Yahoo Finance Blow for California unions as Supreme Court rules against access to farms
The Supreme Court has sided in favour of California agriculture businesses in their challenge to stop unions from accessing private property without compensation in order to organise workers, in a move that could have wider implications for unions.
The justices ruled six to three, meaning California will have to modify or abandon the regulation, which permitted groups access to businesses for up to three hours per day, 120 days per year.
“The access regulation amounts to simple appropriation of private property,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the decision.
Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law, told the broadcaster that the ruling shows the “full force of the new six-three conservative majority” since Justice Amy Coney Barrett was instated.
The analyst said that the decision is the first marker of the court “embracing a broad view of property rights both in general and at the specific expense of organized labour”.
"Indeed, it's just the third time all term that the court split right down party lines in a signed opinion and the first in a non-criminal case," he said. "In that respect, it is, almost certainly, a harbinger of things to come."
Under the current regulation, businesses are supposed to be notified before organisers arrive and they are supposed to come during nonworking hours such as lunch and before and after work.
The business that brought the case said the access regulation, which is unique to California, was unconstitutional and that it was outdated and unnecessary given that unions can now reach workers via smartphone and radio.
Unions and critics argued that ruling in favour of businesses could have wider implications for unions in the court system.
They fear it may call into question other regulations that allow governments to access private property in the name of protecting workers such as for health and safety inspections.
Justice Roberts, however, suggested this would not be the case for health and safety inspections because allowing such access would remain beneficial to the agricultural employers and the public, CNN said.
It’s unclear how much will change as a result of the court’s ruling as union organisers had used the regulation “sparingly” between 2019 and 2020.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
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