BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A California appeals court has dismissed a lawsuit, complicating Wonderful Nurseries\u2019 attempt to overturn a state farmworker unionization law.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal in Fresno unanimously agreed to toss the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now conclude, in line with both our Legislature\u2019s command and a long judicial history supporting it, that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider this case,\u201d Justice Rosendo Pe\u00f1a Jr. wrote in a court filing.<\/p>\n
North Edwards couple bound over for trial in child torture case <\/a><\/p>\n In February of 2024, United Farm Workers of America tried creating a union at facilities owned by Wonderful by filing a \u201cMajority Support Petition\u201d with the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board.<\/p>\n This petition allows a union to become the exclusive bargaining representative for all employees if the majority wishes to be represented by the organization.<\/p>\n A California labor law, known as the card check law, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 and allows farmworkers to express support for labor representation with a signed authorization card.<\/p>\n UFW submitted 327 valid signed cards from Wonderful employees supporting the unionization, according to court documents. There were 640 employees in total during that time.<\/p>\n Wonderful disagreed with the petition and the state law, documents said. In a lawsuit filed against the union and ALRB in May, the company accused UFW of engaging in misconduct.<\/p>\n Wonderful asked the court to halt ALRB proceedings regarding the certification of UFW as the employee representative and declare the state law unconstitutional, according to court filings.<\/p>\n Both the union and ALRB opposed the lawsuit, saying the trial court lacked jurisdiction and therefore couldn\u2019t even consider the case.<\/p>\n The appeals court dismissed the suit on the basis that an employer like Wonderful can\u2019t challenge a union certification outside of an unfair labor practices proceeding except in rare cases, which Wonderful failed to show they fall under.<\/p>\n Craig Cooper, general counsel of The Wonderful Company, said in a statement on Tuesday the court ruling doesn\u2019t prevent the Superior Court from finding the card check law to be unconstitutional, which is a decision that Wonderful \u201c(looks) forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision explicitly does not address the merits of Wonderful Nurseries\u2019 constitutional challenge, which a lower court has already concluded has merit, and does not in any way interfere with the lawsuit that two dozen Wonderful Nurseries employees have brought challenging the legality of this forced unionization scheme,\u201d Cooper said in the statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United Farm Workers is pleased that the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Appellate District ruled in favor of farm workers, and that this legal challenge for farm workers\u2019 rights is behind us, UFW spokesperson Antonio De Loera-Brust said in an email to 17 News. \u201cEvery farm worker in California has rights under the law, and those rights need to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story: Make KGET.com your homepage <\/a><\/p>\n 17 News has reached out to ALRB for comment.<\/p>\n ALRB and UFW will get their court fees back in all matters resolved through this dismissal, according to documents.<\/p>\n Read the full court decision here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n