Court Opinion

ID: 9729018
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:24:39.115547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:54.941536
License: Public Domain

BROWN (G. A.), P. J., Concurring and Dissenting.
I concur generally in the reasoning and conclusion of the principal opinion. The result is clearly compelled by the statutory scheme and, of course, short of constitutional considerations, which are not involved in the case at bench, this court does not make the law but is bound by what the Legislature has enacted. Therefore, if there is to be a change it must be made at the legislative level and not by the courts.
The dilemma with which the farmer was confronted in this case could have been wholly avoided if the Agricultural Labor Relations Board had acted more expeditiously. In this regard I perceive in the act a legislative purpose that labor disputes in the fields are intended to be resolved with dispatch and that the contemplated speedy result is not a one-way street in favor of the union. I should think, therefore, that the Board would treat all parties in an even-handed manner and do everything possible to expedite proceedings involving refusal to bargain and unfair labor practice charges.
Lastly, I cannot agree with the implication of the majority opinion that the Agricultural Labor Relations Board is an “expert agency.” While that was undoubtedly the intention of the Legislature, there is no information in the record regarding the expertise of the persons occupying the positions on the Board. If we could take judicial notice of the political inclinations and formal and practical background and intellectual qualities of the members of the Board, our assessment might be far less complimentary than implied by the principal opinion.