California’s regulator of farmworker rights has inked a deal to lease office space for new staff from a confrontational activist group known for its “toxic tours” of farmland.
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board announced the decision at its hearing last week, surprising farm groups that had just raised alarms about the group’s ties to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and its push for boosting the farmworker minimum wage to $10 above the statewide standard.
ALRB General Counsel Julia Montgomery presented the deal to the board as an update on the latest in a series of staff expansion efforts in agricultural regions throughout the state. Several years ago, the board noticed an increase in labor disputes in the Santa Maria area of Santa Barbara County, she explained. In response, it hired in 2022 a regional attorney, Yesenia Pulido, to be based out of their Salinas office, 150 miles north.
Since Pulido already lived in Santa Maria, the board instead leased office space to serve as a base for her operations. Seizing the opportunity to be close to farmworkers, ALRB partnered with the farmworker advocacy groups MICOP, short for Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project, and CAUSE, the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy. According to Montgomery, Pulido’s presence within the offices of the two organizations led to more claims filed in the county and more settlements with agricultural employers.
“She's just been there as a resource to meet with workers if they have questions or needs and also to help with the various case matters,” said Montgomery. “It's been a huge help to have her in that area.”
Julia Montgomery, ALRBPulido has provided support for farmworkers, such as signing documents and gathering evidence for cases. This year the Legislature approved ALRB’s requests to expand its staff and its office space to accommodate a new $15 million Rural Strategic Engagement Program, in partnership with the labor commissioner, Cal/OSHA, the Employment Development Department and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
ALRB plans to hire a field examiner and senior legal typist at its Santa Maria branch, which requires a dedicated office space for the three staff members.
“In looking around at different office space options, we realized there's a real lack of opportunity and space in this area,” said Montgomery. “We can't do a long-term lease because of the limited nature of the project. The Department of General Services process takes a very long time, and this project really needs to be up and running ASAP.”
The only available office space in a central location was at CAUSE, she reasoned. ALRB staff will work in a cubicle separate from the advocates but share a conference room, general space and a break room.
“We will also be putting a lot of safeguards in place to make sure that we're very clearly separated from CAUSE,” she said. “So that it's clear with signage and entrances and everything.”
With any ALRB cases where CAUSE is a party or a witness, Montgomery said “we will firewall those” or not assign them to the Santa Maria staff. ALRB can terminate the lease with a 30-day notice, if needed.
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Board chair Victoria Hassid gave her “kudos” to the team for their decision to open an office within the advocacy group’s headquarters.
“This is a really great opportunity,” said Hassid. “It's a way where we can serve the public much better.”
She said the partnership “really follows this philosophy” the agency is implementing across the board to meet workers where they're at. Hassid called it “a great example of our ability to be nimble and navigate some of the bureaucracy pretty well,” and believed appropriate safeguards have been put in place. The board unanimously approved the lease.
Passively observing the hearing virtually, Matthew Allen sprang to attention. The board had not listed on the hearing agenda a decision to open an office at CAUSE, and Allen was shocked by the news. As vice president of state government affairs at Western Growers, Allen has grown accustomed to seeing the lines blurred over potential conflicts of interest at ALRB. But he called the partnership with CAUSE astounding. Even if the legal controls succeed in keeping the regulators separated from the labor lobbyists, “at the end of the day, that doesn't negate the very public perception there's a continued concern of a lack of impartiality.”
DPR's Toxic Tour flier provoked ag outcry.
The advocacy group made waves in the agriculture community last month when it partnered with pesticide regulators to host an event dubbed a Toxic Tour of Santa Maria farms. Spearheading a coalition in opposition to the department’s endorsement of the inflammatory language, Maureen McGuire, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said such actions foster bias, promote activism over lawful regulation and target compliant businesses.
The same activists have violated reentry intervals for fields after pesticide applications, harassed workers and disturbed operations “under the guise of public interest,” she explained.
CAUSE and MICOP are also pushing Santa Barbara County to boost the minimum wage for farmworkers to $26 per hour. In its petition, the group argued the additional $10 would compensate for the soaring cost of living in the region. They see employers paying $19.65 per hour for H-2A guest workers — along with food, housing and transportation — and argue farmers can afford to pay more for domestic workers.
A coalition of growers and local businesses has formed in opposition, warning the proposal poses serious negative consequences for the regional economy.
“It’s not like it's a neutral third party,” said Allen, describing CAUSE in an interview with Agri-Pulse. “One could only imagine the public outcry if they were subleasing from a Western Growers office.”
When it comes to CAUSE’s growing ties with the Newsom administration, Allen’s message for growers is to be aware that the agency does not appear to be impartial.
“When you are linking arm-in-arm with an activist type organization, there's always cause for concern,” he said.
The governor’s office has not responded to requests for comment on either ALRB’s partnership with CAUSE or on the Toxic Tour.
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