Alaniz

De Tocqueville, almost one hundred fifty years ago, in his celebrated comment, said “Scarcely any political question arises in the United States that is not resolved, sooner or later, into a judicial question”. 1 Today, any economic and/or social question becomes a political question and almost invariably is resolved into a judicial question. De Tocqueville’s oft-quoted observation could scarcely be better illuminated than by an exposition of the facts of this case.

Here, the Court, without expertise of its own, is called upon to approve as fair, reasonable, and adequate a Conciliation and Settlement Agreement (the Agreement) affecting working conditions of thousands of workers in 74 canneries and food processing facilities throughout Northern California. The Court is required to sit, in effect, as a labor arbitrator. The purpose of this Opinion is not only to discuss the reasons for finding the Agreement fair, reasonable, and adequate and for certifying a class of 150,-000, but also to illuminate the procedure followed in the hope that it may assist other district judges faced with the same task.

I. THE LITIGATION

Plaintiffs, representing a class of female and…