A sign of sanity in Sacramento?
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have made it far easier for farmworkers to join labor unions, 36 years after making history in his first term by signing a law giving the low-wage employees the right to organize.
Brown’s veto disappointed and angered dozens of farmworkers who had camped outside his office late into the night Tuesday to try to pressure him into signing the measure. Democratic lawmakers joined supporters in the hallway as they awaited his decision, which came at 11 p.m. in the form of a press release to reporters. The governor refused to come out and talk to the large crowd, despite pleas from Arturo S. Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers union.
SB104, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would have allowed farmworkers to vote for or against unionization by signing a card instead of holding a secret-ballot election – a process called “majority signup election” and also known as “card-check.”
But Gov. Moonbeam said “No” to the union power grab. I am genuinely surprised. My PJ colleagues in California…what happened here? Who got some Scott Walker in your Jerry Brown? Clearly, Brown failed to stay bought.
Brown is also closely allied with unions, who supported the bill and donated $3.1 million to his election campaign last year, according to the nonprofit money tracker Maplight.org – though only $2,300 was from agricultural labor unions. The governor received $343,000 from groups that opposed the measure, Maplight found, including about $5,000 from farm organizations.
Obama’s NLRB is suing a couple of states that have passed anti-card-check legislation.
Not to tout my own prescience or anything, but the other day on PJTV Report I predicted that after Gov. Walker signed a balanced budget for Wisconsin that even the media had to acknowledge was pretty solid, we would see other states increase their resistance to union pressure. That was an easy call to make. But I didn’t expect Jerry Brown to be the first to prove me right.
the slightly encouraging aspect of this can be found in the comments
of course there were some from the hopey dopey clueless sect but many more agreeing with the absurdity of card check
a slight glimmer of hope on one of thousands of issues but a hope nevertheless
Gov Brown’s veto is a transparent feint to the right, and an obvious display of just how in the bag he is for political donors. He is so in bed with teacher public safety and other govt worker unions that he had to ‘buck-up’ his pro-busines credentials, especially when his new dem only state budget proposal miraculously finds $4B in “unexpected revenue”.
Corporate growers in the central valley are big political contributors, and their low-wage rural employees are not anywhere near the SF/LA movers and shakers who shape opinions with their political presence.
Thus, Gov Moonbeam gets a triple play… He pays homage to his corporate grower donors and he gets business street cred for not allowing illegal immigrant rural farmworkers to unionize, and the prospectively pro-business aspect of the move allows him to claim as reasonable that magical $4B in unexpected revenue.
I wouldn’t underestimate Jerry’s idiosyncratic behavior as a contributing factor. However, I strongly believe you’re right. The Guv’s party is on the verge of a Central Valley brush fire, not only among big check donors among the Ag Biz combines, but also among farmers & small businesses — one that might consume loads of Dem seats in the Assembly & Senate.
Jerry Brown’s vetoed SB 104 was because it is not fair to farm workers to eliminate the secret ballot election they currently have. The secret ballot was of utmost importance to Cesar Chavez, the UFW and Jerry Brown when they passed the ALRA legislation in the 70′s. The UFW did a poor job representing farm workers in the early 70′s when they had over 70K members. The UFW currently has 5K members because most farm workers do not think paying 3% union dues to join the is worth it.
From the Maplight.org figures it should be obvious why Brown vetoed card-check for farm workers. They didn’t submit the winning bid.