FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: February 20, 2021

Contact: Daniela Ramirez at (805) 574-3001, daniela.ramirez@alrb.ca.gov for more information

ALRB Announces 212 Santa Maria Farmworkers will Receive Nearly $30,000 In a Check Distribution Tomorrow

SANTA MARIA – The California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) today announced that 212 farmworkers will receive checks because of an informal settlement agreement with Rancho Laguna Farms, LLC (Rancho Laguna). In total, workers will receive nearly $30,000 that the ALRB will distribute on Sunday, February 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the CAUSE Office located at 120 E. Jones Street, Santa Maria, CA.

By way of background, on May 4, 2020, Central Coast United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) filed an unfair labor practice charge with the ALRB on behalf of workers at Rancho Laguna. The charge alleges that Rancho Laguna unlawfully fired workers after they engaged in a work stoppage seeking to increase their wages. The charge also alleged that Rancho Laguna threatened to call immigration officials and called law enforcement out to the fields to retaliate against the workers thereby interfering with their right to come together to seek improved working conditions.

The settlement agreement requires Rancho Laguna to compensate impacted workers for potential economic losses resulting from the alleged retaliation. Rancho Laguna also agreed to provide their current agricultural employees with information about the settlement and information about their rights under the Agricultural Labor Relations Act (Act). Finally, Rancho Laguna also agreed that the ALRB will provide a training to its supervisors on farmworkers’ rights under the Act.

The ALRB enforces California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which states that “it is the policy of the State of California to encourage and protect the right of agricultural employees to full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment, and to be free from the interference, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or their agents, in the designation of such representatives or in self-organization or in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

The ALRB is headquartered in Sacramento. Field offices are in Oxnard, Visalia, Salinas, Indio, and Santa Rosa. Those wishing to access ALRB services may call the Oxnard office number (805) 988-3850, or a statewide toll-free phone number, (800) 449-3699. More information is available at www.alrb.ca.gov.