ALRB Retirement Triggers Appointment Opportunity

Irene Raymundo, chairman of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, will retire at the end of the year, reducing the board to only two members. It will give the governor the opportunity to appoint a new member to bring the board to its quorum status of three.

Raymundo was appointed to a five-year term as chairman last year, but her name was never presented to the Senate for confirmation. Lack of confirmation does not affect her ability to serve. She is retiring to return to San Diego to help care for her mother.

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New Member Not Chairman Automatically

Whoever is appointed by the governor will inherit the four years remaining in Raymundo's term, but not necessarily the chairmanship unless he specifies that. Of the two vacancies on the board, one term expired in 2004, and any appointment to fill it will extend until 2009. The other term expired in 2005, with a new expiration date of 2010 for anyone appointed to it.

It is speculation of course, but the general belief is that the board will be allowed to limp along with three members for now. Union organizational activity is at a historic low level. Compliance cases, some of them 20 years or more in the mill, occupy a major part of the board's agenda. Their resolution would not be accelerated by additional board personnel.

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SJ Valley Growers Seek Honduran Workers

The Honduran ambassador to the United States brought a delegation to Fresno last month at the invitation of nine agricultural organizations to discuss the possibility of workers from Honduras working in agriculture in this country.

The delegation was hosted by the Nisei Farmers League, the California Grape & Tree Fruit League, California Cotton Growers and Ginners Ass'n., California Citrus

Mutual, Sun-Maid Growers, the Raisin Bargaining Ass'n., California Apple Commission and the California Fig Advisory Board.

The host organizations are forming the Ag Labor Network, anticipating that other organizations in agriculture will be included.

Spokesmen for the host group told the Fresno Bee they can no longer depend on an undocumented and illegal work force. Their hope is that by working with government leaders they can find a solution to the farm labor shortage and attract workers with the necessary skills.

Thrust of the cooperative effort will be to explore means of providing a viable legal workforce for agriculture in case AgJOBS legislation bogs down in Congress. A cooperative effort will be necessary to remodel the H-2A program to make it flexible enough to meet the needs of agricultural employers, especially those in the specialty crop industries.

Ambassador Robert Flores-Bermudez tried his hand at clipping oranges from the trees at a Sanger orchard. The delegation also visited farms and packinghouses, exchanging pleasantries with workers randomly. Reports of further conversations and communications with the Hondurans can be expected in the months ahead.

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Florida Tomato Growers End Pay Deal with Mc Donald's

Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, and McDonalds restaurants both made deals in the past two years to pay a penny a pound more for tomatoes purchased from members of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange. The added amount was to have been tacked on to the wages paid tomato pickers.

Last month the deal fell through as the exchange announced that it will not risk legal action that might result from its participation in an agreement favoring its workers to which it was not a party.

The bright idea appealing to the "feel good" segment of consumers was proposed by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has had tenuous ties with the United Farmworkers union in the past. The two food retailers were only too pleased to participate and then take credit for improving the conditions of farm workers.

In announcing the termination of the arrangement an exchange spokesman pointed out that the average wage for pickers this season is $12.46 per hour with a range from $10.50 to $14.86. The average is more than double the $5.85 federal minimum wage, and nearly double Florida's minimum wage of $6.67.

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Threatening Legislation Vetoed by Governor

Measures that would have undermined the secret ballot election process for farm workers in California were vetoed last month, but too late to be covered in last month's AG ACCENT. One was SB 180, the other SB 650, basically identical measures.

The governor also refused to sign a bill that required farm labor contractors to tediously report the names of each farm employer where each of their employees worked day by day.

The bills that proposed replacing secret-ballot elections for farm workers to choose or reject a collective bargaining agent offered the notorious "card check" system as a substitute. The primary author of both bills was San Francisco Senator Carole Migden, with Fresno Assemblyman Juan Arambula listed as a co-author.

The "card check" procedure, long a favorite of organized labor at both the national and state levels, is so susceptible to corruption and intimidation of workers that it is rarely taken seriously by anybody outside the sphere of radical unions.

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Santa Maria Entertains Eeec Inspection Teams

About four teams representing the Economic Employer Enforcement Commission(EEEC) spent three days in the Santa Maria Valley last month visiting work sites of as many as 50 employers. They checked for OSHA, work rule and other compliance matters, looking for violations.

Locations where farm labor contractors supplied the workforce were especially popular with the two-person teams. They seemed to satisfy their curiosity quickest at locations where the required binders of information outlining employer responsibilities were the most complete and up to date.

Coincidentally or not, the inspections followed by about three weeks a series of seminars conducted by EEEC personnel in the Santa Maria area. A grower representative said it appeared that the team making the most inspections each day must have been declared the winner at that day's end. Consequently, when they had to go beyond the informational binders with visits to employer offices, or conversation with office staff, their pace was slowed, and frustration often resulted - for the team and employers.

One sticking point developed around the requirement for shade or cooling facilities. One inspector indicated that shade enough for an entire crew had to be on site, and available whenever the crew was in the field. Interpretation of the ruling is being clarified in follow-up communications.

Advice to other employers: keep the information binders up to date, have them at the work site and avoid seminars if possible because they seem to be followed by inspections.

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Hess Case Blunts Binding Arbitration Procedure

The second contract to be negotiated since binding arbitration was made part of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act more than two years ago is progressing disappointingly slow. It involves the Hess Collection winery in Napa and the United Food & Commercial Workers of San Jose.

Perhaps the major step forward has been resolution of a make-whole charge, which has been dismissed. The union has filed several grievances, and the employer has filed grievances against the union for not abiding by the interim contract provisions.

While the employer has made several concessions to try to reach agreement, it is standing firm on the points it considers essential for managing its operations efficiently and profitably.

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