(State Supreme Court rules on Farmworker issues)…The ruling was issued Monday.
The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that farmers may have a labor contract imposed on them if negotiations with a union fail to produce an agreement. The state’s highest court, overturning a lower court, upheld a 2002 law that permits the state to order farmers and unions to reach binding contracts. The law empowers a mediator to impose a contract on the employer governing wages and working conditions. The ruling came in a dispute between the United Farm Workers Union and Gerawan Farming Incorporated.