SECTIONS 54451-54458 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 54451-54458

54451. The department shall order conciliation between any
cooperative bargaining association and any processor subject to this
chapter if it determines, after receiving a request under the
procedure specified in Section 54452, that conciliation will
materially assist the parties in negotiating an agreement. Either
party may request at any time that conciliation be ordered.

54451.5. A conciliation service shall be appointed by the
department if the parties cannot agree on a conciliator.

54452. The following procedure shall be used upon receipt by the
department of a request for conciliation:
(a) The request from one of the parties to the negotiation,
referred to as the requesting party, shall be presented on a form
prescribed by the department.
(b) The requesting party shall submit, along with the request, the
last offer made to the other party, referred to as the responding
party, reasons for rejection of the responding party's last offer,
and an indication as to what the requesting party believes would be
required to reach an agreement. A copy of the request, as well as any
information required pursuant to this subdivision, shall be express
mailed to the responding party on the same day that the request is
submitted to the department.
(c) On the next business day after receiving the request for
conciliation, the department shall notify the responding party that a
request for conciliation has been received. The responding party
shall be required to respond to the department within three business
days after receipt of notification that conciliation has been
requested. The response from the responding party shall include the
last offer made to the requesting party, reasons for rejection of the
requesting party's last offer, and an indication as to what the
responding party believes would be required to reach an agreement.
The responding party's response shall be made on a form prescribed by
the department. A copy of the response, as well as any information
required pursuant to this subdivision, shall be express mailed to the
requesting party on the same day that the response is submitted to
the department.
(d) On the same day that the responding party is notified by the
department that a request for conciliation has been made, the
department shall notify the conciliation service designated by the
department pursuant to Section 54451.5 that conciliation may be
ordered.
(e) On the date that the department notifies the responding party
that a conciliation has been requested, the department may also
request additional information from either party and the department
shall notify both parties of their right to use a conciliator agreed
upon by the parties if the parties notify the department of their
agreement before conciliation is ordered.
(f) Both parties have three business days after the date of the
request made pursuant to subdivision (e) in which to respond to the
request for additional information.
(g) Within three business days after final receipt from the
parties of all information requested by the department, the
department shall determine whether conciliation shall be conducted.

54453. (a) If conciliation is ordered, the department shall, on the
day the department determines that conciliation shall be conducted,
notify both parties that the conciliation will take place and direct
the conciliator agreed to by the parties to commence the conciliation
process in accordance with its commercial mediation rules. If the
parties have not agreed upon a conciliator, the department shall
appoint the conciliation service designated by the department
pursuant to Section 54451.5, and direct that conciliation service to
commence the conciliation process in accordance with its commercial
mediation rules. However, this article prevails if there is any
conflict between those rules and this article.
(b) Confidential information disclosed to a conciliator by the
parties or by any other person in the course of the conciliation
shall not be divulged by the conciliator. All statements, oral or
written, records, reports, or other documents received or made by a
conciliator while serving in that capacity, or by any other person,
shall be confidential. The conciliator shall not be compelled to
divulge the information or to testify in regard to the conciliation
in any proceeding or judicial forum. The parties shall maintain the
confidentiality of the conciliation, and shall not rely on, or
introduce as evidence in any proceeding or forum, any of the
following:
(1) Views expressed or suggestions made by any party in the course
of conciliation proceedings with respect to a possible settlement of
the dispute.
(2) Admissions by any party in the course of conciliation
proceedings.
(3) Proposals made or views expressed by the conciliator.
(4) The fact that any party in the course of conciliation
proceedings had or had not indicated willingness to accept a proposal
for settlement made by the conciliator or other party.

54454. The conciliator shall perform the following duties:
(a) Meet with the parties involved in the bargaining process in an
attempt to resolve the dispute.
(b) Participate in negotiations and have authority to offer
suggestions and recommendations to resolve the dispute.
(c) The total time allotted for conciliation shall not exceed 10
calendar days unless the conciliator feels that an additional period
of five calendar days is likely to resolve the dispute. The
determination of the conciliator on whether to extend the period of
conciliation shall be based on the progress of negotiations during
the conciliation process, the impact of a time delay on the parties,
and other relevant factors.
(d) If a settlement has not been arrived at through the
conciliation process, upon the conclusion of the process and within
the time requirements of subdivision (c), the conciliator shall make
a final recommendation to the parties as to what he or she believes
will equitably resolve the dispute and result in a negotiated
settlement. Each party shall be required to respond to the other
party, and to the conciliator with their position and response to the
conciliator's final recommendations.

54455. If the dispute has not been resolved by the completion of
the conciliation process, the conciliator shall file a final report
with the department within three business days after the close of
conciliation. The report shall include only the following:
(a) A factual summary of the events that occurred during
conciliation, including all of the following:
(1) The dates on which conciliation occurred.
(2) The amount of time expended in conciliation on each of those
dates.
(3) The location of the conciliation on each of those dates.
(4) The names of the individuals present during conciliation on
each of those dates.
(b) The final proposals of each of the parties.
(c) The response, as expressed by each party, to the other party's
final proposal.
(d) A description of the remaining unresolved issues, as expressed
by each party.
(e) A copy of the original request and response specified in
Section 54452.

54456. All reasonable costs incurred in carrying out the
conciliation prescribed in this article shall be shared equally by
each party to the negotiations.

54457. (a) In the report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to
Section 54441, the department shall include a section on this
article, which shall consist of the following items:
(1) The number of requests for conciliation.
(2) The number of conciliation cases handled.
(3) The number of conciliation cases reaching settlement through
the process prescribed by this article.
(4) The parties involved in conciliation.
(5) Recommended changes to this article that would improve its
effectiveness.
(b) The report shall not include any information otherwise
confidential pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 54453.

54458. Any person who violates any provision of this article is
liable civilly for a penalty in an amount not to exceed the sum of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each and every violation.