United Farm Workers of America, Afl-Cio v. Arizona Agricultural Employment Relations Board

A panel of this court with one judge dissenting held, in an opinion withdrawn from publication by court order, see United Farm Workers v. Arizona Agricultural Employment Relations Board, 696 F.2d 1216 (9th Cir.1983), that the composition of the Arizona Agricultural Employment Relations Board, as required by Arizona statute, deprived the plaintiffs of due process of law. That determination is reversed, and the case is remanded to the panel for consideration of the other issues presented by the litigation.

Agricultural employees are excluded from coverage under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq. 29 U.S.C. § 152 (3). Regulation of that part of the labor force is left to the states, and' consequently, in 1972, the Arizona legislature enacted the Arizona Agricultural Employment Relations Act (Act). Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. §§ 23-1381 to -1395. Although the state courts are authorized to grant civil and criminal sanctions to ensure compliance with the substantive portions of the Act, id. §§ 23-1393 and 23-1392, the statute provides for the creation of the Arizona Agricultural Employment Relations Board (Board), id. § 23-1386, which is charged with initially…