TY - JOUR AU - Martin, Philip L. AU - Mason, Bert TI - Mandatory mediation changes rules for negotiating farm labor contracts JF - California Agriculture JO - Calif Agr Y1 - 2003/01/01 VL - 57 IS - 1 SP - 13 EP - 17 PB - University of California Agriculture and Nature Resources SN - 0008-0845 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3733/ca.v057n01p13 L3 - 10.3733/ca.v057n01p13 AB - In September 2002, Governor Gray Davis signed the first major amendments to the 1975 Agri-cultural Labor Relations Act in 27 years. Under these amendments, if a farm employer and certified union are unable to negotiate a first collective bargaining agreement within 6 months, a mediator can impose an agreement. The number of contracts in California agriculture has declined precipitously since the mid-1980s, and we are skeptical that mandatory mediation will sharply increase the number of workers employed on farms under collective bargaining agreements.