SECTIONS 54431-54435 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 54431-54435

54431. It is an unfair trade practice, and unlawful, for any
processor, handler, distributor, or agent of any such person, or,
with regard to subdivisions (d), (e), and (f), for any cooperative
bargaining association or any agent of an association, or for any
other person to do any of the following:
(a) Interfere with, restrain, coerce, or boycott producers in the
exercise of the rights which are guaranteed pursuant to Section
54402.
(b) Discriminate against any producer with respect to price or
other terms of purchase of any raw agricultural commodity, by reason
of the producer's membership in, or contract with, any cooperative
bargaining association.
(c) Pay or loan money, or give any other thing of value, to a
producer as an inducement or reward for refusing or ceasing to belong
to, or for breaching one's membership agreement in, a cooperative
bargaining association.
(d) Maliciously or knowingly give false reports about the
finances, management, or activities of any person subject to this
chapter.
(e) Refuse to negotiate or bargain, including refusing to comply
with the procedure prescribed in Article 3.5 (commencing with Section
54451), at reasonable times and for reasonable periods of time with
a genuine desire to reach agreement and a serious attempt to resolve
differences with a cooperative bargaining association for price,
terms of sale, compensation for commodities produced under contract,
and other contract provisions relative to any commodity which a
cooperative bargaining association represents, or refuse to negotiate
or bargain, including refusing to comply with the procedure
prescribed in Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 54451), at
reasonable times and for reasonable periods of time with a genuine
desire to reach agreement and a serious attempt to resolve
differences with a processor for price, terms of sale, compensation
for commodities produced under contract, and other contract
provisions relative to any commodity which the cooperative bargaining
association represents. This subdivision does not apply to fresh
grapes purchased for wine. Also, this subdivision is limited to
processors, handlers, or agents of any of those persons who deal in
fruits, nuts, or vegetables for processing and a cooperative
bargaining association which meets all of the following:
(1) That, under the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the
cooperative bargaining association, the association is producer owned
and controlled exclusively by producers.
(2) The cooperative bargaining association has enforceable
contracts with its members.
(3) The cooperative bargaining association has financial resources
and management reasonably sufficient to accomplish the purpose for
which it was organized.
(4) The cooperative bargaining association represents, through its
own members, a sufficient number of producers or a sufficient
quantity of any particular commodity, or both, to make it an
effective agent for producers in bargaining with handlers.
(5) One of the functions of the cooperative bargaining association
is acting as principal or agent for its producer members to
negotiate or bargain with handlers for prices, terms of sale,
compensation for commodities produced under contract and other terms
of contracts with respect to the production, sale, and marketing of
their commodities.
(f) Refuse to negotiate or bargain for price, terms of sale,
compensation for commodities produced under contract, and other
contract provisions relative to any commodity which a cooperative
bargaining association represents. This subdivision only applies to a
cooperative association whose members produce either fresh grapes
purchased for wine or whose members produce any other commodity not
specified in subdivision (e) and which meets all of the following:
(1) Under the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the
cooperative bargaining association, the association is producer owned
and controlled exclusively by producers.
(2) The cooperative bargaining association has enforceable
contracts with its members.
(3) The cooperative bargaining association has financial resources
and management reasonably sufficient to accomplish the purpose for
which it was organized.
(4) The cooperative bargaining association represents, through its
own members, a sufficient number of producers or a sufficient
quantity of any particular commodity, or both, to make it an
effective agent for producers in bargaining with handlers.
(5) One of the functions of the cooperative bargaining association
is acting as principal or agent for its producer members to
negotiate or bargain with handlers for prices, terms of sale,
compensation for commodities produced under contract, and other terms
of contracts with respect to the production, sale, and marketing of
their commodity.

54432. The provisions of subdivision (e) of Section 54431 only
apply to any processor, handler, distributor, or agent of any such
person, who refuses to negotiate or bargain, as specified by such
provisions, with a cooperative bargaining association which
represents producers with whom such a processor, handler,
distributor, or agent of any such person, has had a prior course of
dealing.
For purposes of this section, "prior course of dealing" means that
the processor, handler, distributor, or agent of any such person has
purchased in any two of the immediate preceding five years a
commodity from a producer which a cooperative bargaining association
represents. However, a processor, handler, distributor, or agent of
any such person is subject to subdivision (e) of Section 54431 if
that person has newly gone into business in California by locating in
this state from another state or country, by being created from
other business entities which had a prior course of dealing with a
bargaining association, or by being newly created and utilizing
substantially the same processing facilities as a prior processor
which itself was subject to subdivision (e) of Section 54431.

54434. The provisions of subdivision (e) of Section 54431 shall not
apply to cooperative associations in respect to business done with
its own membership.

54435. Nothing in subdivision (e) or (f) of Section 54431 requires
any processor, handler, distributor, or agent of any such person, to
negotiate over any specific period of time, or to agree upon price,
terms of sale, compensation for commodities produced under contract,
and other contract provisions relative to any commodity which any
cooperative bargaining association represents. However, nothing in
this section relieves the parties from the requirement to negotiate
and bargain pursuant to subdivision (e) or (f) of Section 54431 or to
comply with the procedures prescribed in Article 3.5 (commencing
with Section 54451) if applicable.