In this Sacramento Bee article, Professor William B. Gould discusses the legacy of the Agriculture Labor Relations Act, and what he’s proposed to bring more awareness to it. 

On the same day this summer that he celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act at a reception in Sacramento, Gov. Jerry Brown announced the abrupt reassignment of Sylvia Torres-Guillen, general counsel of the board created to enforce the law.

Farmers who accused Torres-Guillen of unfairly advocating for the United Farm Workers union, including in a bitter dispute with Gerawan Farming in Fresno County, viewed her departure as a victory for agribusiness – and a positive sign from Brown.

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William Gould, chairman of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, said Brown “was the moving force, and he always took great interest in both the law and the agency, and I think that continues through to this day.

“It remains the same in the sense that I think he sees this statute as, quite correctly, very much his baby.”

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Gould recently proposed granting state board employees the right to access farms without permission to educate workers about protections under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Gould described the proposal, which he outlined for an ad-hoc committee of farmers and labor organizations last week, as part of an effort to “make our board and our act relevant again.”

“Most of the agricultural workers in this state have not the slightest awareness of our statute and its procedures,” Gould said.