against three individuals alleging immigration, document fraud and identity theft offenses.

The affidavit filed by ICE personnel stated that the premises of the businesses of the staffing company contained evidence of the production and distribution of forged documents and of the employment of illegal aliens. It also stated that more than 90 percent of the staffing company's employees were using Social Security numbers that belonged to other persons or were made up.

Agents determined that some of the individuals using false SS numbers apparently have criminal records, have been deported previously or are wanted on

warrants of deportation. They discovered that SS numbers being used by 29 workers belonged to deceased persons.

Hopefully, nothing as sordid as this will be uncovered in California agriculture, but it serves as a warning that ICE agents are around, sniffing out potential violations. And union organizers might be right behind them - or ahead of them.

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Washington Growers Build Farm Worker Housing

With the help of state grants and loans growers in Washington are building temporary housing primarily for those who harvest the short-season cherry crop. A recent article in the weekly agricultural newspaper from Salem, OR Capital Press outlined the progress.

Operating as individual growers and through the Washington Growers League they had provided housing by mid-summer to include 1,338 beds near Wenatchee, at the Douglas County airport and on individual growers' property. The majority of the structures are tents.

Cherry grower Jesse Lane, who serves as housing program manager for the Washington Growers League, said: "The ones who have housing available tend to have pickers show up. The ones who don't are taking their chances."

Aid for the housing came in the form of a $2 million grant from the state, a $500,000 loan from the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development and $200,000 from private lenders. The loans are to be paid off by lease payments from growers who need the housing for their workers.

Mike Gempler, Growers League executive director, sees more permanent off-farm housing as a key to attracting workers if a guest worker program can be established by Congress.

Nancy Danko, housing development specialist with the private, nonprofit Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing in Yakima, said she and others are working closely with a shelter assistance agency in Oregon that focuses on community-based housing as opposed to on-farm units.

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