Philip Martin and Bert Mason

from ARE Update Vol. 20, No. 4, Mar/Apr, 2017

View Article PDF: California’s ALRA and ALRB After 40 Years

Abstract

The United Farm Workers Union claimed 67,000 members and 180 contracts in March 1973, and the
Teamsters Union had dozens more contracts covering California farm workers before the Agricultural
Labor Relations Act (ALRA) was enacted in 1975. Forty years later, the number of unionized workers
has fallen to less than 10,000 and there are fewer than 40 contracts with California farms. Farm labor
remains in the news as additional laws to protect farm workers are debated in the California Legislature,
but there is little prospect of a return to the levels of unionization of the early 1970s.

Keywords

Farmworkers, farm labor, unions, Agricultural Labor Relations Act, ALRA, union elections, UFW, Mandatory Mediation, unfair labor practices

Citation

Philip Martin and Bert Mason. 2017. "California’s ALRA and ALRB After 40 Years." ARE Update 20(4): 9-11. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1492713710/17978/