The five-member Agricultural Labor Relations Board acts much like an appellate court. Its members can't make decisions unless the ALRB general counsel--analogus to a district attorney--brings cases before them by issuing complaints after investigating charges filed by farm workers and other parties. So even though it took several years for the Jerry Brown-appointed ALRB members to finish their terms, growers immediately cut off access to the law by farm workers when Gov. Deukmejian named David Stirling as general counsel in January 1983.

As a direct result of Republican control of the ALRB during the last 16 years, tens of thousands of farm workers lost the United Farm Workers contracts that dramatically improved their lives. And tens of thousands more who voted for the union in free elections never won UFW contracts.

Dismissing farm worker charges

$ When David Stirling became ALRB general counsel in January 1983, he immediately dismissed hundreds of farm worker-filed charges without investigating them.

$ That pattern continues to this day. On Dec. 11, 1998, the ALRB regional office in Salinas dismissed well-documented charges that strawberry grower foremen and supervisors ordered a violent July 1 attack on pro-union pickers and peace officers in a Watsonville-area field. Then the same foremen and supervisors forced workers to sign election petitions for a "company" union upon threat of being fired or beaten.

ALRB General Counsel Paul Richardson admitted at a state Capitol legislative hearing on July 28, 1998 that the UFW had established a prima facia case for the same charges his Salinas regional director dismissed for "insufficient evidence" on Dec. 11. (See attached detailed summary of evidence the UFW presented to the ALRB.)

Refusing to prosecute growers who were major GOP political contributors

Corporate agribusiness gave $1 million to make George Deukmejian California governor in 1982. The Western Growers Association PAC contributed more than $176,000 to Deukmejian that year; 93% of its campaign gifts in partisan legislative races went to Republicans.

Less than two months after Stirling's appointment as general counsel, WGA members directly benefited from at least five of the new general counsel's decisions.

$ Stirling withdrew complaints--indictments--already set for a hearing against Growers Exchange and West Foods over refusing to bargain in good faith for union contracts.

$ The general counsel withdrew a complaint against the WGA itself for illegally initiating and financing a campaign to decertify the UFW at Cattle Valley Farms.

$ He ordered the Ranch No. 1 case settled for $100,000--a fraction of what farm workers were owed in damages--after the company itself had offered to settle for $200,000.

Refusing to stop grower agents from carrying guns after a worker was murdered during an ALRB election

Sikkema Dairy Farms supervisory personnel were brandishing firearms and threatening workers before a Sept. 20, 1983 ALRB-conducted union election. Stirling refused to seek a court order banning the weapons. Just after leaving the polling area during that balloting, 19-year old farm worker Rene Lopez was fatally shot by the brother-in-law of the owner and an accomplice. Stirling still refused to seek an injunction. The UFW had to obtain the court order.

Forcing workers to show sophisticated legal knowledge before their charges against growers are investigated

During his first year, Stirling changed the rules for investigating unfair labor practices by requiring that declarations submitted by farm workers jump complicated and technical legal hurdles. Those requirements were so difficult that even declarations drafted with the help of ALRB staff were rejected by Stirling as insufficient. Workers were then sent letters in legalese English advising that they had 15 days to correct the deficiencies or their charges would be dismissed.

Halting prosecution of a grower whose foremen killed a farm worker striker

Thousands of farm workers struck Imperial Valley vegetable growers in 1979. On Feb. 10, 1979, Rufino Contreras, 28, a striker at Mario Saikon Farms, entered a Saikon field to talk with newly hired strikebreakers about joining the walkouts. Contreras and other strikers were met with a hail of bullets from grower foremen. Contreras was fatally wounded.

The UFW filed charges alleging interference with Contreras' right to organize. After an investigation, Stirling's predecessor as ALRB general counsel issued a complaint. It was set for a hearing when Stirling took office. He refused to prosecute the case and dismissed the complaint in 1984--a few weeks after attending a luncheon with grower Mario Saikon.

Allowing growers to decide how much they will pay their workers for breaking the law

By the early 1980s, many growers were found to have broken the law and farm workers were owed millions of dollars in back pay. Stirling settled these cases directly with grower attorneys for pennies on the dollar--without consulting the workers. He even travelled to a unilateral settlement conference in a grower-supplied airplane.

In 1988, Stirling formalized a system that let growers found liable for violating the law to determine the amount of money they owed their workers. For example, in the case of J.R. Norton ALRB staff initially calculated that the company owed its workers more than $850,000 for illegally firing workers because they supported the UFW. Stirling accepted Norton's claim that it only owed about $22,000 in back pay without conducting any independent calculations-and then closed the case.

Turning over the names of farm worker witnesses to growers

Stirling turned over to a large grower the names of farm workers who had confidentially supplied information on violations of the law by the company. The same grower had a history of retaliating against employees.

Letting farm workers be fired for demanding the minimum wage

Furukawa Farms strawberry workers staged a work stoppage in fall 1988 to protest receiving less than the minimum wage. The company refused to rehire them. Stirling upheld the dismissal of UFW-filed unfair labor practice charges. He reasoned that demanding to be paid the minimum wage was the same as establishing a condition for returning to work, which would justify the workers' permanent replacement. Therefore, he ruled, the employer had a right not to rehire them.