# Jurisdictional Statement — Kubo v. Agricultural Labor Relations Board

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Jurisdictional Statement
- **Published:** January 1, 1976
- **Citation:** 429 U.S. 802

## Text

Po Supreme Ceurt, ¥. &

| FILED *:
: MAY 28 1976
In the Supreme Chuert RODAK, JR CLERK |

OF THE

United States

a
—— ee er

OcTOBER TERM, 1975

No. 25-1734

Harry Kuso, Niset FARMERS LEAGUE and
WESTERN ToMaTo GROWERS & SHIPPERS, INC.,
Appellants,

Vs.

AGRICULTURAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD OF
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, (
Appellee.

On Appeal from the Supreme Court of California

JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

J. RicHARD THESING,
Georce J. Ticnry, II,

JorDAN L. BLoom,

Gary P, ScHOLICK,

LITTLER, MENDELSON, Fastirr & TicHy,

650 California Street, 20th Floor,
San Francisco, California 94108,
Telephone: (415) 433-1940,
Attorneys for Appellants Harry Kubo, Nisei Farm-
ers League, Western Tomato Growers & Shippers,

|

Ine.
_—

PERNAU - WALSH PRINTING CO.- S62 MISSION STREET - SAN FRANCISCO, CA 84108

Page

GS sd oon cusswenedseadaadeneenecens 1
EE SY dcdwinituesd nududaneedhvdess useeecsetednes 2
EE i nisl dan cain anak hand deena bedakesie 2
OD ee eee ie eee meee ace 3
Ne ee ee eee 3
Sy Ge SE ED dilavdeunnat sueackdoteabkabeseucoeds 4
A. The proceedings in the trial court ................: 5
Ne aa 6
C. Stage at which federal questions were raised ........ 7
The questions presented are substantial .................. 8
TI 6k 606 Seb hs htt dededesdccccdcececcccusacccases 10

The lower court’s decision varies from this court’s
prior decisions under the NLRA in two significant

I ok. ds 0 kn Se sksdenn wn chensdes ceccececdscacs 10
A. Contrary to this court’s decisions, the ALRB’s
rule allows access to private property in a count-
less number of cases where it is not necessary
and would not be permitted had the case origi-
nated under the federal labor laws ............ 10

B. In those cases where access is necessary, the
degree of access permitted by the ALRB is
constitutionally overbroad ...........c.ceceeee 13

Cn RIT EE SAE MAAR. = bchieS PRS SEAN LOR en 15

Table of Authorities Cited

Cases Pages

Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB, 407 U.S. 539 (1972) ....
Pcnnanitihdsetanekeiasansaneens eseducwes 3, 4, 10, 11, 13, 14
Cleveland Board of Ed. v. LaFleur, 414 U.S. 632 (1974) ..12,13
Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) ........... 9

Hamilton v. Regents of the University of California, 293
i we GD sudéeueeneseduancesuscesuiecenncan 2
Hudgens v. NLRB, ....... eS icsnias , 147 L.Ed.2d 196 (1976)
Sjedweewtunense’ Srrrrrrrrrrirr ttre |

ll TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CITED

Pages
Live Oak Water Users’ Association v. Railroad Commission
of State of California, 269 U.S. 354 (1926) ........... 2
Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551 (1972) ............. 12
Lynch v. Household Finance Corp., 405 U.S. 538 (1972).. 12
New York v. O'Neill, 359 U.S. 1 (1959) ................ 9
NLRB v. Babeock & Wilcox Co., 351 U.S. 105 (1956)....
eter, on ale ar ee el ae ee ee a ad 3, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13
Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645 (1972) .............45. 13
Vlandis v. Kline, 412 U.S. 441 (1973) ..............0.0- 12, 13
Codes
California Administrative Code, Title 8, Part II, Chapter
9, §§20900-20901, pp. 1051-1053 2.1... ce cece eee eee 3
California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, Labor Code
GRDGD GE GOR. oc ccccccsccccccccccsssccccsossccecceece 4,5
California Code of Civil Procedure:
BD cccccctacvecssdedtcnsccvccstoscesesdsosencoee 2
SED cc ccdcvncedccsecdcesedsdesndueccecesaeseoese 2
SEED. ovcccsectdevccecdececentecedoeenyeussvedsess 2
Constitutions
United States Constitution :
SE or a oe ieee eeetken 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13
Fourteenth Amendment ..............65. 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13
Statutes
Ariz.Rev.Stats., §23-1381 et seq. ........ccsececseccvcces 9
Bdahe Coda, GUBGIEE G6 GEE. occ ccccccsccccnsccecscscace 9
Kans. Stats. Ann., §44-818 et seq. (1972) .........ceeeees 9
Ore.Rev.Stats., §662.805 et 90. ....ccccccccccccccvccces 9
BB UDG... SEBS) 2 ccccccccccccccccccccccvcccccsecsee 2

Other Authorities
U.S. Census of Agriculture: 1964 and 1969, Vol. II ...... 10

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Statistical Abstract of the United States, 614 (1975 96th
Ate TROD © ood ceccccccccnsecccctesescccaseese 10

Iu the Supreme Court

OF THE

Anited States

OcTOBER TERM, 1975

No.

Harry Kuso, NisE1 FARMERS LEAGUE and
WESTERN Tomato GRowERS & Suppers, INC.,
Appellants,

vs.

AGRICULTURAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD OF
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
Appellee.

On Appeal from the Supreme Court of California
JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

JURISDICTIONAL STATEMENT

Appellants appeal from the judgment of the Su-
preme Court of California, entered on March 4, 1976,
directing that a peremptory writ of mandate issue
compelling the Superior Courts of Tulare and Fresno
Counties, California to vacate various orders and
judgments enjoining the enforcement of an adminis-
trative regulation which permits access to private
agricultural property by union organizers. Appellants

2

submit this statement to show that the Supreme Court
of the United States has jurisdiction of the appeal
and that substantial questions are presented.

OPINION BELOW
The opinion of the Supreme Court of California is
reported in 16 Cal.3d 392. A copy of the opinion is
attached hereto as Appendix A.

JURISDICTION

This suit was brought under California Code of
Civil Procedure §6526, 1060, and 1085 (1975) to en-
join the enforcement of, and to declare as invalid
and unconstitutional, an aecess regulation adopted
by the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board
(hereinafter the “ALRB” or “Board’”’).

The judgment of the Supreme Court of California
was entered on March 4, 1976, and Appellants’ notice
of appeal was filed in that court on March 8, 1976.
See Appendix B, attached hereto.

The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to review
this decision by appeal is conferred by Title 28,
United States Code, Section 1257(2), and the follov-
ing cases sustain that jurisdiction: Hamilton v. Re-
gents of the University of California, 293 U.S. 245
(1934); Live Oak Water Users’ Association v. Rail-
road Commission of State of California, 269 U.S. 354
(1926).

. 7M “See

3

THE STATUTE INVOLVED

California Administrative Code, Title 8, Part II,
Chapter 9, §§20900-20901, pp. 1051-1053. See Appen-
dix C, attached hereto.

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

1. Whether a state regulation which allow. non-
employee union organizers the right of access to the
private property of each and every agricultural em-
ployer in the State of California is unconstitutional
for overbreadth or for otherwise being in violation of
the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments due process
clauses.

2. Whether the constitutional tests of “balancing”
and “accommodation” as explained in NLRB v. Bab-
cock & Wilcox,’ Central Hardware v. NLRB, and
Hudgens v. NLRB, govern the validity of a state
regulation allowing non-employee access to private
property; or, as held by the lower court, whether the
“rational relationship” test is the applicable judicial
standard of review.

3. Whether the access regulation is a deprivation
of fundamental personal liberties in violation of the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitu-
tion; or, as held by the lower court, whether the
access regulation is “but a limited economic regula-

1351 U.S. 105 (1956).
2407 U.S. 539 (1972).
8. U.S...) 47 L.Ed.2d 196 (1976).

4

tion of the use of real property imposed for the
general public welfare.’”*

4. Whether the enumerated Constitutional limita-
tions of Central Hardware which, inter alia, limit
access to non-working areas and the duration of or-
ganizational activity, are applicable to an access regu-
lation adopted by the State of California.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

This appeal involves the validity of a state regula-
tion which allows non-employee union organizers the
right of access to the private property of each and
every agricultural employer in the State of Califor-
nia. This regulation, as conceded by Appellee and as
recognized by the lower court, allows such non-
employee access despite the fact that unions have
available alternative effective means of communica-
tion, and despite the fact that access is neither lim-
ited to non-working areas nor to the duration of
organizational campaigns.

The access regulation was adopted by Appellee
ALRB on August 29, 1975. It was adopted immedi-
ately following a public hearing which lasted but one
day. In adopting the regulation, the ALRB was act-
ing purportedly pursuant to its authority under the
California Agricultural Labor Relations Act (herein-
after “ALRA”), a comprehensive agricultural labor
relations statute which became effective on August 28,
1975 and which was modeled after the National Labor

416 Cal.3d at 409.

5

Relations Act (hereinafter “NLRA”). (See Califor-
nia Labor Code §1140 et seq.)

A. The Proceedings in the Trial Court

On September 8, 1975, Appellants, agricultural em-
ployers subject to the provisions of the ALRA and the
instant access regulation, filed suit in the Fresno
County Superior Court seeking a writ of mandate and
injunctive and declaratory judgment relief against
enforcement of the access regulation. On September
10, 1975, after oral argument and submission of memo-
randa, affidavits and exhibits by all parties, the Su-
perior Court granted Appellants the relief requested
by adjudging, inter alia, that the access regulation
by reason of its overbreadth and failure to comport
with prior controlling U. S. Supreme Court decisions
was an unconstitutional infringement of Appellants’
fundamental property rights.

An action similar to that of Appellants was filed
on September 3, 1975 by other agricultural employ-
ers, Pandol & Sons and Jasmine Vineyards, Inc., be-
fore the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of California. The Court issued a temporary
restraining order that same day against the enforce-
ment of the rule on the ground that it was an
unconstitutional infringement of the employers’ fun-
damental property rights. A three-judge Federal
District Court was later convened which continued in
effect for an additional five days the TRO, but ulti-
mately decided that federal abstention was appro-
priate. Pandol & Sons and Jasmine Vineyards later
sought and obtained a temporary restraining order

6

from the Tulare County Superior Court which found,
inter alia, that the access regulation was an uncon-
stitutional infringement of the property rights of said
agricultural employers.

B. The Decision Below

The ALKB thereafter petitioned the Supreme Court
of California for an immediate stay of the lower
court decisions and a writ of prohibition and/or man-
date to compel the Superior Courts of Tulare and
Fresno Counties to vacate their previously issued
judgments and orders enjoining the enforcement of
the access regulation. On September 18, 1975, the
California Supreme Court granted the requested stay
pending final determination of the proceedings before
that Court. On March 4, 1976, over a vigorous dis-
sent by Justice Clark and by a 4-3 majority vote, the
California Supreme Court concluded that the access
regulation was valid in that, inter alia, it did not
violate the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the
United States Constitution. In so holding, the Court
professed to apply the standards of Babcock & Wilcox,
but did not. Instead, the Court concluded that non-
employee access as to individual employers would be
permissible even though unions had available alter-
native effective means of communication, and even
though access would neither be limited to non-working
areas nor to the duration of organizational campaigns.
The Court held that the property rights affected by
the access regulation were not “fundamental personal
liberties” (16 Cal.3d at 409) and that the access reg-
ulation “satisfies the due process clause if it has a

7

reasonable relation to a proper public purpose and is
neither arbitrary nor discrijainatory.” 16 Cal.3d at
410. Hence, the lower court viewed the access regu-
lation as a mere “limited economic regulation of the
use of real property” and thus ignored the correct
constitutional test for adjusting conflicts between or-
ganizational rights and fundamental property rights:
“Talccommodation between the two must be obtained
with as little destruction of one as is consistent with
the maintenance of the other.” NLRB v. Babcock &
Wileox Co., supra, 351 U.S. at 112.

C. Stage at Which Federal Questions Were Raised

The Federal questions in this case were raised in
the original complaint for a temporary restraining
order, writ ©* mandate, and declaratory judgment
filed with the Superior Court of Fresno County. In
its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and
Declaratory Judgment, the Superior Court specifically
adjudged that the access regulation unconstitutionally
infringed upon Appellants’ property rights as guar-
anteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of
the United States Constitution. Copies of the Supe-
rior Court’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of
Law, and Declaratory Judgment, are attached hereto
as Appendix D.

Appellee ALRB’s petition to the California Su-
preme Court for a writ of mandate and/or prohibi-
tion contended, among other things, that the access
regulation was constitutionally permissible and did
not infringe upon any fundamental personal liberties
or rights. Appellants responded to the alternative

8

writ of mandate issued by the California Supreme
Court by filing a Return and a Memorandum in sup-
port thereof, in which all Federal constitutional ques-
tions raised herein were fully articulated and briefed.
In addition, these Federal questions were raised and
submitted to the California Supreme Court during
oral argument. In its written opinion the lower court
expressly stated, “[t]he real parties in interest con-
tend that the access regulation is unconstitutional
because it assertedly deprives them of property rights
without due process of law and constitutes a taking
of those rights without just compensation.” 16 Cal.3d
at 403. The lower court concluded that the regulation
“transgresses no constitutional command.” 16 Cal.3d
at 411.

THE QUESTIONS PRESENTED ARE SUBSTANTIAL

This case involves the application of the wrong
Constitutional standards and the failure to follow
applicable decisions of this Court. Substantial ques-
tions are raised which this Court should hear because
the lower court’s decision results not only in the im-
proper infringement of property rights of a countless
number of California agricultural employers but, if
allowed to stand, the lower court’s decision will en-
able every state to enact statutes or regulations in-
fringing on the private property rights of every
employer in the country not subject to the National
Labor Relations Act to a degree more substantial

9

than this Court has ever allowed the NLRB to do
under the Federal labor laws.®

It obviously does not make sense for stricter stand-
ards to be imposed on the NI.RB than on the states
when the same fundamental Constitutional rights are
involved, i.e., Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment fun-
damental property rights.°

5This is not mere idle speculation. As of this date Arizona,
Kansas, Idaho, Oregon and Michigan have enacted statutes
affecting labor relations matters between agricultural employers
and employees. See, e.g., Ariz.Rev.Stats. §23-1381, et s q.; Kans.
Stats. Ann. §44-818, et seq. (1972); Idaho Code §22-4101, et
seq.; Ore.Rev.Stats. §662.805, et seq. In addition, we are informed
that within the past two years, such bills have been introduced
into the legislatures of Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Hawaii, and
Washington, We are further informed by the Florida Legislative
Service Office that the Florida legislature has such a bill that is
in the process of being drafted and shall soon be introduced for
legislative consideration. Cf. New York v. O'Neill, 359 U.S. 1, 3
(1959).

6Appellants do not contend that the State of California may
not experiment or attempt novel approaches in dealing with its
farm labor matters. However, Appellants do contend, as this
Court has noted many times, that when so experimenting, the
State may not abridge fundamental rights. As Justice Goldberg
stated in Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 496 (1965)
(concurring), “Elsewhere I have stated that ‘[w]hile I quite
agree with Mr. Justice Brandeis that ...a.. . state may serve
as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments
(citations omitted), I do not believe that this includes the power
to experiment with the fundamental liberties of citizens.’”

10

ARGUMENT

THE LOWER COURT'S DECISION VARIES FROM THIS COURT'S
PRIOR DECISIONS UNDER THE NLRA IN TWO SIGNIFI-
CANT RESPECTS.

A. Contrary to this Court's Decisions, the ALRB’s Rule Allows
Access to Private Property in a Countless Number of Cases
Where It Is Not Necessary and Would Not Be Permitted
Had The Case Originated Under the Federal Labor Laws.

The day after the ALRA became law the ALRB
held a one day hearing and the following day an-
nounced the access rule now in question. In so doing
the Board found that “[g]enerally, alternative chan-
nels of effective communication [are not available ].”
(Emphasis added). For appellants and thousands of
other agricultural employers,’ however, alternative
effective means of communication are available and
yet they are required, under the lower court’s deci-
sion, to allow union organizers on their property dur-
ing working time. This clearly does not comport with
the due process of law requirements of the Fifth and
Fourteenth Amendments.

In NERB v. Babcock & Wileor Co., 351 U.S. 105
(1956), Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB, 407 US.

*According to the U.S. Bureau of Census, U.S. Census of
Agriculture: 1964 and 1969, Vol. Il, of which the Court is
respectfully requested to take judicial notice, in 1969 there were
approximately 78,000 farms in the State of California; the value
of the products sold by these farms (ie., a value of approxi-
mately 4 billion dollars) was greater than that of any other
state in the country. See, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF
THE UNITED STATES, 614 (1975 96th Annual Edition).

11

939 (1972), and Hudgens v. NERB, ........ a :
147 L.Ed.2d 196 (1976), this Court established that
when employees’ statutory organizational rights con-
flict or compete with an employer’s Fifth or Four-
teenth Amendment property rights, the appropriate
constitutional test is one of balancing or accommoda-
tion. Thus, this Court stated in Babcock & Wilcox
that “accommodation” between organizational rights
of workers and property rights of the employer “must
be obtained with as little destruction of one as is
consistent with the maintenance of the other.” (351
U.S. at 112.) It is important to note that in the
Babcock & Wilcox case the Court had before it three
separate NLRB decisions in which the Board had
“found in each case that it was unreasonably difficult
for the union organizer to reach the eliplovees off
company property and held that, in refusing the
unions access to parking lots, the employers had
unreasonably impeded the employees’ rights to self-
organization . .” 351 U.S. at 106. (Emphasis
added). Notwithstanding the Board’s findings and
the Court’s observations that the Board’s orders were
“reasonable regulations” (Id. at 112), the Court con-
cluded that there were other available means of com-
munication for the unions and therefore it was not
necessary for the employers’ property rights to be
infringed.

In contrast, the court below admitted “that there
will be individual instances in which access might in
fact [be] unnecessary in order to effectively commu-
nicate with the workers.” 16 Cal.3d at 410. Notwith-

12

standing this admission, the court below upheld the
access rule because it “is not a deprivation of ‘funda-
mental personal liberties’ but a limited economic reg-
ulation of the use of real property imposed for the
public welfare,” citing a zoning case from this Court,
and further held that “such a regulation satisfies the
due process clause if it has a reasonable relation to
a proper public purpose.” 16 Cal.3d 409-410.

As the dissenting opinion by California Supreme
Court Justice Clark makes clear, “[The California
Supreme] Court is apparently the only court unable
to grasp that the appropriate standard for review is
one of balancing and not of rational relationship.”
(16 Cal.3d at 480.)

It is also noteworthy that in Babcock & Wilcox and
its progeny there is neither citation nor reference to
cases which involve zoning regulations or cases ap-
plying the reasonable relationship test. The reason,
of course, is that an employer’s property rights are
fundamental personal liberties that are protected by
the due process clause and thus are entitled to a judi-
cial scrutiny more significant and substantial than a
mere reasonable relationship test. See, Lloyd Corp.
v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551, 570 (1972); Lynch v. House-
hold Finance Corp., 405 U.S. 538, 552 (1972); see
also, Cleveland Board of Ed, v. LaFleur, 414 U.S.
632, 644, 649 (1974); Vlandis v. Kline, 412 U.S. 441,
446 (1973). At the very least, and as explained in
Babcock, these fundamental rights are entitled to a
balancing test which allows intrusions on private
property only “to the extent needed to permit com-

13

munication.” 351 U.S. at 112°. By failing to apply
this balancing test to the instant access regulation,
the California Supreme Court clearly ignored the
express mandate of this Court, and accordingly, the
lower court’s decision is in obvious conflict with the
prior controlling decisions of this Court. NERB v.
Babcock & Wilcox Co., supra; Central Hardware Co.
vu. NLRB, supra; Hudgens v. NLRB, supra.®

B. In Those Cases Where Access Is Necessary, The Degree of
Access Permitted by the ALRB Is Constitutionally Over-
broad.

The second substantial area of difference between
the lower court decision and the previous decisions
of this Court is in the area of the application of the
rule. Of the various cases arising out of the National
Labor Relations Act, not a single case allows access

8Significantly, a balancing test which allows intrusion only to
the extent “needed” or “necessary” is similar to the type of
judicial review accorded whenever fundamental constitutional
rights are abridged by governmental action. See, Cleveland
Board of Ed. v. LaFleur, supra; Vlandis v. Kline, supra; Stan-
ley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 657 (1972). The use of such a
balancing test by this Court in Babcock clearly indicated that
the Court viewed the emplover’s property rights as important
and fundamental civil liberties.

®At issue here is not, as the lower court apparently believed,
the appropriateness of case by ease adjudication vis-a-vis rule-
making in the area of non-emplovee access. Certainly a regula-
tion can be devised which sets forth understandable eriteria and
which takes into account the constitutional standards and limita-
tions of Babcock & Wilcox and its progeny. Such a regulation
would likely be constitutional in that it would treat each indi-
vidual employer’s property with the constitutional deference to
which it is guaranteed by the due process clause. The instant
aecess regulation, however, because it treats all employers alike
and allows non-employee access even where alternate means of
communication exist, is patently overbroad and thus violates the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments,due process clauses.

14

to the work areas during working time. As the Court

stated in Central Hardware:
“The allowed intrusion on property rights is
limited to that necessary to facilitate the exercise
of an employee’s Section 7 rights. After the
requisite need for access to the employer’s prop-
erty has been shown, the access is limited to (i)
union organizers; (ii) prescribed non-working
areas of the employer’s premises; (iii) the dura-
tion of the organizational activity. In short, the
principle of accommodation announced in Bab-
cock is limited to labor organization campaigns,
and the ‘yielding’ of property rights it may re-
quire is both temporary and minimal.” 407 U.S.
at 544-545. (Emphasis added).

In contrast to the explicit limitations specified above
in Central Hardware, the ALRB’s rule allows access
by union organizers during work time in work areas.’
There is absolutely no justification in the lower court’s
decision for this substantial interference with the
rights of agricultural employers.

1°Under the access rule if there is not a regularly scheduled
one hour lunch break, organizers can enter the fields for an hour
during any period of the work day and attempt to organize em-
ployees while they are working. A regularly scheduled one hour
lunch break is the exception rather than the rule in California
agriculture.

15

CONCLUSION

For the reasons set forth above, the decision below
conflicts with controlling decisions of this Court, and
should be summarily reversed on the authority of
those cases, Moreover, the questions presented are
important and of substantial consequence not only to
the thousands of agricultural employers of California
affected by this overbroad regulation, but also to the
tens of thousands of employers throughout this coun-
try who are not subject to the Federal labor laws
and who could be affected by similar statutes and reg-
ulations in their respective states. Accordingly, if
the Court is not disposed to reverse summarily, it is
respectfully urged that probable jurisdiction be noted
and that the questions presented be set down for full
briefing and argument.

Dated: May 27, 1976.
Respectfully submitted,

J. RicHarp THESING,

Gerorce J. Ticny, II,

JoRDAN L. BLoom,

Gary P. ScHOLICK,

LITTLER, MENDELSON, FastirF & Ticnry,

Attorneys for Appellants Harry Kubo, Nisei Farm-

ers League, Western Tomato Growers & Shippers,
Ine.

(Appendices Follow)

APPENDICES

Appendix A

S. F. No. 23,349

In the Supreme Court
of the
State of California

In Bank

Agricultural Labor Relations Board et al., ]

Petitioners,
vs.

~~

The Superior Court of Tulare County et al.,

Respondents ;
Pandol & Sons et al.,

Real Parties in Interest.

J

[Filed March 4, 1976]

OPINION

The state Agricultural Labor Relations Board
(ALRB) petitions for an original writ of mandate to
compel respondent Superior Courts of Tulare and
Fresno Counties to vacate various orders enjoining
enforcement of an administrative regulation which
permits qualified access to agricultural preperty by
farm labor organizers. We have concluded that the

2

regulation is valid and the board is entitled to the re-
lief requested.

On August 28, 1975, the Agricultural Labor Rela-
tions Act (ALRA) (Lab. Code, § 1140 et seq.) went
into effect. The preamble to the act recites in part
that “In enacting this legislation the people of the
State of California seek to ensure peace in the agri-
cultural fields by guaranteeing justice for all agricul-
tural workers and stability in labor relations. [{]
This enactment is intended to bring certainty and a
sense of fair play to a presently unstable and poten-
tially volatile condition in the state.” (Stats. 1975,
Third Ex. Sess., ch. 1, §1, No. 3 West’s Cal. Legis.
Service, p. 304, No. 2 Deering’s Adv. Legis. Service,
p. 1147.)

To achieve this goal, the act deciares the right of
agricultural employees to organize themselves into
unions and to engage in collective bargaining, free
from intimidation by either employers or union
representatives. Thus new section 1140.2 of the Labor
Code states “the policy of the State of California” to
be “to encourage and protect the right of agricultural
employees to full freedom of association, self-organi-
zation, and designation of representatives of their own
choosing, to negotiate the terms and conditions of
their employment, and to be free from the interfer-
ence, restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or
their agents, in the designation of such representatives
or in self-organization or in other concerted activi-
ties for the purpose of collective bargaining or other
mutual aid or protection. For this purpose this part

3

[ie., the ALRA] is adopted to provide for collective-

bargaining rights for agricultural employees.”

Remaining provisions of the act implement this
legislative intent in two principal ways. First, chap-
ter 4 characterizes a variety of acts by employers or
unions as unfair labor practices. In particular, it is
declared to be an unfair labor practice for employers
to interfere in any way with the goal of self-organi-
zation by farm workers, to favor any union over an-
other, to discriminate against any worker for assert-
ing his rights under the statute, or to refuse to bar-
gain in good faith with the certified representative
union. (Lab. Code, § 1153.)°

Secondly, chapter 5 sets forth elaborate provisions
for elections by secret ballot to determine the repre-
sentative union for collective bargaining purposes.
“Recognizing that agriculture is a seasonal occupation
for a majority of agricultural employees” (§ 1156.4),
the act authorizes such elections only during peak har-
vest seasons. An election will be held when a union
obtains the signatures of the majority of the workers
on a ranch; if a second union obtains the signatures
of 20 percent of the same work force, it will also be

1Seection 1152 reaffirms that “Employees shall have the right to
self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to
bargain collectively through representatives of their own choos-
ing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of
collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall
also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities.
_..” The quoted language is identical to that of section 7 of the
National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). (Now 29 U.S.C. § 157.)

2The provisions of section 1153 are closely modeled on those of
section 8 of the NLRA. (Now 29 U.S.C. § 158.)

4

placed on the ballot. The ballots are printed in Eng-
lish, Spanish, and any other language requested. Once
authorized, an election is quickly held: within 48 hours
in a case of a strike, and within 7 days in other cases.
Within five days thereafter any person may challenge
the propriety of the election or its results. (§ 1156.3.)

Article 1 of chapter 2 creates the ALRB and pre-
scribes its method of operation. Article 2 vests the
board with broad investigatory powers, and makes it
a criminal offense to interfere in the performance of
the board’s duties. Numerous provisions throughout
the remainder of the act grant the board specific pow-
ers and responsibilities of administration, particularly
in conducting and certifying elections and in investi-
gating and preventing unfair labor practices. On the
latter subject chapter 6 begins by declaring (¢ 1160)
that “The hoard is empowered . . . to prevent any
person from engaging in any unfair labor practice”
defined in the act, and succeeding sections authorize
the board to use a variety of methods to achieve that
end: administrative complaint (§ 1160.2), cease and
desist order (§ 1160.3), temporary restraining order
(§ 1160.4), injunctive relief (4 1160.6), and enforce-
ment orders from hoth the superior courts and the
Courts of Appeal (4 1160.8).

In addition to its adjudicatory and exeeutive pow-
ers, the board is vested with express legislative author-
ity: section 1144 delegates to the hoard the power to
make, amend, and repeal “such rules and regulations
as may he necessary to carry out the provisions” of

the ALRA.

5

The board promptly adopted emergency regulations
for the operation of the act. (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 8,
pt. LI, § 20100 et sey.) Among those provisions is the
regulation here in issue, which grants a qualified right
of access to growers’ premises by farm labor organ-
izers. (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 8, pt. L1, ch. 9, §§ 20900-
20901, pp. 1051-1053.)* Under the terms of the
regulation the right of access is specifically limited in
purpose, in time and place, and in the number of
organizers permitted to participate; and conduct is
forbidden, other than speech, which is “disruptive of
the employer’s property or agricultural operations,
including injury to crops or machinery."

8The regulation took effect on August 29, 1975. An emergency
regulation automatically expires 120 days after its effective date
unless the agency certifies during that period that it has complied
with certain requirements of notice and hearing. (Gov. Code,
§ 11422.1.) The ALRB so certified on December 2, 1975, and the
regulation will therefore remain in effect until such time as it
may be amended or repealed.

4The relevant portions of the regulation read as follows:

“5. Accordingly, the Board will consider the rights of em-
ployees under Labor Code See. 1152 [fn. 1, ante] to include the
right of access by union organizers to the premises of an agri-
cultural employer for the purpose of organizing, subject to the
following limitations :

“a. Organizers may enter the property of an employer for a
total period of 60 minutes before the start of work and 60 minutes
after the completion of work to meet and talk with employees in
areas in which employees congregate before and after working.

“b. In addition, organizers may enter the employer’s property
for a total period of one hour during the working day for the
purpose of meeting and talking with employees during their
lunch period, at such location or locations as the employees eat
their lunch. If there is an established lunch break, the one-hour
period shall include such lunch break. If there is no established
lunch break, the one-hour period may be at any time during the
working day.

“e. Aeecess shall be limited to two organizers for each work
crew on the property, provided that if there are more than 30

6

‘'wo groups of growers, real parties in interest
herein, filed actions in the Fresno and Tulare Su-
perior Courts attacking the validity of the regulation
and seeking to prevent its enforcement. The Fresno
Superior Court held a hearing on the matter and on
the same day issued a peremptory writ of mandate
ordering the board to vacate the regulation, together
with a declaratory judgment that the regulation is
invalid on both constitutional and statutory grounds.
At the same time the Tulare Superior Court issued a
temporary restraining order prohibiting the board
from enforcing the regulation, and set a hearing on
an order to show cause why an injunction to that ef-
fect should not be issued. Upon application and ap-
propriate showing by the board, we stayed the effect
of the respective superior court rulings pending final
determination of this proceeding for writ of mandate.

I

The remedy is proper. The challenged rulings of
respondent courts are primarily injunctive in effect.
The codes, embodying a settled principle of equity ju-

workers in a crew, there may be one additional organizer for
every 15 additional workers.

“d. Upon request, organizers shall identify themselves by
name and labor organization to the employer or his agent. Or-
ganizers shall also wear a badge or other designation of affiliation.

“e The right of access shall not include conduct disruptive
of the employer’s property or agricultural operations, including
injury to crops or machinery. Speech by itself shall not be con-
sidered disruptive conduct. Disruptive conduct by particular or-
ganizers shall not be grounds for expelling organizers not
engaged in such conduct, nor for preventing future access.

“f. Pending further regulation by the Board, this regulation
shall not apply after the results of an election held pursuant to
this act have been certified.”

7

risprudence, prohibit the granting of injunctive relief
“To prevent the execution of a public statute by offi-
cers of the law for the public benefit.” (Code Civ.
Proc., §526, 2d subd. 4; Civ. Code, § 3423, subd.
Fourth.) That rule is here applicable, inasmuch as a
regulation adopted by a state administrative agency
pursuant to a delegation of rulemaking authority by
the Legislature has the force and effect of a statute.
(Zumwalt v. Trustees of Cal. State Colleges (1973)
33 Cal.App.3d 665, 675 [109 Cal.Rptr. 344]; Alta-Dena
Dairy v. County of San Diego (1969) 271 Cal.App.2d
66, 75 [76 Cal.Rptr. 510]; Rigley v. Board of Retire-
ment (1968) 260 Cal.App.2d 445, 450 [67 Cal.Rptr.
185], and cases cited.) It is true the rule prohibiting
such an injunctio: does not operate when the statute
which is stayed is unconstitutional or otherwise in-
valid. (Conover v. Hall (1974) 11 Cal.3d 842, 850 [114
Cal.Rptr. 642, 523 P.2d 682].) As will appear, how-
ever, we have concluded that the access regulation 1s
valid. Under the codes, therefore, respondent courts
had no jurisdiction except to deny the real parties’
request to enjoin enforcement of the regulation. (City
of Los Angeles v. Superior Court (1959) 51 Cal.2d
423, 430 [333 P.2d 745], and cases cited.)

When a court’s discretion can legally be exercised
in only one way, mandate will lie to compel that ex-
ercise if there is no adequate remedy at law. (Babb
v. Superior Court (1971) 3 Cal.8d 841, 851 [92 Cal.
Rptr. 179, 479 P.2d 379].) The absence of an ade-
quate remedy at law was determined herein when we
issued the alternative writ. (Ibid.) Accordingly, man-

?

8

date is an appropriate remedy to compel respondent
courts to vacate their orders invalidating and en} in-
ing enforcement of the access regulation. (People v.
Superior Court (1967) 248 Cal.App.2d 276, 282 [56
Cal.Rptr. 393].) And we exercise our original juris-
diction to grant that remedy (Cal. Const. art. VI,
§ 10) because we find that in the circumstances of this
case “ ‘the issues presented are of great public impor-
tance and must be resolved promptly.’” (Clean Air
Constituency v. California State Air Resources Bad.
(1974) 11 Cal.3d 801, 808 [114 Cal. Rptr. 577, 523 P.2d
617], quoting from County of Sacramento v. Hickman
(1967) 66 Cal.2d 841, 845 [59 Cal.Rptr. 609, 428 P.2d
593 |.)
II

We begin with the constitutional issues. The real
parties in interest contend that the access regulation
is unconstitutional hecause it assertedly deprives them
of property rights without due process of law and con-
stitutes a taking of those rights without just compen-
sation. (Cal. Const., art. T, §§ 1, 7, subd. (a), and 19;
U.S. Const., 5th and 14th Amends.) As will appear,
however, the constitutional challenge comes many
vears too late.

The real parties principally rely on Lloyd Corp.
v. Tanner (1972) 407 U.S. 551 [33 L.Ed.2d 131, 92 S.Ct.
2219], and Diamond v. Bland (1974) 11 Cal.3d 331
[113 Cal.Rptr. 468, 521 P.2d 460], but the decisions
are not in point. In each a divided court held that the
constitutional guarantee of free speech was not vio-
lated by the refusal of a shopping center to permit its

9

property to be used for distribution of antiwar hand-
bills (Lloyd) or solicitation of signatures on an in-
itiative petition (Diamond). The matter at bar,
by contrast, is not primarily a First Amendment case.
At issue here is not an exercise of freedom of speech
on a topic of general concern in a convenient public
forum; rather, the interest asserted is the right of
workers employed on the premises in question to have
effective access to information assisting them to organ-
ize into representative units pursuant to a specific
governmental policy of encouraging collective bargain-
ing. The inapplicability of the Lloyd-Diamond rule to
labor disputes is noted on the face of each opinion
(Lloyd, at pp. 560-561 [33 L.Ed.2d at pp. 137-138];
Diamond, at p. 334, fn. 3), and has been elsewhere
emphasized by both the United States Supreme Court
(Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB (1972) 407 U.S. 539,
545 [33 L.Ed.2d 122, 127-128, 92 S.Ct. 2238]) and this
eourt (United Farm Workers of America v. Superior
Court (1975) 14 Cal.3d 902, 911 [122 Cal.Rptr. 877,
537 P.2d 1237]).

The governmental policy in favor of collective bar-
gaining, as the above-quoted preamble to the ALRA
makes clear, is designed to benefit the public as a
whole. It should seareely be necessary, as we enter
the last quarter of the 20th century, to reaffirm the
principle that all private property is held subject to
the power of the government to regulate its use for
the public welfare. We do not minimize the impor-
tance of the constitutional guarantees attaching to pri-
vate ownership of property; but as long as 50 vears

>

10

ago it was already “ ‘thoroughly established in this
country that the rights preserved to the individual by
these constitutional provisions are held in subordina-
tion to the rights of society. Although one owns prop-
erty, he may not do with it as he pleases any more
than he may act in accordance with his personal de-
sires. As the interest of society justifies restraints
upon individual conduct, so, also, does it justify re-
straints upon the use to which property may be de-
voted. It was not intended by these constitutional
provisions to so far protect the individual in the use
of his property as to enable him to use it to the detri-
ment of society. By thus protecting individual rights,
society did not part with the power to protect itself
or to promote its general well-being. Where the inter-
est of the individual conflicts with the interest of so-
ciety, such individnal interest is subordinated to the
general welfare. . . . [I ]ncidental damages to property
resulting from governmental activities, or laws passed
in the promotion of the public welfare are not consid-
ered a taking of the property for which compensation
must be made.’” (Miller v. Board of Public Works
(1925) 195 Cal. 477, 488 [234 P. 381, 38 A.L.R. 1479],
quoting from Carter v. Harper (1923) 182 Wis. 148,
153 [196 N.W. 451, 33 A.L.R. 269].) This is living
law today. (HFH, Ltd. v. Superior Court (1975) 15
Cal.3d 508, 515 [125 Cal.Rptr. 365, 542 P.2d 237].)
And no different rights are conferred by the corres-
ponding provisions of the federal Constitution. (See,
eg., Nebbia v. New York (1934) 291 U.S. 502, 523-527
[78 L.Ed, 940, 948-951, 54 S.Ct. 505, 89 A.L.R. 1469].)

11

Nor should we need tc recall the corollary of the
foregoing principle, to wit, that governmental power
is not static but dynamic: it is not “confined within
the narrow circumspection of precedents, resting upon
past conditions which do not cover and control pres-
ent-day conditions obviously calling for revised regu-
lations to promote the health, safety, morals, or gen-
eral welfare of the public,” but rather is “capable of
expansion to meet existing conditions of modern life
and thereby keep pace with the social, economic,
moral, and intellectual evolution of the human race.”
(Miller v. Board of Public Works, supra, at pp. 484,
485.) Early restraints on the unfettered use of private
property—e.g., the doctrines of easement and nuisance
—were few in number and narrow in scope. But mod-
ern social legislation has added many others—e.g.,
building codes, zoning restrictions, land use planning,
and urban redevelopment—which are far more per-
vasive in their effect on the rights of property owners.
Thus, an eminent authority on the law of property
lists no less than 20 ways in which private property is
today subject to governmental regulation (Powell, The
Relationship Between Property Rights and Civil
Rights (1963) 15 Hastings L.J. 135, 148-149), and
concludes that “the history of the law of private own-
ership has witnessed simultaneously a playing-down
of absolute rights and a playing-up of social concern
as to the use of property. . .. Property rights have
heen redefined in response to a swelling demand that
ownership he responsible and responsive to the needs
of the social whole. Property rights cannot he used as
a shibboleth to cloak conduct which adversely affects

12

the health, the safety, the morals, or the welfare of
others.” (Id., at pp. 149-150.)

The efforts for social justice documented in that
history have precipitated many conflicts. In most the
reasonable needs of the community as a whole have
eventually prevailed. But in the general retreat of re-
calcitrant forces, a strange rearguard action has been
fought by those property owners who are also
employers of labor: “Though subject to reasonable
use in other areas of the law, curiously the concept
a property rights has become a rallying ery in the
field of labor law. The traditional notion would seem
to he that the concept suffices as an absolute defense
against those who would engage in union activity.
That notion—like so many others held as doctrine by
past generations—may well be under increasing at-
tack.” (Gould, Union Organizational Rights and the
Concept of “Quasi-Public” Property (1965) 49 Minn.
L.Rev. 505, 509.)

The issue joined here is new to the California
courts, but our federal brethren have often considered
it in the industrial labor context. “In Republic Avi-
ation Corp. v. Board [ (1945) 324 U.S. 793 (89 L.Ed.
1372, 65 S.Ct. 982, 157 A.L.R. 1081) ], the Supreme
Court set forth the ground rules concerning union ac-

5In other settings our courts have looked to federal decisions
interpreting provisions of the NLRA similar to state law. (F.g.,
Los Angeles Met. Transit Authority v. Brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen (1960) 54 Cal.2d 684, 687-689 [8 Cal.Rptr. 1, 355 P.2d
905]; Petri Cleaners, Inc. v. Automotive Employees, ete Local No.
88 (1960) 53 Cal.2d 455, 459-460 [2 Cal.Rptr. 470, 349 P.2d 76];
International Assn. of Fire Fighters v. County of Merced (1962)
204 Cal.App.2d 387, 392 [22 Cal.Rptr. 270].

13

tivity on company property.” (Gould, The Question
of Union Activity on Company Property (1964) 18
Vand.L.Rey. 73, 75.) The case dealt with organiza-
tional activities conducted on the employer’s premises
by union spokesmen who were also employees of the
company. The high court ratified the position of the
NLRB that absent extraordinary circumstances it is
an unfair labor practice for the employer to prohibit
such activities during nonworking hours. The court
quoted with approval the following language of the
decision of the board: “*As the Circuit Court of Ap-
peals for the Second Circuit has held, “It is not every
interference with property rights that is within the
Fifth Amendment .. . Inconvenience, or even some
dislocation of property rights, may be necessary in
order to safeguard the right to collective bargaining.”
[National Labor R. Board v. Cities Service Oil Co.
(2d Cir. 1941) 122 F.2d 149, 152.] The Board has
frequently applied this principle in decisions involv-
ing varying sets of circumstances, where it has held
that the employer’s right to control his property does
not permit him to deny access to his property to
persons whose presence is necessary there to enable
the employees effectively to exercise their right to
self-organization and collective bargaining,...’” (/d.,
at p. 802, fn. 8 [89 L.Ed. at p. 1379].)°

6The reasoning in support of this conelusion was given in the
court’s quotation from an earlier NLRB decision in point (Peyton
Packing Company (1943) 49 NLRB 828, 843-844), which said in
part that ‘‘time outside working hours, whether before or after
work, or during luncheon or rest periods, is an employee's time to
use as he wishes without unreasonable restraint, although the em-
ployee is on company property. It is therefore not within the prov-
inee of an employer to promulgate and enforce a rule prohibiting

14

The second landmark ease on this topic is Labor
Board v. Babcock & Wilcox Co. (1956) 351 U.S. 105
[100 L.Ed. 975, 76 S.Ct. 679]. In contrast to Republic
Aviation, the union organizers excluded from the em-
ployers’ premises in the three consolidated cases de-
cided in Babcock d&: Wilcox were not employees of the
companies in question. The NLRB found that in the
circumstances shown it was unreasonably difficult for
the organizers to make contact with the employees off
company property, and concluded that in deiiying the
organizers permission to distribute union literature on
company parking lots the employers had unlawfully
interfered with the right of the employees to self-
organization under the NLRA. The Supreme Court
ruled that the board erred in failing to draw a dis-
tinction between employee and nonemployee organ-
izers: access to company property by the latter can be
denied, said the court, “if reasonable efforts by the
union through other available channels of communica-
tion will enable it to reach the employees with its mes-
sage....” (Id. at p. 112 [100 L.Ed. at p. 982].)’

By declaring the foregoing standard the court nee-
essarily rejected any claim that “property rights” of

union solicitation by an employee outside of working hours, although
on company property. Such a rule must be presumed to be an
unreasonable impediment to self-organization and therefore dis-
criminatory in the absence of evidence that special circumstances
make the rule necessary in order to maintain production or disci-
pline.’’ (324 U.S. at pp. 803-804, fn. 10 [89 L.Ed. at p. 1380].)

7A second condition imposed by the eourt—i.e., prohibiting dis-
crimination against the union ‘‘by allowing other distribution’’—
is not involved in the ease at bar.

The court concluded that on the record of each of the three cases
be*ore it the evidence did not support the beard’s finding of em-
ployee inacessibility, and therefore declined to decree enforcement.

15

employers are paramount to their employees’ right to
have effective access to information assisting them in
their goal of self-organization: “The right of self-
organization depends in some measure on the ability
of employees to learn the advantages of self-organiza-
tion from others.” (/d. at p. 113 [100 L.Ed. at p.
983].) Rather, employers’ property rights must give
way whenever the two interests are found to be in ir-
reconcilable conflict: “Organization rights are granted
to workers by the same authority, the National Goy-
ernment, that preserves property rights. Accommoda-
tion between the two must be obtained with as little
destruction of one as is consistent with the mainte-
nance of the other... . But when the inaccessibility of
employees makes ineffective the reasonable attempts
by nonemployees to communicate with them through
the usual channels, the right to exclude from property
has heen required to yield to the extent needed to
permit communication of information on the right to
organize.” (Id. at p. 112 [100 L.Ed. at pp. 982-983.)
(Aceord, Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB (1972
supra, 407 U.S. 539, 542-545 [33 L.Ed.2d 122, 125-
128].)

Examples of the application of this rule appear in
a variety of contexts. In Republic Aviation the court
in dictum distinguished the case before it from those
involving “a mining or lumber camp where the em-
plovees pass their rest as well as their work time on
the emplover’s premises, so that union organization
must. proceed upon the employer’s premises or he seri-
ously handicapped.” (Fn. omitted.) (324 U.S. at p.
799 [89 L.Ed. at p. 1377]; see also Labor Board v.,

16

Stowe Sninning Co. (1949) 336 U.S. 226, 232, fn. 10
[93 L.Ed. 638, 644, 69 S.Ct. 541].)

Shortly thereafter such a case arose. In National
Labor Rel. Bd. v. Lake Superior Lumber Corp. (6th
Cir. 1948) 167 F.2d 147, the employer operated a
number of lumbering camps on its timber tract. Each
was isolated from any town, and was largely self-
sufficient. The employees lived on the camp premises
in bunkhouses; although given Sundays off, they us-
ually remained in the camps. In these circumstances
the NLRB ruled it was an unfair labor practice for
the employer to bar nonemployee union organizers
from entering the bunkhouses to talk with the men
during nonworking hours. Enforcing the order of ac-
cess, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals relied on the
above-quoted dictum in Republic Aviation and held
that “In view of the limited free time available to the
employees and the practical difficulties involved in
contacting them after the evening meal in any place
other than in the bunkhouses, union organization
would as a practical matter be seriously handicapped
by restricting such activity to the recreation hall.”
(Td., at p. 152.) (Accord, Alaska Barite Company
(1972) 197 N.L.R.B. 1623 (mining camp on private
island ).)

Nor is the right of access limited to remote lumber
or mining camps; it may attach in the case of a ship
anchored in a busy port. Thus in National Labor R.
Board v. Cities Service Oil Co, (2d Cir. 1941) supra,
122 F.2d 149, the emplover operated ocean-going oil
tankers which entered United States ports to dis-

li

charge their cargo. A maritime union was refused
passes to board the ships while in port for the purpose
of negotiating grievances of the seamen. The NLRB
ruled this practice violated the seamen’s rights to
self-organization and collective bargaining under see-
tion 7 of the NLRA. The Second Cireuit Court of
Appeals agreed, reasoning that “The result of refusing
passes is undoubtedly to prevent the most effective
sort of collective action by the employees. Ships, and
particularly these oil tankers, which ordinarily remain
in port for a day only, afford less opportunity for in-
vestigation of labor conditions than do factories where
the employees go home every afternoon and have the
evenings at their disposal. There is no cessation of
work at the end of each day for seamen on a tanker.
A large number of them are on watch, others are
loading or discharging cargo; their hours for work
and shore leave are different and, in the short time
the vessel is in port, it is impossible for Union repre-
sentatives to assemble the unlicensed personnel either
on shore or on shiphoard to discuss grievances or in-
vestigate conditions. The Union must have the mem-
bers of the crew readily accessible in order to work to
any real advantage. .. .” (Id. at p. 151.) The court
therefore granted enforcement of the board’s order of
access. (Accord, Richfield Oil Corp. v. National Labor
Relations Board (9th Cir. 1944) 148 F.2d 860: Sabine
Towing & Transportation Co. (1973) 205 N.L.R.B.
No. 45; see also National Labor Rel. Bd. v. National
Organization, etc. (7th Cir. 1958) 253 F.2d 66, 70.)

The same result has been reached on a showing of
significantly less employee isolation than in the fore-

18

going cases. In NV.L.R.B. v. 8. & H. Grossinger’s Inc.
(2d Cir. 1967) 372 F.2d 26, the employer operated a
large rural resort hotel located only one and one-half
miles from the nearest town. Sixty percent of the em-
ployees lived on the premises, but the remainder lived
in neighboring towns and drove to work by car or taxi.
The employer refused access to its premises by nonem-
ployee union representatives, and the NLRB ruled
this to be interference with the employees’ right of
self-organization. The federal circuit court observed
that “No effective alternatives are available to the
Union in its organizational efforts. The resident em-
ployees have no telephones in their rooms. Radio and
newspaper advertising are expensive and relatively in-
effectual. Moreover as far as radio is concerned, there
was no single time at which a major proportion of
employees would be off duty and free to listen to a
message broadcast by the Union... . [1] While some
organization work can be done by employees who are
willing to solicit fellow employees, it is obvious that
lacking as they do the requisite special training and
experience, they cannot convey the Union’s appeal
with anything like the effectiveness of professional
union organizers.” (Id. at p. 29.)°

The court then quoted and applied the principles of

Babcock &: Wilcor as follows: “Here the majority of
the employees live on the employer’s premises. They

®The court added that the union’s attempts to reach the emplovees
as they drove through the gates to the resort were ineffective be-
cause the ears did not stop there except briefly for a traffie light,
and in any event it was diffieult or impossible to distinguish between
guests and employees in such circumstances.

19

cannot be reached by any means practically available
to union organizers. As against these considerations
Grossinger’s raises only its proprietary interest. It
shows no detriment that would result from the admis-
sion to its property of the Union’s representatives
under those reasonable regulations as to place, time
and number which the Board’s order contemplates.

“We will enforce the Board’s order in so far as it
requires [the employer] to permit nonemployee union
organizers to come on its premises ir order to solicit
employees.” (Id. at p. 30.) (Accord, HW. & G. Operat-
ing Corp. (Raleigh Hotel) (1971) 191 N.L.R.B. No.
110; see also Fafnir Bearing Company v. N.L.R.B.
(2d Cir. 1966) 362 F.2d 716, 722 (company ordered to
allow union to enter premises to conduct independent
time studies).)°

Thus the rule of Babcock & Wileor, both as enun-
ciated and as applied, is clear: if the circumstances
of employment “place the employees beyond the reach
of reasonable union efforts to communicate with them,
the employer must allow the union to approach his
employees on his property.” (Italies added.) (351 U.S.
at p. 113 [100 L.Ed. at p. 983].) This language could
not be plainer. We deem it dispositive of the issue of

°9We recognize that other federal circuit court decisions have re-
fused to enforee NLRB orders of access. (See eg. N. L. Rh. RB. v.
Siour City and New Orleans Barge Lines, Inc. (8th Cir. 1973) 472
P.2d 753; N. L. R. B. v. New Pines, Ine (2d Cir. 1972) 468 F.2d
427; NV. L. R. B. v. Tamiment, Inc. (3d Cir. 1971) 451 F.2d 794:
N. L. R. B. v. Kutsher’s Hotel and Country Club, Inc. (2d Cir.
1970) 427 F.2d 200.) But in each case the court found that on the
record presented either the union had not made a reasonable effort
to communicate with the employees or the alternative means of
doing so were effective. ,

20

the federal constitutionality of access to agricultural
property under the challenged regulation of the
ALRB (ef. Petersen v. Talisman Sugar Corporation
(5th Cir, 1973) 478 F.2d 73, 79), and of the claim of
invalidity premised on the cited provisions of the
California Constitution. (Art. I, §§1, 7, subd. (a),
and 19.) In the present context we construe those
sections to guarantee no greater rights to California
property owners than do their federal counterparts.

The only remaining question in this regard is
whether it is constitutionally required that the deter-
mination of employee inaccessibility within the mean-
ing of the Babcock & Wilcor test be made on a
case-by-case basis, as the real parties urge, rather
than by a rule of general application. As will appear,
there is no authority for imposing such a requirement
as a matter of constitutional law.

The question was not presented in either Babcock
& Wilcox or Central Hardware, and the opinions are
therefore silent on the point. The real parties rely
on decisions holding that when a statute or regulation
impairs a fundamental personal liberty, the state has
the burden of showing that the measure is necessary
to promote a compelling governmental interest (see,
e.g., Shapiro v. Thompson (1969) 394 U.S. 618, 638
[22 L.Fd.2d 600, 617, 89 S.Ct. 1322]; Castro v. State
of California (1970) 2 Cal.3d 223, 234-236 [85 Cal.
Rptr. 20, 466 P.2d 244]) and that there are no rea-
sonable alternative means of accomplishing that goal
(Cleveland Board of Education v, LaFleur (1974) 414
U.S. 632, 640-644 [39 L.Ed.2d 52, 60-63, 94 S.Ct. 791];

21

Shelton v. Tucker (1960) 364 U.S. 479, 488 [5 L.Ed.
2d 231, 237, 81 S.Ct. 247]). That well-known prin-
ciple, however, is not applicable here: for the reasons
stated at the outset, the access rule is not a depriva-
tion of “fundamental personal liberties” but a limited
economic regulation of the use of real property im-
posed for the public welfare. (Cf. Village of Belle
Terre v. Boraas (1974) 416 U.S. 1, 7-8 [39 L.Ed.2d
797, 803-804, 94 S.Ct. 1536].)

It has long been settled that such a regulation sat-
isfies the due process clause if it has a reasonable
relxtion to a proper public purpose and is neither
arbitrary nor discriminatory. (Nebbia v. New York
(1934) supra, 291 U.S. 502, 537 [78 L.Ed. 940, 957,
54 S.Ct. 505, 89 A.L.R. 1469]; accord, Weinberger v.
Salfi (1975) 422 U.S. 749, 768-770 [45 L.Ed.2d 522,
540-542, 95 S.Ct.—], and cases cited.) In the light of
Babcock & Wilcox, it cannot be said that an access
regulation designed to assist self-organization by
workers lacks a reasonable relation to a valid public
goal; and a careful examination of the various limi-
tations as to time, place, purpose, and manner which
are written into this regulation (fn. 4, ante) demon-
strates that it is neither arbitrary nor discriminatory
within the meaning of the foregoing standards.

The principal objection of the real parties to the
hoard’s decision to proceed by way of rule rather
than adjudication is that there will be individual in-
stances in which access might in fact have been un-
necessary in order to effectively communicate with
the workers, This is inevitable, as the board candidly

22

recognizes, But it does nut follow therefrom that the
regulation is unconstitutional, “In the area of eco-
nomics and social welfare, the State does not violate
the Equal Protection Clause merely because the classi-
fications made by its laws are imperfect. If the elassi-
fication has some ‘reasonable basis,’ it does not offeud
the Constitution simply because the classification ‘is
not made with mathematical nicety or because in prac-
tice it results in some inequality.’ [Citation.] “The
problems of government are practical ones and may
justify, if they do not require, rough aceommoda-
tions—illogically, it may be, and unscientific.’ ”
(Dandridge v. Williams (1970) 397 U.S. 471, 485 [25
L.Ed.2d 491, 501-502, 90 S.Ct. 1153].) Moreover, “a
classification that meets the test articulated in
Dandridge is perforce consistent with the due process
requirement of the Fifth Amendment.” (Richardson
vu. Belcher (1971) 404 U.S. 78, 81 [30 L.Ed.2d 231,
235, 92 S.Ct. 254].)

It follows, as we have often had occasion to hold,
that general economic regulations affecting property
rights are not constitutionally invalid merely because
they may be inappropriate in the case of a few in-
dividual property owners. (See, e.g., Associated Home
Builders, ete., Inc. v. City of Walnut Creek (1971)
4 Cal.3d 633, 638-645 [94 Cal.Rptr. 630, 484 P.2d 606,
43 A.L.R.3d 847].) The entire law of zoning, from
City of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (1926) 272 U.S.
365, 388-389 [71 L.Ed. 303, 310-311, 47 S.Ct. 114, 54
A.L.R. 1016], to the present day, stands as witness
to that fact of contemporary life. And it is a funda-

23

mental tenct of such law that if a zoning plan is
reasonable vis-a-vis the community as a whole, it is
not rendered unconstitutional merely because certain
property owners can show that it causes them un-
necessary hardship, (Hamer v. Town of Ross (1963)
59 Cal.2d 776, 787 [31 Cal.Rptr. 335, 282 P.2d 375];
McCarthy v. City of Manhattan Beach (1953) 41 Cal.
2d 879, 890 [264 P.2d 932]; Wilkins v. City of San
Bernardino (1946) 29 Cal.2d 332, 338 [175 P.2d 542];
Zahn v. Board of Public Works (1925) 195 Cal. 497,
512 [234 P. 388].)

We conclude that the decision of the ALRB to
regulate the question of access by a rule of general
application transgresses no constitutional command.

Itt

An administrative regulation, however, must a’ -
comport with various statutory prerequisites to valid-
ity. At the outset we take note of certain principles
which govern our consideration of the matter; al-
though these rules have been often restated, it would
be well to remember that they are not merely empty
rhetoric. First, our task is to inquire into the legality
of the challenged regulation, not its wisdom. (Morris
v. Williams (1967) 67 Cal.2d 733, 737 [63 Cal.Rptr.
G89, 433 P.2d 697].) Second, in reviewing the legality
of a regulation adopted pursuant to a delegation of
legislative power, the judicial function is limited to
determining whether the regulation (1) is “within
the scope of the authority conferred” (Gov. Code,
§ 11373) and (2) is “reasonably necessary to effectuate

24

the purpose of the statute” (Gov. Code, § 11374).’°
Moreover, “these issues do not present a matter for
the independent judgment of an appellate tribunal;
rather, both come to this court freighted with the
strong presumption of regularity accorded adminis-
trative rules and regulations.” (Ralphs Grocery Co.
uv. Retmel (1968) 69 Cal.2d i172, 175 [70 Cal.Rptr. 407,
444 P.2d 79].) And in considering whether the regu-
lation is “reasonably necessary” under the foregoing
standards, the court will defer to the agency’s ex-
pertise and will not “superimpose its own policy
judgment upon the agency in the absence of an arbi-
trary and capricious decision.” (Pitts v. Perluss
(1962) 58 Cal.2d 824, 832 [27 Cal.Rptr. 19, 377 P.2d
83].)

The real parties in interest seek to overcome the
presumption of regularity on several grounds, First,
it is contended that in two respects the access regula-
tion exceeds the authority of the board because it
conflicts with the ALRA. The claim is not that the
regulation contravenes any particular provision of
the act expressly forbidding qualified access to agri-
cultural property by union organizers—or declaring
such entry to be an unfair labor practice—for no such
provision exists. Rather, it is urged that the regula-
tion violates the Legislature’s implie’ intent to pro-
hibit such access, assertedly manifested by both
legislative action and inaction, Neither branch of the
contention is convincing.

104 third inquiry—whether the regulation was adopted pursuant
to proper procedure—is not an issue in this ease.

25

As noted earlier, article 1 of chapter 2 of the act
prescribes the composition and general method of
operation of the board; among its provisions is sec-
tion 1148, which declares in its entirety that “The
board shall follow applicable precedents of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Act, as amended.” The real
parties stress the fact that it is the practice of the
NLRB to decide questions of employee inaccessibility
on a case-by-case basis rather than by general rule;
when the ALRB adopted a contrary procedure, argue
the real parties, it therefore violated section 1148.

The unstated major premise of this argument, how-
ever, is that in enacting section 1148 the Legislature
impliedly intended the board to follow not only the
substantive case law (i.e., the “precedents”) inter-
preting the NLRA—holding, for example, that cer-
tain activities do or do not constitute unfair labor
practices—but also the rules of procedure of the
NLRB. In our view the premise appears highly
dubious, More importantly, the board could reason-
ably construe section 1148 otherwise, and that is our
only concern. “In determining whether a specific ad-
ministrative rule falls within the coverage of the
delegated power, the sole function of this court is to
decide whether the department reasonably interpreted
the legislative mandate.” (Ralphs Grocery Co. ».
Reimel, supra, at p. 176 of 69 Cal. 2d.)

Adverting first to the language of section 1148, we
note that it directs the board to follow the “prece-
dents” of the “Act,” not the “procedure” of the
“Board.” The ALRB could reasonably have concluded

26

that the choice of words was significant, and hence
that the Legislature did not intend it to be bound by
any particular rule of practice adopted by the federal
agency to suit its own needs. This conclusion could
well have been reinforced by the fact that the state
act vests the board with full rulemaking authority in
an earlier and different provision (§ 1144) which
makes no reference to the practices of the NLRB. In
addition, we observe that section 1148 directs the
board to be guided by the “applicable” precedents of
the NLRA, not merely “the precedents” thereof. From
this language the board could fairly have inferred
that the Legislature intended it to select and follow
only those federal precedents which are relevant to the
particular problems of labor relations on the Cali-
fornia agricultural scene. As we shall see, a case-by-
case resolution of the question of access appears in-
appropriate in that context.

More importantly, in the absence of an express
statutory directive to the contrary the board could
also reasonably presume that the Legislature intended
to abide by the well-settled principle of administrative
law that in discharging its delegated responsibilities
the choice between proceeding by general rule or by
ad hoe adjudication “lies primarily in the informed
discretion of the administrative agency.” (Securities
Comm'n v. Chenery Corp. (1947) 332 U.S. 194, 203
[91 L.Ed, 1995, 2002, 67 S.Ct. 1575]; accord, PBW
Stock Exchange, Inc. v. Securities and Exch. Com’n
(3d Cir. 1973) 485 F.2d 718, 732; GTE Service Cor-
poration v. F.C. C. (2d Cir, 1973) 474 F.2d 724, 731;

27

Alabama-Tcnnessee Natural Gas Co, v. Federal Power
Com’n (5th Cir. 1966) 359 F.2d 318, 343 (Wisdom,
J.) ; see generally Shapiro, The Choice of Rulemaking
or Adjudication in the Development of Administrative
Policy (1965) 78 Harv.L.Rev. 921; Baker, Policy
by Rule or Ad Hoc Approach—Which Should it Be?
(1957) 22 Law & Contemp. Prob. 658.)'' The real
parties in interest fail to show that the ALRB abused
its discretionary powers as a duly constituted admin-
istrative agency when it determined to proceed on
this issue by way of a general rule rather than ad
hoc adjudication.

A related argument is premised not only on section
1148 but also on section 1152 of the ALRA, emphasiz-
ing that the language of the latter which declares the
right of farmworkers to organize and to bargain
collectively is identical to that of section 7 of the
NLRA. (See fn. 1, ante.) Reliance is then placed on
the rule that ‘‘When legislation has been judicially
construed and a subsequent statute on the same or an

11This principle applies equally well to the NLRB. (See, e.g.,
NLRB v. Bell Aerospace Co, (1974) 416 U.S. 267, 294 [40 L.Ed.
2d 134, 153-154, 94 S.Ci. 1757].) That agency, however, has
chosen to proceed on . case-by-case basis not only on questions
of employee inaccessibility, but on essentially all issues within its
competence. We note that the pervasive and long-standing reluc-
tance of the NLRB to promulgate any rules or regulations what-
ever has been the subject of “substantial and repeated scholarly
and judicial criticism. . . .” (Retail, Whelesale and Department
Store U. v. N. L. R. B. (D.C. Cir. 1972) 466 F.2d 380, 388; see
NLRB v. Wyman-Gordon Co. (1969) 394 U.S. 759 [22 L.Ed.2d
709, 89 S.Ct. 1426]; Davis Administrative Law Treatise (1970
Supp.) § 6.17; Bernstein, The NLRB’s Adjudication-Rule Making
Dilemma Under the Administrative Procedure Act (1970) 79
Yale L.J. 571; Peck, The Atrophied Rule-Making Powers of the
National Labor Relations Board (1961) 70 Yale L.J. 729.)

28

analogous subject is framed in the identical language,
it will ordinarily be presumed that the Legislature
intended that the language as used in the later enact-
ment would be given a like interpretation. This rule
is applicable to state statutes which are patterned
after federal statutes.” (Los Angeles Met. Transit
Authority v. Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen
(1960) supra, 54 Cal.2d 684, 688-689.) From this
premise it is reasoned that the Legislature must have
intended that the board also follow the NLRB practice
of ad hoe adjudication of the access issue.

We do not question the quoted rule of statutory
construction, but in the circumstances of the case at
bar it does not lead to the claimed conclusion. It may
be posited that by adopting the language of section 7
of the NLRA the Legislature intended also to adopt
the rule of Babcock & Wilcox and Central Hardware
applying that language to the right of nonemployee
labor organizers to enter an employer’s premises for
union purposes, But as we observed above, the ques-
tion whether such a right of access should be resolved
by regulation or by adjudication was not presented
in either decision, and the opinions are accordingly
silent on the matter. The teaching of Babcock & Wil-
cor and its progeny, rather, is stmply that qualified
access to an employer’s premises must be granted
when the circumstances of employment render ineffee-
tive the reasonable efforts of union representatives to
communicate with the employees by alternative
methods, (351 U.S. at p. 112 [100 L.Ed. at pp. 982-
983 ].)

29

Far from ignoring this lesson, the ALRB predicated
its access regulation on factual findings phrased in
the very language of Babcock & Wilcox. Those find-
ings disclose that the board did not adopt the NLRB
practice on the access question because it determined
that significant differences existed between the work-
ing conditions of industry in general and those of
California agriculture. As we have seen, in regulating
industrial labor disputes the NLRB has authorized
access by union organizers to employers’ premises
when, for example, the same employees did not arrive
and depart every day on fixed schedules, there were
no adjacent public areas where the employees con-
gregated or through which they regularly passed, and
the employees could not effectively be reached at
permanent addresses or telephone numbers in the
nearby community, or by media advertising.

By contrast, the ALRB found that such conditions
are the nile rather than the exception in California
agriculture, The evidence heard by the board showed
that many farmworkers are migrants; they arrive in
town in time for the local harvest, live in motels,
labor camps, or with friends or relatives, then move
on when the crop is in. Obviously home visits, mail-
ings, or telephone calls are impossible in such cir-
cumstances, According to the record, even those
farmworkers who are relatively sedentary often live
in widely spread settlements, thus making personal
contact at home impractical because it is both time-
consuming and expensive,

»’

30

Nor is pamphleting or personal contact on public
property adjacent to the employer’s premises a rea-
sonable alternative in the present context, on several
grounds. To begin with, many ranches have no such
public areas at all: the witnesses explained that the
cultivated fields begin at the property line, and across
that line is either an open highway or the fields of
another grower, Secondly, the typical industrial scene
of a steady stream of workers walking through the
factory gates to and from the company parking lot
or nearby public transportation rarely if ever occurs
in a rural setting. Instead, the evidence showed that
labor contractors frequently transport farmworkers
by private bus from camp to field or from ranch to
‘anch, driving directly onto the premises before un-
loading; in such circumstances, pamphleting or per-
sonal contact is again impossible. Thirdly, the
testimony established that a significant number of
farmworkers read and understand only Spanish, Fili-
pino, or other languages from India or the Middle
East. It is evident that efforts to communicate with
such persons by advertising or broadcasting in the
local media are futile. Finally it was also shown that
many farmworkers are illiterate, unable to read even
in one of the foregoing languages; in such ¢ireum-
stances, of course, printed messages in handbills,
mailings, or local newspapers are equally meompre-
hensible."*

12Even in the industrial context the true effectiveness of ‘*‘tradi-
tional’’ alternative methods of communicating with workers has
been seriously questioned. Thus the Second Cireuit Court of Ap-
peals has observed that ‘‘ The chances are negligible that alternatives

31

In addition, the problem here is compounded by
the provisions of the ALRA which require swift
elections—a difficulty not faced by the NLRB. In all
cases involving crops with short harvest seasons, the
union petitioning for the election has only a brief time
in which to gather the necessary employee signatures.
(Lab. Code, § 1156.3, subd. (a).) An intervening
union will have even less time—at most 6 days—to
obtain the signatures of 20 percent of the workers
in order to qualify for the ballot. (Id., subd. (b).)
And both unions have only a few days thereafter to
explain their positions to the workers. In such cir-
cumstances most of the channels of communication
which have been used in organizing industrial la-
borers, and which were found sufficient in Babcock

equivalent to solicitation in the plant itself would exist. In the plant
the entire work foree may be contacted by a relatively small num-
ber of employees with little expense. The solicitors have the oppor-
tunity for personal confrontation, so that they ean present their
message with maximum persuasiveness. In contrast, the predictable
alternatives bear without exception the flaws of greater expense
and effort, and a lower degree of effectiveness. Mailed material
would be typically lost in the daily flood of printed matter whieh
passes with little impact from mailbox to wastebasket. Television
and radio appeals, where not precluded entirely by cost, would
suffer from competition with the family’s favorite programs and
at best would not compare with personal solicitation. Newspaper
advertisements are subject to similar objections. Sidewalks and
street corners are subject to the vicissitudes of climate and often
foree solicitation at awkward times, as when employees are hurry-
ing to or from work.’’ (N. L. R. B. v. United Aircraft Corp., Pratt
& Whitney Air. Div. (2d Cir. 1963) 324 F.2d 128, 130.) Similar
criticisms have been voiced in the legal literature. (See, e.g., Bok,
The Regulation of Campaign Tactics in Representation Elections
Under the National Labor Relations Act (1964) 78 Harv.L. Rev. 38,
95-96; Gould, The Question of Union Activity on Company Prop-
erty (1964) 18 Vand.L.Rey. 73, 99-100, 102-103. )

32

cd: Wileor and its progeny, are simply too -low to be
effective.’®

On the basis of the foregoing evidence the ALRB
formally found that “Generally, unions seeking to
organize agricultural employees do not have available
alternative channels of effective communication. Alter-
native channels of effective communication which have
been found adequate in industrial settings do not exist
or are insufficient in the context of agricultural
labor. (Cal. Admin, Code, tit. 8, pt. IT, § 20900, subd.
3, p. 1051.) From this finding—and in furtherance
of the expressed intent of the framers of the act—the
board concluded (id., subd. 4) that “The legislatively
declared purpose of bringing certainty and a sense
of fair play to a presently unstable and potentially
volatile condition in the agricultural fields of Cali-
fornia can best be served by the adoption of rules on
access which provide clarity and predictability to all
parties. Relegation of the issues to case-by-case ad-
judication or the adoption of an overly general rule
would cause further uncertainty and instability and
create delay in the final determination of elections.”

We conclude from the foregoing that the decision
of the board to create a limited right of aecess by
means of a detailed and specific regulation does not
conflict with any intent of the Legislature inferable
from its enactment of sections 1148 and 1152.

13For example, the board heard testimony that although the home
addresses of farmworkers ean be obtained from the Department of
Motor Vehicles on the basis of their automobile license plate num-
bers, the process takes an average of two weeks and costs $2 per
name.

33

In this connection the real parties also contend
that the regulation does not follow “applicable pre-
cedents” of the NLRA under section 1148 because
the right of access it declares is assertedly not limited
to nonworking areas. [In support they rely on a passage
from Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB (1972) supra,
407 U.S. 539, 545 [33 L.Ed.2d 122, 127], in which the
court summarizes the rule of Babcock & Wilcox as
authorizing access “limited to (1) union organizers;
(ii) prescribed nonworking areas of the employer's
premises; and (ili) the duration of organization activ-
ity.” (Italics added.) The purpose of the emphasized
limitation, presumably, is to prevent disruption of
work. But the regulation here challenged achieves
the same goal, although by a method more appropriate
to the California agricultural setting in which the
ALRB must operate,

As we have seen, there was evidence hefore the
board that many ranches have no public or “nonwork-
ing” areas such as the parking lots of large factories.
Responsive to this circumstance, the present regula-
tion first authorizes access by farm labor organizers
for a prescribed time prior to and at the close of the
work day in “areas in which employees congregate
before and after working.” (Fn. 4, ante.) No more
precise description is possible, as these areas will
vary from ranch to ranch; in each instance, however,
no disruption of work is permitted because the access
is expressly limited to nonworking hours.

Secondly, and in further distinction to the typical
industrial scene, California farm properties generally

’

34

do not have cafeterias or lunchrooms where the em-
ployees assemble for their midday meal. Rather, in
the case of row crops the workers frequently eat in
or near their cars or at the bus at the edge of the
field, while in harvesting tree crops they often remain
on the job site while they take their food and rest.
Again responsive to these conditions, the regulation
permits access for a prescribed time “at such location
or locations as the emplovees eat their lunch.” Al-
though this description may include working areas
in certain cases, access at all such locations is pri-
marily restricted to the nonworking period of the
“lunch break” and in any event the regulation ex-
pressly prohibits any disruption of “the employer’s
property or agricultural operations, including injury
to crops or machinery.” (Fn. 4, ante.) The regulation
thus comports with the spirit if not the letter of the
que ed language of Central Hardware, and cannot be
deemed to contravene the asserted implication of
section 1148.

Next it is contended that the access regulation
conflicts with an implied intent of the ALRA derived
not from a provision thereof but from the absence
of such a provision. The real parties stress that one
of the proposed farm labor bills which was not enacted
into law (Assem. Bill No. 1 (1975-1976 Reg. Sess.) )
contained a provision (§ 1149.3, subd. (b)) expressly
permitting access by farm labor organizers to em-
plovers’ property, while the bill which finally became
the ALRA (Sen. Bill No. 1 (1975 Third Ex. Sess.) )
is silent on the point. This fact is said to reveal an
unstated intent of the Legislature that no such access
be permitted,

35

The contention is not persuasive, At best, “Legisla-
tive silence is a Delphic divination.” (Alabama-Ten-
nessce Natural Gas Co, v. Federal Power Com’n (5th
Cir, 1966) supra, 359 F.2d 318, 333.) It is true that
in two recent cases we have given weight to an
argument superficially similar to that now advanced
by the real parties. (Cooper v. Swoap (1974) 11 Cal.
Jd 856, 863-865 [115 Cal. Rptr. 1, 524 P.2d 97]; Clean
Air Constituency v. California State Air Resources
Bd, (1974) supra, 11 Cal.3d 801, 817-818.) But in the
circumstances which led to the passage of the ALRA,
the reasoning of those decisions is inapposite.

This was not the Cooper situation, in which the
Legislature rejected three successive attempts to add
a certain provision to a welfare bill which thereafter
became law, and the agency administering the ensuing
statute nevertheless adopted a regulation “reviving”
that provision, Nor is Clean Air relevant, for in that
case an administrative agency charged with promptly
adapting a certain antipollution program declined to |
do so even after the Legislature itself considered and
rejected no less than five proposals to order or permit
a delay.

In the case before us there was no such sequence:
in this respect Senate Bill No. 1 was not merely an
amended version of Assembly Bill No. 1, but an
entirely new approach. Indeed, when the bills are
closely compared it becomes apparent that the absence
of a specific access provision in Senate Bill No, 1 is,
if anything, an indication that the Legislature in-
tended to adopt rather than yeject the access principle.
Assembly Bill No, 1 contained a number of proposed

36

sections declaring various rights and duties derived
from NLRA precedents, including a specific right
of access. Senate Bill No. 1, however, adopted a dif-
ferent technique: instead of listing the substance of
NLRA precedents individually as did Assembly Bill
No. 1, it simply incorporated them by reference via
section 1148. Thus the omission in Senate Bill No. 1
of any of the foregoing provisions of Assembly Bill
No. 1 was a natural consequence of the legislative
device employed; and rather than being of negative
significance, the statutory history now stressed by the
real parties can plausibly be taken to mean that the
Legislature affirmatively intended to adopt the access
principle of Babcock & Wilcox as herein defined.

Lastly it is urged that the access regulation violates
yet another rule discussed in Clean Air (11 Cal.3d at
p. 816): “An unconstitutional delegation of power
occurs when the Legislature confers upon an admin-
istrative agency the unrestricted authority to make
fundamental policy determinations, [Citations.]”
(Italics added.) Again the present case is distinguish-
able. In Clean Air the “fundamental policy determina-
tion” by the agency was to totally reverse a clearly
established legislative priority of pollution-free air—
and environmental protection generally—over concern
for increased gasoline consumption. In the cases
cited in Clean Air on this point (id., at pp. 816-817),
administrative decisions of similar magnitude were
involved,

In the case at bar the “fundamental policy deter-
mination” was made by the Legislature when that body

37

decided, after much study and discussion, to grant
to agricultural workers throughout California the
rights of self-erganization and collective bargaining
so long denied to them under federal law. Seen in the
perspective of that momentous decision, the board’s
qualified access provision appears much less important
than the real parties would have us believe. As a
regulation which in essence merely implements one
aspect of the statutory program—the holding of secret
elections—it does not amount to a “fundamental policy
determination” within the meaning of the quoted rule.

IV

Taking a different tack, the real parties contend
the access regulation is invalid because it assertedly
conflicts with the general criminal trespass statute.
(Pen. Code, § 602.) The contention fails largely for
reasons we have already explored,

It is settled that “Administrative regulations that
violate acts of the Legislature are void and no protes-
tations that they are merely an exercise of admin-
istrative discretion can sanctify them. They must
conform to the legislative will if we are to preserve
an orderly system of government.” (Morris v. Wil-
liams (1967) supra, 67 Cal.2d 733, 737.) Nor is the
motivation of the ageney relevant: “It is fundamental
that an administrative agency may not usurp the
legislative function, no matter how altruistic its mo-
tives are.” (City of San Joaquin v. State Bd. of
Equalization (1970) 9 Cal.App.3d 365, 374 [88 Cal.
Rptr. 12].)

38

The doctrine has been most frequently invoked to
strike down administrative regulations in conflict with
the statute which created the agency or which the
agency is authorized to administer. (See, e.g., Califor-
nia Welfare Rights Organization v. Brian (1974) 11
Cal.3d 237, 242-243 [113 Cal.Rptr. 154, 520 P.2d 970];
Mooney v. Pickett (1971) 4 Cal.38d 669, 680-681 [94
Cal.Rptr. 279, 483 P.2d 1231]; California Sch. Em-
ployees Assn, v. Personnel Commission (1970) 3 Cal.
3d 139, 143-144 [89 Cal.Rptr. 620, 474 P.2d 436].)
But the principle is equally applicable when the regu-
lation contravenes a provision of a different statute.
(See, e.g., Orloff v. Los Angeles Turf Club (1951) 36
Cal.2d 734 [227 P.2d 449]; Tolman v. Underhill (1952)
39 Cal.2d 708 [249 P.2d 280]; Harris v. Alcoholic Bev.
etc. Appeals Bd. (1964) 228 Cal.App.2d 1 [39 Cal.
Rptr. 192].)

On the other hand, it i. no less settled that when
a special and a general statute are in conflict, the
former controls. (Code Civ. Proe., § 1859.) “‘[T]he
special act will be considered as an exception to the
general statute whether it was passed before or after
such general enactment.’” (In re Williamson (1954)
43 Cal.2d 651, 654 [276 P.2d 593]; accord, People v.
Gilbert (1969) 1 Cal.3d 475, 479-480 [82 Cal.Rptr.
724, 462 P.2d 580], and cases cited.) This rule of con-
struction is reiterated and specifically made applicable
to the ALRA in section 1166.3, subdivision (b), of the
act, which states: “If any other act of the Legislature
shall conflict with the provisions of this part [i.e., the
ALRA], this part shall prevail.”

39

If the Lesislature can thus depart from its existing
dispositions on a given topic, it can authorize an
administrative agency to do so on its behalf. Accord-
ingly, in cases of conflict a regulation validly adopted
pursuant to a delegation of authority uuder a special
statute likewise prevails over the terms of a general
statute. The Legislature can surely accomplish in-
directly that which it could do directly.

The access rule here challenged is such a regulation.
For the reasons stated at length hereinabove, the in-
corporation in section 1152 of the language of section
7 of the NLRA, together with the express direction
in section 1144 that the board make regulations neces-
sary to carry out the act and in section 1148 that it
follow applicable NLRA_ precedents, at least mean
that the Legislature intended the board to structure
a qualified right of entry onto agricultural property
for organizational purposes. The access regulation
was adopted as-an expression of that intent. It there-
fore prevails over the general trespass statute, by
operation of both the foregoing rule of statutory
construction and the specifie directive of section
1166.3, subdivision (b). No act in compliance with
the access regulation can be punished as a criminal
trespass. (See In re Zerbe (1964) 60 Cal.2d 666 [36
Cal.Rptr. 286, 388 P.2d 182, 10 A.L.R.38d 8401.)

Let a peremptory writ of mandate issue as prayed.
Mosk, J.
Wright, C. J., Tobriner, J., and Sullivan, J., con-
curred,

40

DISSENTING OPINION

I dissent.

The access regulation of the Agricultural Labor
Relations Board is invalid on three grounds. First,
federal law has established that nonemployee organ-
izers have no right of access to an employer’s property
whenever other reasonable means of communication
are available. Even when access is permissible, it is
restricted to nonworking areas. The California Agri-
cultural Labor Relations Act of 1975 (Lab. Code,
§ 1140 et seq.) incorporated the federal law; the
board’s regulation, in authorizing access when other
means of communication are available, and in permit-
ting access to working areas, is contrary to federal
law and therefore violates the state statute. Second,
because the board’s regulation is in conflict with the
penal trespass statute it usurps the legislative fune-
tion, and is thus invalid. Third, the regulation
constitutes an unwarranted infringement on constitu-
tionally protected property rights.

THe REGULATION CONFLICTS WitH THE AGRICULTURAL
LaBor RELATIONS AcT

A. The Federal Law

Two United States Supreme Court decisions have
specifically dealt with the issue of nonemployee union
organizer access to private property. In Labor Board
v. Babcock & Wilcox Co. (1956) 351 U.S. 105 [100
L.Ed. 975, 76 S.Ct. 679], employers prohibited non-
employees from distributing union literature on em-
ployer-owned parking lots. The National Labor

41

Relations Board (labor board) ruled that the em-
ployers’ conduct constituted an unfair labor practice.
The labor board based its ruling on a decision estab-
lishing that employees could use nonworking areas
of the employer’s premises for organizational activi-
ties. (Republic Aviation Corp. v. Board (1945) 324
U.S. 793 [89 L.Ed. 1372, 65 S.Ct. 982, 157 A.L.R.
1081 ].)

The court in Babcock unanimously ruled that the
labor board had erred in failing “to make a distine-
tion between rules of law applicable to employees
and tiiose applicable to nonemployees.” (351 U.S. at
p. 118 [100 L.Ed. at p. 983].)

Having identified the source of the labor board’s
error, the Supreme Court stated the legal principles
which govern nonemployee access cases. “[A]n em-
ployer may validly post his property against nonem-
ployee distribution of union literature if reasonable
efforts by the union through other available channels
of communication will enable it to reach the employees
with its message and if the employer’s notice or order
does not discriminate against the union by allowing
other distribution. In these circumstances the employer
may not be compelled to allow distribution even
under such reasonable regulations as the orders in
these cases permit.” (351 U.S. at p. 112 [100 L.Ed.
at p. 982].)

In Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB (1972) 407 U.S.
539 [33 L.Ed.2d 122, 92 S.Ct. 2238], the second United
States Supreme Court decision, the labor board again
found an employer to have engaged in an unfair

42

labor practice by excluding nonemployee union organ-
izers from its parking lot. In making this ruling, the
labor board decided that the enT,.ioyer had violated
First Amendment rights of the employees under Food
Employees v. Logan Plaza (1968) 391 U.S. 308 [20
L.Ed.2d 603, 88 S.Ct. 1601].

The Supreme Court reversed, ruling that Logan
Valley’s First Amendment analysis was inapplicable,
and that if the labor board’s attempt to apply Logan
Valley to nonemployee organizers were allowed to
stand, it would “constitute an unwarranted infringe-
ment of long-settled rights of private property pro-
tected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”
(407 U.S, at p. 547 [33 L.Ed.2d at p. 129].)

The Supreme Court reiterated its Babcock holding
that nonemplovee organizers may not be allowed access
when other reasonable means of communication are
available. The court added: “The principle of Babcock
is limited to this accommodation between organization
rights and property rights. This principle requires
a ‘yielding’ of property rights only in the context of
an organization campaign. Moreover, the allowed
intrusion on property rights is limited to that neces-
sary to facilitate the exercise of employees’ § 7 rights.’
After the requisite need for access to the employer’s
property has been shown, the access is limited to (i)
union organizers; (ii) prescribed nonworking areas

1Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act is substantially
identical to Labor Code section 1152.

43

of the employer’s premises; and (iii) the duration of
organization activity. In short, the principle of accom-
modation announced in Babcock is limited to labor
organization campaigns, and the ‘yielding’ of property
rights it may require is both temporary and minimal.”
(407 U.S. at pp. 544-545 [33 L.Ed.2d at p. 127].)
The dissent in Central Hardware did not relate to
the points involved here. Even the dissenting justices
expressly stated that the labor board should have
followed Babcock.

The federal law of nonemployee access is therefore
settled, establishing that there is no right of access
where alternative methods of communication exist. If
there are no alternative methods, the nonemployees’
right of access is limited to preseribed nonworking
areas of the employer’s premises. The Supreme Court
has expressly held that the broader right of employees
to engage in organizational activities recognized by
Republic Aviation v. Board, supra, 324 U.S. 793, does
not apply to the nonemployee organizer. Employee
organizers are legally upon the employer’s premises
as employees; thus, their presence usually does not
interfere with the employer’s property rights. The em-
ployer’s interest in securing effective work is the only
interest subject to potential interference. Accordingly,
the limitation on employees’ right to organize relates
to discipline. Nonemployee organizers, however, are
not invited on the premises. In this situation, not only
is the employer’s interest in securing effective work
jeopardized, but his property rights under the United
States Constitution are interfered with as well.

,

44

B. The Legislature’s Incorporation of the Federal
Law

Labor Code section 1152 establishes the right of em-
ployees to organize, That section contains language
identical to section 7 of the National Labor Relations
Act,? the section applied in Babcock and Central
Hardware. Labor Code section 1148 states: “The board
shall follow applicable precedents of the National
Labor Relations Act, as amended.” (Italics added.)

“When legislation has been judicially construed and
a subsequent statute on the same or an analogous
subject is framed in the identical language, it will
ordinarily be presumed that the Legislature intended
that the language as used in the later enactment
would be given a like interpretation, This rule is ap-

plicable to state statutes which are patterned after

the federal statutes. [Citations.]” (Los Angeles Met.
Transit Authority v. Brotherhood of Railroad Train-
men (1960) 54 Cal.2d 684, 688-689, [8 Cal.Rptr. 1,
395 P.2d 905].)

In Los Angeles Met. Transit Authority, as in the
instant case, the Lezislature had used language from
section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. This
court held that, because the federal courts had inter-
preted part of the language to include the right to
strike, the Legislature intended to grant a right to
strike despite the fact that the state statute applied

2The operative language of section 1152 is identical to section 7.
The only difference between the statutes is that section 7 cross-refer-
ences to another federal statute while section 1152 cross-references,
of course, to a state statute.

45

to governmental employees who ordinarily have no
such right.

By using the language of section 7, the Legislature
clearly manifested its intention to adopt the federal
construction of section 7. In Babcock and Central
Hardware, the United States Supreme Court con-
strued section 7, That construction was therefore
adopted by our Legislature when it enacted section
1152. Any doubt in the matter was eliminated when
the Legislature, in section 1148, expressly required
the board to follow applicable federal precedents.
Accordingly, the inescapable conclusion is that the
Legislature intended the board to apply the rule of
Babcock and Central Hardware, which denies access
rights to nonemployee organizers when reasonable
alternative methods of communication are available.*

It is generally recognized that the Agricultural
Labor Relations Act of 1975 is a compromise among
the various interests. (Levy, The Agricultural Rela-
tions Act of 1975—La Esperanza de California Para

8The majority attempts to characterize the access regulation as
‘‘limited in purpose, in time and place, and in the number of
organizers... .’’ (Ante, p. 400.) But in characterizing these as
limitations, the majority relies on the irrelevant. These limitations
in no way indicate the unavailability of alternative means of com-
munication—the very showing that must be made before any access,
regardless of how limited, is permitted. Moreover, the majority’s
statement that elections under the ALRA are required to be held
within short periods of time (ante, p. 416), while true, has nothing
to do with the aecess regulation. The elections must be held within
seven days of the filing of a petition signed by a majority of the
currently employed. (Lab. Code, § 1156.3, subd.(a).) However, the
access regulation does not limit access to the period following the
filing of a petition. The regulation is thus open-ended and the in-
fringement on property rights it sanctions—contrary to the major-
ity’s implication—is therefgre neither limited in time nor is it
m

46

El Futuro (1975) 15 Santa Clara Law. 783.) When
the competing interests agreed to compromise, the
Legislature was faced with three choices: it could
turn the board loose with little definition of its duties,
powers, limitations on those powers, or standards to
be applied; it could, on the other hand, sharply define
the duties, powers, limitations, and standards; or it
could incorporate the highly developed federal law,
which had over a period of 40 years arrived at defini-
tions of both the rights and interests of the affected
parties, as well as the duties, powers, limitations, and
standards of the administrative agency.

The Legislature chose to incorporate 4he highly
developed federal law. This is clear from its adoption
of section 1152, which is substantially identical to
section 7 of the Nationa] Labor Relations Act, and
adoption of section 1148, which requires the board to
rely on applicable federal precedents.

The majority, of course, is not unmindful of the
necessity to resort to federal law. There is no specific
mention of a right of access in the act (other than
for board officials) and no express delegation empow-
ering the board to adopt a right of access. The
majority, in finding a right of access, relies upon sec-
tions 1148 and 1152, which adopt federal law, and
section 1144 which grants general rule-making powers
to the board. Obviously, a general rule-making power
with no specification as to what those rules relate is
not the same as an express power to create access
rights. It is evident that the majority must resort
to federal law to find hoard authority to create aecess
rights.

47

It is manifestly unfair to the Legislature, in light
of the history and language of the act, to rely on
federal law to establish board power to create an
access right, and at the same time to ignore the stand-
ards and limitations placed upon that right by the
same federal law. Rather, the Legislature’s incorpora-
tion of the federal law includes the duties, powers,
limitations, and standards.

Although the board is given general rule-making
power, regulations adopted pursuant to this power
must conform to the legislative command requiring
application of federal law. As this court stated in
Morris v. Williams (1967) 67 Cal.2d 733 [63 Cal.
Rptr. 689, 433 P.2d 697]: “Under Government Code
section 11373, ‘Each regulation adopted [by a state
agency ], to be effective, must be within the scope of
authority conferred, . . .’ Whenever a state agency
is authorized by statute ‘to adopt regulations to im-
plement, interpret, make specific or otherwise carry
out the provisions of the statute, no reg.’ation adopted
is valid or effective unless consistent and not in con-
flict with the statute... .’ (Gov. Code, § 11374.) Our
first duty, therefore, is te determine whether the
Administrator exercised quasi-legislative authority
within the bound: of the statutory mandate. While
the construction of a statute by officials charged with
its administration, including tlieir interpretation of
the authority invested in them to implement and
carry out its provisions, is entitled to great weight,
nevertheless ‘Whatever the force of administrative
construction ... final responsibility for the interpreta-

48

tion of the law rests with the courts.’ (Whitcomb
Hotel v. California Emp. Com, (1944) 24 Cal.2d 753,
757 ..., and authorities there collected.) Administra-
tive regulations that alter or amend the statute or
enlarge or impair its scope are void and courts not
only may, but it is their obligation to strike down
such regulations. (Whitcomb Hotel v. California Emp.
Com., supra; Hodge v. McCall (1921) 185 Cal. 330,
(334 ...; Boone v. Kingsbury (1928) 206 Cal. 148,
161-162 .. .; Fire’ Industrial Loan Co, v. Daugherty
(1945) 26 Cal.2d 545, 550... .; see Brock v. Superior
Court (1938) 11 Cal2d 682, 688 ... .)” (67 Cal.2d
at p. 748.)

C. The Regulation’s Conflict With the Federal Law
and the Statute

As we have seen, the federal law incorporated in
the act by the Legislature denies access to nonem-
ployee organizers whenever reasonable alternative
means of communication are available. Further, even
when access is allowed, it 1s restricted to nonworking
areas. By permitting blanket access to all agricultural
property, regardless of the existence of alternative
means of communication, and by permitting access to
working areas, the board’s regulation is contrary to
Babcock and Central Hardware, violating the statu-
tory command to follow federal precedent.

The conflict may not be avoided on the basis of the
board’s finding that “[g]enerally” there is no alter-
native means of communication. The absence of alter-
native means of communication in most cases does

nn a

49

not relieve the »oard oi its obligation to adhere to
Babcock and Central Hardware any more than an
N.L.R.B. finding of the availability of alternative
means of communication in most cases would justify
the N.L.R.B. from denying nonemployee access in all
cases.

ConFLIcT W1TH TRESPASS STATUTE

Penal Code section 602 provides in relevant part:
“Every person who willfully commits a trespass by
any of the following acts is guilty of a misdemeanor:
(j) Entering any lands, whether unenclosed or en-
closed by fence, for the purpose of injuring any
property or property rights or with the intention of
interfering with, obstructing, or injuring any lawful
business or occupation carried on by the owner of
such land, his agent or by the person in lawful pos-
session. [1] (k) Entering any lands under cultivation
or enclosed by fence, belonging to, or occupied by,
another . . . without the written permission of the
owner of such land, his agent or the person in lawful
possession, and [{] (1) Refusing or failing to leave
such lands immediately upon being requested by the
owner of such land, his agent or by the person in
lawful possession to leave such lands, ... [{] (1)
Entering and occupying real property or structures
of any kind without the consent of the owner, his
agent, or the person in lawful possession thereof. [1]
(m) Driving any vehicle ... upon real property be-
longing to or lawfully occupied by another and known

50

not to be open to the general public, without the con-
sent of the owner, his agent, or the person in lawful
possession thereof. [1] (n) Refusing or failing to
leave land, real property, or structures belonging to
or lawfully occupied by another and not open to the
general public, upon being requested to leave by a
peace officer and the owner, his agent, or the person
in lawful possession thereof.”

The conflict between the access regulation and the
trespass statute is apparent.

The law regarding conflict between administrative
acts and legislative acts is well-settled. “Administra-
tive regulations that violate acts of the Legislature
are void and no protestations that they are merely
an exercise of administrative discretion can sanctify
them. They must conform to the legislative will if we
are to preserve an orderly system of government.”
(Morris v. Williams, supra, 67 Cal.2d 733, 737; italics
added.) “It is fundamental that an administrative
agency may not usurp the legislative function, no
matter how altruistic its motives are.” (City of San
Joaquin v. State Bd, of Equalization (1970) 9 Cal.
App.3d 365, 374 [88 Cal.Rptr. 12].)

Administrative agencies “may not exercise [their]
sublegislative powers to modify, alter or enlarge the
provisions of the legislative act which is being admin-
istered. Administrative regulations in conflict with
the Constitution or statutes are generally declared to
be null or void. (Hammond v. McDonald, 49 Cal.App.
2d 671, 679 . . .; Hodge v. McCall, 185 Cal. 330, 334
...+)” (Harris v. Alcoholic Bev. etc. Appeals Bd.

dL

(1964) 228 Cal.App.2d 1, 6; Accord: Morris v. Wil-
liams, supra, 67 Cal.2d 733, 748-749; Duskin v. State
Board of Dry Cleaners (A962) 58 Cal.2d 155, 161-162
[23 Cal.Rptr. 404, 373 P.2d 468]; Schenley Industries,
Ine. v. Munro (1965) 237 Cal.App.2d 106, 111 [46
Cal.Rptr. 678]; Am. Distilling Co. v. St. Bd. of Equal-
ization (1942) 55 Cal.App.2d 799, 805-806 [131 P.2d
609 ].)

As the court in Harris v. Alcoholic Bev. ete. Appeals
Bd., supra, noted: “The order of priority with respect
to jurisdiction, accordingly, is as follows: (1) The
Constitution is the supreme expression; (2) to the
extent that it does not conflict with the Constitution,
the Legislature may act; (3) to the extent that it
does not conflict with the Constitution, or with lawful
acts of the legislature, the department [administrative
agencies] may act through its rules and regulations.”
(228 Cal.App.2d at p. 7; italics added.)

The doctrine that administrative regulations are
subordinate and must give way to legislative enact-
ments is equally applicable when the regulation con-
travenes a provision of a statute or code other than
the statutes creating the agency or administered by
it. (Tolman v. Underlall (1952) 39 Cal.2d 708, 712
(249 P.2d 280]; Orloff v. Los Angeles Turf Club
(1951) 36 Cal.2d 734, 737-738 [227 P.2d 449]; Zn re
Potter (1913) 164 Cal, 735, 739 [130 P. 721]; Cleve-
land Chiropractic College v. State Bd. of Chiropractic
Examiners (1970) 11 Cal.App.3d 25, 34-35 [89 Cal.
Rptr. 572]; Harris v. Alcoholic Bev. etc. Appeals Bd.,
supra, 228 Cal.App.2d 1, 6.)

52

The Legislature, as the majority points out, may
make exceptions to other statutes and may expressly
authorize an administrative agency to make excep-
tions. Such exceptions may also be made by the
incorporation of other law, including federal law. In
addition, an agency’s right to make an exception to gen-
eral statutory provisions might be implied in cases of
necessity, when exercise of a power expressly granted
to the agency will necessarily involve a violation of
the other statute. In these circumstances, exceptions
are warranted by the general principle that specific
statutory provisions govern general ones. (Code Civ.
Proe., § 1859; People v. Gilbert (1969) 1 Cal.3d 475,
479-480 [82 Cal.Rptr. 724, 462 P.2d 580].)

However, the special-general principle does not ap-
ply when the ageney’s power to act is not express but
merely implied. Because the agency’s power is implied,
it can never be special in relation to a conflicting
express legislative declaration. If the rule were other-
wise, agencies in their field of expertise would be
free to ignore almost all statutes enacted by the
Legislature.

The Legislature has not expressly provided for
access by nonemployee organizers to employer prop-
erty. Nor has the Legislature expressly delegated to
the board the authority to formulate an access rule.
Having refused to follow Babcock and Central Hard-
ware and the federal law, the majority may not
properly claim that the Legislature incorporated an
access rule by reference ta federal law. Nor has the
board or the majority shown it to be absolutely neces-

53

sary to sanction violations of the Penal Code in order
to effectuate the powers expressly granted to the
board.

The Agricultural Labor Relations Act deals with
labor relations; it does not deal with trespasses to
real property. Penal Code section 602 deals with tres-
pass to real property; its relevant provisions do not
expressly deal with labor relations. The instant case
deals with labor relations and trespasses. Thus each
statute is on par with the other, and the Penal Code
provision being a legislative enactment, it must take
precedence over the administrative regulation based
on a power implied from the labor statute. Moreover,
if either the act or the Penal Code provisions must
be categorized as special in relation to the activities
before us, the Penal Code provisions should be so
categorized. Related provisions of the Penal Code
expressly deal with hoth trespasses and labor relations
(Pen. Code, §§ 552.1, 555.2), and in In re Zerbe (1964)
60 Cal.2d 666, 668-669 [36 Cal.Rptr. 286, 388 P.2d 182,
10 A.L.R.38d 840], it was held that the provisions of
those sections must be read into section 602, sub-
division (/), one of the subdivisions presently before
us,

CONSTITUTIONALITY Or THE ACCESS REGULATION

The majority concludes that the access regulation
is constitutional and does not impinge upon private
property rights because a rational relationship exists
hetween the access regulation and the purposes of the
act. The majority finds that the rational relationship

?

o4

test is the proper standard for constitutional review
by analogizing the issue here presented to the issues
raised when the validity of a zoning ordinance is
challenged. The majority, however, has erred in its
analogy, applied an improper standard of constitu-
tional review, and thereby sanctioned an impermissible
invasion on constitutionally protected property
rights.*

When regulations such as zoning are challenged,
the constitutional issue raised is the extent to which
the government may regulate a landowner’s use of his
own property. The access regulation, on the other
hand, presents a very distinct situation. In promulgat-
ing such a regulation the government is requiring a
property owner to surrender the use of his private
property not for public use but for the use of other
private parties—nonemployee union organizers.

4The majority justifies its application of the rational relationship
test on grounds that the access regulation’s infringement of prop-
erty rights is ‘‘not a deprivation of ‘fundamental personal liber-
ties.’ ’’ However, property rights are fundamental and personal.
As the United States Supreme Court pointed out in Lynch v.
Household Finance Corp. (1972) 405 U.S. 538 [31 L.Ed.2d 424, 92
S.Ct. 1113], ‘‘ [T]he dichotomy between personal liberties and prop-
erty rights is a false one. Property does not have rights. People
have rights. The right to enjoy property without unlawful depriva-
tion, no less than the right to speak or the right to travel, is in
truth a ‘personal’ right, whether the ‘property’ in question be a
welfare check, a home, or a savings account. In fact, a fundamental
interdependence exists between the personal right to liberty and
the personal right in property. Neither could have meaning without
the other. That rights in property are basic civil rights has long
been recognized. J. Locke, Of Civil Government 82-85 (1924); J.
Adams, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the
United States of America, in F. Coker, Democracy, Liberty, and
Property 121-132 (1942); 1 W. Blackstone, Commentaries 138-140.”’
(Id., at p. 552 [31 L.Ed.2d at pp. 434-435].)

55

The distinction is of major significance. In the
private access situation we must weigh the strength
of the interest asserted against the infringement on
private property rights. The proper judicial function
is to balance the competing interests; although the
rational relationship test applies in zoning cases, the
law of zoning is not a universal solvent in which
property rights are dissolved.

This court is apparently the only court unable to
grasp that the appropriate standard for review is
one of balancing and not of rational relationship. In
Labor Board v. Babcock & Wilcox Co., supra, 351
U.S. 105, the United States Supreme Court stated:
“This is not a problem of always open or always closed
doors for union organization on company property....
Accommodation between the two [organizational rights
and property rights] must be obtained with as little
destruction of one as is consistent with the mainten-
ance of the other.” (/d., at p. 112: italics added.)
Similarly, in Central Hardware Co. v. NLRB, supra,
407 U.S. 539, the Supreme Court stated: “the prin-
ciple of accommodation announced in Babcock is
limited to labor organization campaigns, and the
‘yielding’ of property rights it may require is both
temporary and minimal.” (/d., at p. 545; italics
added.) The proper test is one of balancing, not a
determination of rational relationships.

The federal Courts of Appeals have fully reeog-

“nized that balancing is the proper standard for re-

view. (E.g., NV. D. R. B. v. Visceglia (3d Cir. 1974)
498 F.2d 43, 45; McDonnell Douglas Corporation v.

56

N. L. R. B. (8th Cir. 1973) 472 F.2d 539, 544;
Diamond Shamrock Co. v. N. L. R. B. (3d Cir. 1971)
443 F.2d 52, 56-58; see Asociacion de Trabajadores,
Ete. v. Green Giant Co. (3d Cir. 1975) 518 F.2d 130,
135; Petersen v. Talisman Sugar Corporation (5th
Cir, 1973) 478 F.2d 73, 82.)

Indeed, in the only federal Court of Appeals case
decided after Babcock and Central Hardware specifi-
cally discussed by the majority, the court recognized
that the proper standard for resolving this issue is
one of balancing. (NV. L. R. B. v. S & H Grossinger’s
Ine. (2d Cir. 1967) 372 F.2d 26, 29-30.) Moreover, the
fact that access has been permitted in several federal
cases is hardly surprising under a halancing test.
However, it does not follow, as the majority suggests,
that because the balance in some cases has favored
access that the balance in all cases will do so. If this
were otherwise then the United States Supreme
Court’s use of the word “accommodate” is meaning-
less, as is the federal Courts of Appeals’ continual use
of a balancing approach.

The United States Supreme Court balanced the
competing interests in Babcock and Central Hard-
ware, and because, as pointed out above, the board’s
regulation violates the rule of those cases, the access
regulation violates the constitutional provisions pro-
tecting private property. The board’s regulation does
* not even attempt to balance or accommodate the com-
peting interests. It allows aecess when alternative
means of communication do in fact exist. And it per-
mits blanket entry onto private property during work-

—

o7

ing hours. The regulation as presently promulgated
is unconstitutional.

CONCLUSION

In a case such as this, where conviction and feeling
run high, we should apply the law to the facts care-
fully and objectively, to assure that the result of our
decision comports with precedent, thereby carrying
out the intent of the Legislature. In this, the ma-
jority have failed today. To reach their result, they
have relied on inapplicable precedent, applied the
wrong constitutional standard of review, nullified the
Legislature’s mandate to the board, and subordinated
the Legislature to an administrative agency.

Clark, J.

McComb, J., and Richardson, J., concurred.

58

Appendix B

S. F. No. 23,349

In the Supreme Court
of the
State of California

Agricultural Labor Relations Board, Roger Ma- |
honey, Leroy Chatfield, Joseph Grodin, Richard
Johnsen, Joseph Ortega and Walter Kintz,

or Petitioners,

vs.

Superior Court in and for the County of Tulare, |
State of California,

and
Superior Court in and for the County of Fresno,
State of California, \
Respondents,
and

Harry Kubo, an individual; Nisei Farmers
League, a non-profit corporation; and Western
Tomato Growers & Shippers, Inc., a California

corporation,
and

Pandol & Sons, a California partnership; Jasmine
Vinevards, Ine., a California corporation,
Real Parties In Interest. :

[Filed Mar 8, 1976]

59

Notice oF APPEAL To
THE SuPREME Court OF THE UNITED STATES

Notice is hereby given that Harry Kubo, Nisei
Farmers League, and Western Tomato Growers &
Shippers, Inc., real parties in interest above-named,
hereby appeal to the Supreme Court of the United
States from the final judgment of the Supreme Court
of the State of California, directing that a peremptory
writ of mandate issue compelling respondent Superior
Courts of Tulare and Fresno Counties to vacate vari-
ous orders enjoining enforcement of an administra-
tive regulation which permits access to agricultural
property by farm labor organizers, entered in this
action on March 4, 1976.

This appeal is taken pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§1257(2).

Dated: March 8, 1976.

Littler

[Text truncated at 120,000 characters. The full text is on the page linked above.]

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40385004_0022%3A1. Public record. Not legal advice.
