Governor Jerry Brown has followed in the footsteps of his predecessor and has vetoed SB 104, known as the Farmers Card Check bill. Citing the original Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) that he signed into law in 1974, the governor worried that the changes to the original framework were not justified.
“SB 104 is indeed a drastic change and I appreciate the frustrations that have given rise to it. But I am not yet convinced that the far reaching proposals of this bill – which alter in a significant way the guiding assumptions of the ALRA – are justified. Before restructuring California’s carefully crafted agricultural labor law, it is only right that the legislature consider legal provisions that more faithfully track its original framework. The process should include all those who are affected by the ALRA.”
From the SB 104 Veto Message (PDF)
Now the question for those supporters, many of whom were camped out in front of the governor's office right down to the midnight deadline when the veto was finally announced, is where to go from here. Many had assumed that a Democrat in the California governor's mansion would support the bill that has now been passed through the legislature five times.
UFW officials are understandably upset.
"To us it's a real clear decision," UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said. "This governor has decided to side with the rich against the powerless."
LA Times Story
Certainly another disappointing day for labor activists in America.