IRVINE, CA - News of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of AB 2183 into law hit the wires. Soon after, California Fresh Fruit Association’s Ian LeMay commented on this passage; now, Western Growers President and Chief Executive Officer Dave Puglia has issued a statement.

“It is shameful that Governor Newsom invoked the name of Cesar Chavez in signing AB 2183. Instead of advancing the labor icon’s movement, as the Governor claimed, California has officially unraveled Chavez’s legacy, striking at the heart of his greatest political objective and accomplishment: the right of farmworkers to a state-supervised secret ballot election,” wrote Puglia. “Chavez fought for passage of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, making California the first state in the country to give farmworkers the right to unionize. For Chavez, the key to that law—like American democracy—was the guarantee of free and fair elections shielded from intimidation and coercion by any interested party.”

Puglia further continued, writing, “Rather than seeking ‘a collaborative approach among all relevant stakeholders’ to address the ‘various inconsistencies and procedural issues related to the collection and review of ballot cards,’ as outlined in the Governor’s veto message of AB 616 (the UFW’s 2021 card check bill), the UFW and California Legislature pushed forward an even more flawed form of card check, which is effectively forced union submission for farmworkers disguised as mail-in voting.”

To read the statement in its entirety, click here.

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Western Growers