University
of California
links below
University
of California
The California State Legislature enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) in 1975 to ". . . ensure peace in the agricultural fields by guaranteeing justice for all agricultural workers and stability in labor relations." Provisions of the Act were designed to protect rights of farm workers to act together to help themselves, to engage in union organizational activity, and to select their own representatives to bargain with employers. They prohibit employers and unions from interfering with these rights. These rights and prohibitions are similar to those that the NLRA had provided 40 years earlier to most private sector employees, explicitly not including farm workers.
The ALRB adminsters this Act. Its staff is responsible for two key functions: (1) to conduct representation elections, oversee all the activity leading to them, and certify their results; and (2) to investigate charges of unfair labor practice (ULP) that are brought to the agency and pursue remedies for persons found to have been harmed by ULPs. The five-seat Board itself generally serves in an appellate capacity, adjudicating appeals from decisions made by administrative law judges and other staff of the agency.
This page in the APMP web site links to educational material about the ALRA, case reference documents and informational publications from the ALRB, and to reports and news releases about activity related to the Act.