A California juice product corporation on May 13, 2024 sued the state for implementing a 2022 farm workers’ unionization bill. 

Wonderful Co, the giant processor of fruit drinks like Halos Mandarin Oranges and Fiji Water, vows to stop the implementation.

Governor Gavin Newsom of California had enacted the law under pressure in 2022 and since then resistance has been bubbling.

The company acted when the United Farm Workers (UFW) recently unionized 640 employees at one of its premises.

The multi-billion dollar company apparently funded the current Democratic administration campaign, including that of Newsom. 

California Juice Production Profile 

The lawsuit is important because it involves a leading industry in a state that produces bulk oranges, Ojai-pixies, grapefruit and lemons.

With its citrus production at 1.84 million tonnes in the 2023-24 market year, California is still a key source of mainly orange juice. 

In 2021, California supplied 44,000 tonnes of navel oranges for juice processing, with the production of processing oranges growing by 8%. This was even as the lead competitor Florida supplied the most oranges but saw production go down by 22%.

Input by California and other leading citrus-supplying states saw the U.S. sell 1.4 million 192-oz cases of juice in 2021.

The average American drank 18.11 liters of juice per year in 2021. By 2027, however, consumption will have fallen to 17.4 liters per year, according to Statista. 

Enter Unions

Given its prominence in food and beverage production, California organises the “farm-to-table” labor movement.

It is this movement that often attracts union workers to defend what they believe are products of their own making. 

As the producer of much of American food, California got an exemption in 1975  that allowed the formation of farm unions. But since the United States does not have a federal law for organizing farm labor, California’s exemption remains contentious.

Though farm unions in 2024 are not as many as they once were, they are slowly making a comeback. 

The new lawsuit by the California juice giant therefore seeks to eradicate the unionization law and hinder farm unions.