Agricultural Firm Sues California Over Farm Worker Unionization Law

One of California’s most influential agricultural companies has filed a lawsuit against the state to stop a contentious law aimed at helping farmworkers unionize, which Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom reluctantly signed two years ago after pressure from the White House, Julie Watson and Amy Taxin reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The $6-billion company, founded by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who have donated to President Joe Biden and Newsom, makes products recognizable to most grocery store shoppers. I Photo: The Wonderful Company / The Wonderful Company Facebook

The action by the Wonderful Co. comes as it battles the United Farm Workers (UFW) over a newly formed UFW local of 640 workers at one of its businesses.

The $6-billion company, founded by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who have donated to President Joe Biden and Newsom, makes products recognizable to most grocery store shoppers, including Halos mandarin oranges, Wonderful Pistachios, POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, and Fiji Water brands.

Farm workers aren’t covered by federal rules for labor organizing in the United States.

However, California, which harvests much of the country’s produce, enacted a law and created a special board in 1975 to protect their right to unionize, following the work of Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in organizing farmworkers under what later became the UFW.

The new law lets farmworkers unionize by collecting a majority of signatures without holding an election at a polling place — a condition proponents say protects workers from employer pressure or retaliation.

A union is formed if more than half of workers sign an authorization card. Wonderful argues the law is unconstitutional for excessively cutting employers out of the process.