“We’re in the shadows,” Indio farmworker reacts to bill that would change voting in union elections

President Joe Biden joined other Democratic leaders in urging Governor Gavin Newsom to sign Assembly Bill 2183, otherwise known as California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act, into law.

Among several changes, the bill would give agricultural workers additional ways to vote on whether they want to join or bargain with a union, including by mail or drop box. Under current state law, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board schedules a union election at a polling place of its choice, which can include a grower's property.

Critics say this makes it easier for farmworkers to be intimidated by their boss as they cast their ballot.

Supporters of the bill, including union officials, argue the legislation is necessary to ensure that farmworkers are not intimidated by their employers when voting in union elections.

"It's important that we value our workers and we protect and defend our farm workers as they continue providing the food to our families. It's their right to choose for themselves if they wish to organize, according to Luz Gallegos, Executive Director for TODEC.

However, critics argue that the vote-by-mail option could be ripe for fraud.

Around 8,000 farmworkers call the Coachella Valley home, according to the LA Times, including Vidal Mendoza Fonseca, who has worked in the agricultural industry since 1985.

“The reality is there is a need for more laws that favor farmworkers so that we’re not always in the shadows because we’re always in the shadows,” Fonseca said.

For the past year, he’s been on disability and unable to work due to kidney failure which he’s getting treatment for, but he thinks it’s time for labor law reform.

“Farmworkers don’t have a type of union that helps them and guides them like to receive work-related help," Fonseca said.

The bill also proposes imposing a penalty of up to $25,000 on an agricultural employer who commits an unfair labor practice.

“We don’t need to go to the extreme of giving out penalties. We just need to work it out in a friendly way,” Fonseca said.

“There is a need for more laws that favor farmworkers so that we’re not always in the shadows because we’re always in the shadows," Fonseca said. “A lot of people don’t want to speak up sometimes because they’re afraid to be heard or that there might be negative consequences.”

While the California Legislature passed the bill last month, Governor Newsom has not signed it. Newsom vetoed a similar proposal last year.

On Sunday, the White House issued a statement cementing Biden's support for the bill. The proposal would "give California’s agricultural workers greater opportunity to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions," according to President Biden's statement.

The LA Times is reporting that a spokesperson for Newsom said last month that the governor is “eager to sign legislation that expands opportunities for agricultural workers to come together and be represented" but that he didn’t support the bill as it was.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.