The Senate Rules Committee unanimously confirmed two appointments to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) this week.
Nearly a year ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom selected board member Victoria Hassid to serve as chair and tapped Los Angeles attorney Cinthia Flores as a new member. Their confirmations, however, were delayed due to the pandemic.
Santa Cruz Senator John Laird recalled at the Senate hearing that when the board was created in 1975, “it was explosive in that era. There was lots of division.” Hassid acknowledged the “very fierce battle to get this act passed to create the board” and that those tensions lingered for over a decade. But she said that she and fellow board members have worked “to instill a culture of civility and collegiality at the board.”
Labor groups commended Hassid’s “commitment to the ALRB mission of ensuring collective bargaining rights for agricultural workers.”
