Cadiz

In this proceeding Jose L. Cadiz, a farm worker, and his employer, M. Caratan, Inc. (Petitioners) jointly seek a writ of *369 mandate directing the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) to set aside its order nullifying and dismissing their petition for decertification of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), an agricultural union, and for an order directing that impounded ballots cast in a decertification election be counted. The central issue is the effect under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) of an existing one-year term collective bargaining agreement on the timeliness of a petition for an election to decertify the incumbent collective bargaining representative.

Facts

Pursuant to an election held under the ALRA on September 6, 1975, the agricultural employees of M. Caratan, Inc. elected the UFW to serve as their collective bargaining representative. Eighteen months later, on March 22, 1977, the board certified the UFW. Negotiations between the UFW and the employer continued for more than a year until May 11, 1978, when the employer and the union executed a one-year written collective bargaining agreement pursuant to the terms of the…

I respectfully dissent.

The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (hereinafter Board) by a three-to-two vote dismissed a decertification petition as untimely and *384 vacated the election. I agree with the result reached by the Board and substantially agree with the Board’s reasoning.

First, this matter is not reviewable at this time. The matter is not appropriate for threshold judicial review. It is not a final order. (See United Farm Workers v. Superior Court (1977) 72 Cal.App.3d 268 [ 140 Cal.Rptr. 87 ]; Radovich v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1977) 72 Cal.App.3d 36 [ 140 Cal.Rptr. 24 ].) A nonfinal order is reviewable only under limited circumstances which are not applicable here (see Belridge Farms v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 551, 558 [ 147 Cal.Rptr. 165 , 580 P.2d 665 ]).

Petitioners contend that the exception set forth in Leedom v. Kyne (1958) 358 U.S. 184 [ 3 L.Ed.2d 210 , 79 S.Ct. 180 ] is applicable to this case. Kyne permits judicial review of orders not coming within Labor Code section 1160.8 “ ‘only where the fact of a statutory violation cannot seriously be argued and where the deviation resulted in a deprivation of a “right” guaranteed…

Jerome Cohen, Sanford N. Nathan, John Rice-Trujillo, Tom Dalzell, Ellen Greenstone, Michael Heumann, Linton Joaquin, George C. Lazar, Dianna Lyons, Kirsten L. Zerger and James Ruthowski for Real Party in Interest.

OPINION

BROWN (G.A.), P.J.

In this proceeding Jose L. Cadiz, a farm worker, and his employer, M. Caratan, Inc. (Petitioners) jointly seek a writ of mandate directing the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) to set aside its order nullifying and dismissing their petition for decertification of the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO (UFW), an agricultural union, and for an order directing that impounded ballots cast in a decertification election be counted. The central issue is the effect under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA) of an existing one-year term collective bargaining agreement on the timeliness of a petition for an election to decertify the incumbent collective bargaining representative.

Pursuant to an election held under the ALRA on September 6, 1975, the agricultural employees of M. Caratan, Inc. elected the UFW to serve as their collective bargaining representative. Eighteen months later, on March 22, 1977, the board certified the UFW.…