California’s 2023 Employment Laws: Agricultural Union Elections

The 4th entry in these employment law updates addresses agricultural workers and employers. The Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 was amended last year to ease the process of unionization for agricultural laborers. Previously, union elections required in-person voting. AB 2183 was partially a reaction to a federal Supreme Court decision, Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, that struck down a regulation issued by the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) requiring an agricultural employer’s property to be available for labor organization representatives encouraging unionization. The law does not attempt to directly overturn that decision, but it does present agricultural employers with two labor friendly (or employer unfriendly) choices. Employers may still agree to abide by the invalidated regulation and generally refrain from commenting on unions or union representation in a “labor peace compact.” This can be accomplished online.