Artesia Dairy v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd.

The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) ruled that certain persons employed by Artesia Dairy (Artesia) were not eligible to vote on the United Farm Workers of America’s (UFW) petition to represent Artesia’s agricultural employees. (Artesia Dairy (2007) 33 ALRB No. 3.) Following this decision, the UFW was certified as the exclusive bargaining representative of Artesia’s agricultural employees by a 27-to-25 vote.

However, Artesia had no right to obtain immediate judicial review of the ALRB’s decision certifying the UFW. Rather, an employer can obtain judicial review only after it has been found guilty of an unfair labor practice in refusing to bargain with the union. (J. R. Norton Co. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd. (1979) 26 Cal.3d 1, 10 [ 160 Cal.Rptr. 710 , 603 P.2d 1306 ].) Accordingly, consistent with the procedure outlined in J. R. Norton Co. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd., Artesia engaged in a “technical” refusal to bargain and generated an unfair labor practice decision that is reviewable under Labor Code section 1160.8. (Artesia Dairy (2007) 33 ALRB No. 6.) Through review of this decision, in which the ALRB reaffirmed its decision in 33 ALRB No. 3,…