Supreme Court sides with California farms in case involving labor union access

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in a high-stakes case between California's agricultural growers and the farmworkers union.

A narrowly divided Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt a big blow to farm labor unions in the nation's largest agricultural producing state, making it harder to organize migrant workers and, potentially, harder to regulate health and safety conditions. In a 6-3 decision, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court's conservative majority effectively struck down a California regulation that had given labor organizers a right to access private farm property up to three hours a day, 120 days per year, to meet with workers when they are off the clock. Union officials argued the regulation, in place for 45 years, has been essential to educating and communicating with a highly transient workforce. Two farm owners that challenged the rules say they are "archaic" and in violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. "Government-authorized invasions of property -- whether by plane, boat, cable, or beachcomber -- are physical takings requiring just compensation," Roberts wrote. "Accordingly, the growers' complaint states a claim for an uncompensated taking in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments."