About the Agricultural Labor Relations Board

Who We Are

The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) was created in 1975 with the enactment of the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (ALRA), a landmark California law that extended collective bargaining rights and protections to agricultural employees who are excluded from the coverage of the federal National Labor Relations Act. The ALRA authorizes the ALRB to oversee and protect the rights of agricultural employees to organize themselves in negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment, including whether or not to have labor unions represent them. The ALRB’s authority is divided between a five-member Board and a General Counsel, all of whom are appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate. Together, the five-member Board and General Counsel work to ensure fair labor practices and workplace protections for California’s agricultural workers. The Board and General Counsel are headquartered in Sacramento and maintain regional offices in California’s agricultural centers, including Salinas, Visalia, Santa Rosa, Oxnard, and Indio.

What We Do

The ALRB protects the rights of agricultural employees to engage in collective action, with or without a labor union, to improve their wages and other terms and conditions of employment. Agricultural employees or others acting on their behalf may file unfair labor practice charges with the ALRB if they believe these rights were violated. Agricultural employers or labor unions also may file unfair labor practice charges if they believe the other has engaged in unlawful conduct. The General Counsel, with staff in the ALRB’s regional offices, investigates and prosecutes allegations of unfair labor practices filed against agricultural employers or labor unions. The General Counsel issues complaints of unfair labor practices, which either get resolved through settlement or go to hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ) and are reviewable by the Board and California Courts of Appeal.

The ALRB also conducts secret ballot elections through which agricultural employees vote on whether to have a labor organization represent them in negotiating employment terms and conditions with their employers. Agricultural employees or labor unions may file petitions with an ALRB regional office for an election to decide whether to select or remove a labor union as the employees’ certified collective bargaining representative. Generally, a labor union selected by a majority of the workers will be certified as the employees’ bargaining representative. Likewise, a majority of the workers may vote to remove or decertify a union from representing the workforce.

The ALRB also conducts outreach and training to agricultural workers, employers, and labor unions to inform them about their rights and responsibilities under the ALRA. ALRB staff frequently appear at community outreach events and as speakers at conferences, meetings, and other events on topics of interest to stakeholders in California’s agricultural communities.

For more information, see the ALRB Strategic Plan.

ALRB Executive Biographies