With mounting pressure from the White House, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) reached a tentative contract late Friday night ending a several month marathon that cost the ag industry millions of dollars in lost contracts, delays, excess charges and resulted in mounting job losses for agricultural workers.  With involvement from the US Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh, the two sides reached a long overdue agreement.  With over 50 ships at anchor on the West Coast, it is anticipated that it could take up to 3 months for the ports to “catch back up!”  Port activity was resuming to a more normal capacity this week.

Despite extreme opposition from agricultural groups and other employer groups, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board approved significant revisions to the state’s heat illness prevention standard.  The Board voted to approve the changes on a 5 to 1 vote.

The new revisions include the following major changes:

•   – The procedures now kick in at 80 degrees, instead of the current 85
•   – Shade must now cover 100% of those employees working during recovery or rest periods, and onsite meal periods, instead of the current 25%.
•   – High-heat procedures now include a mandatory 10 minute cool-down period every two hours. 

That means that employers must revise their heat illness programs and train employees on an accelerated schedule, with barely two months before the changes become enforceable. Normally, these changes would go into effect on July 1^st, but Cal/OSHA is asking the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to move these up to as early as April 1^st.  Training must be provided and the Association will be working with its members to assist in this effort, and to make sure their Heat Illness Plan are updated.

Printable Version

Mark your calendars for the California Cotton Growers Associations (CCGA) 25th Annual Meeting to be held at the Visalia Convention Center on March 6, 2015.   This year’s Annual Meeting will begin 9 am with concurrent sessions on Pest & Products Chaired by Pete Goodall, Varieties – Trials & New Releases Chaired by Bob Hutmacher, and Water – Issues and Irrigation Efficiency Chaired by Dan Munk. Please RSVP to Shana at (559) 252-0684.  We hope to see you there!

2015 Growers Annual Meeting Agenda

CA Cotton Growers 25th Annual Meeting Flyer, Registration Form & Preliminary Agenda

CA Cotton Growers Associate Member – Annual Mtg Sponsorship/Exhibitor Flyer

After almost nine months of negotiations with little results President Obama has ordered Labor Secretary Tom Perez on Saturday to renew talks between shipping companies and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.  The slowdown at the West Coast ports has cost the cotton industry millions in cancelled contracts and delayed shipments.  In addition, the cotton industry has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional and extraordinary container fees, chassis fees, storage fees and congestion management fees.  The slowdowns have become progressively worse, culminating in a major shutdown this past weekend.  The involvement by the administration is seen as the only way to bring this dispute to an end, as both sides have refused to budge.  “The negotiations over the functioning of the West Coast ports have been taking place for months with the administration urging the parties to resolve their differences,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Saturday. “Out of concern for the economic consequences of further delay, the president has directed his Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to travel to California to meet with the parties to urge them to resolve their dispute quickly at the bargaining table.”  Many cotton merchants have resorted to shipping products out of Houston or East Coast ports.  The California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations (CCGGA) have been heavily involved in this issue, updating Senator Feinstein and Governor Brown on a daily basis, including participating in periodic conference calls with these offices to update their representatives on the devastating impact of this dispute on the tree nut industry.  CCGGA President Roger Isom said “These delays cannot continue and we urge the Administration to move swiftly and decisively in bringing this dispute to a resolution.”

On February 4^th, USDA Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack designated 55 California counties as primary natural disaster areas due to a recent drought.  According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (see http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/), these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of: (1) D2 (Drought-Severe) for 8 or more consecutive weeks; or (2) D3 (Drought-Extreme) or D4 (Drought-Exceptional).  In accordance with section 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, Del Norte, Imperial, and San Francisco Counties in California, are named as contiguous disaster counties. A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans. Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm, and the security and repayment ability of the operator. Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with further information.

Bill Summary:

– Enacts the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 to provide that an employee who, on or after July 1, 2015, works in California for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment is entitled to paid sick days to be accrued at a rate of no less than 1 hour for every 30 hours worked.
– An employee would be entitled to use accrued sick days beginning on the 90th day of employment.
– Authorizes an employer to limit an employee’s use of paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment.
– Prohibits an employer from discriminating or retaliating against an employee who requests paid sick days.
– Requires employers to satisfy specified posting, notice, and recordkeeping requirements.

New Paid Sick Leave Posters/Publications:

– Revised Notice to Employee (Labor Code §2810.5) in English and Spanish now includes Paid Sick Leave
– New Paid Sick Leave Posters English and Spanish

Counsel to Management: Employers should carefully review and update their policies to be consistent with the new requirements. For questions or assistance with the new sick leave law, please contact The Saqui Law Group.

Since late November, the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations (CCGGA) has been collecting information from our members and supplying that information and updates to the Governor’s office and to Senator Feinstein on a daily basis.  From congestion, container and chassis fees, to lengthy shipping delays and cancelled contracts, we have been providing this specific information to these critical people to help provoke action.  Some of this information and that of other efforts has led to the appointment of a federal mediator, which on the surface has not resulted in any positive results.  Without knowing the specifics of those negotiations, it is hard to know if we are close to a resolution or at impasse.  This past week we toured several of our processing members only to learn that shippers are now looking to Houston, Ensenada, and East Coast ports at extreme cost to get product shipped.  In some cases we now have members that are laying workers off, because they simply can’t ship product.  This led to a conference call yesterday with staff from Senator Feinstein’s office and Governor Brown’s office to discuss next steps and whether federal intervention is possible.  Prior to that call, CCGGA provided information to staff at the White House who are currently reviewing the information as well as that from other areas of commerce that have been heavily impacted.  We learned the situation does not yet meet enough of the criteria for the Federal Government to invoke the Taft-Hartley Act, which might help bring this issue to a head.  However, Senator Feinstein’s staff continues to pursue that angle to see what if anything can be done.  In the meantime, we ask that you continue to provide us with your daily updates on issues with the ports including shipping delays, trucking issues, chassis shortages, storage fees, etc.  This is how we can keep the Administration up to date on the situation and just how drastic it has become.  Please forward your information to Christopher McGlothlin, Director of Technical Services at chris@ccgga.org

Director of Regulatory Affairs

Announcement Date: January 19, 2015
Application Deadline: February 27, 2015
The California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations (CCGGA) and the Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) are seeking Director of Regulatory Affairs. This position is slated to begin Monday, March 23rd, 2015.
This position is an entry level position, but the Association will consider applicants with experience in the Association’s areas of interest. This position is a full time, exempt employee status position that will report to the President/CEO.
Primary Responsibilities:
• Provide support and analysis on regulatory and legislative issues related to air quality, water quality, worker safety, food safety, pesticides, labor, taxes and how they affect the cotton and tree nut industries
• Provide administrative support for day to day operations and duties, as well as industry meetings, Association meetings and membership relations and development
• Provide support for the industry information and outreach including the Associations’ website and social media sites (Linked In)
Qualifications and Requirements:
• Bachelors degree from an accredited university with major in agriculture, business, safety, engineering, environment or political science
• Ability to work independently and as a team member
• Ability to accomplish tasks w/ minimal supervision
• Good customer service skills
• Effective communicator and planner
• Ability to set priorities and work on multiple tasks
• Ability to travel 20% of the time within state and 2% of the time within US
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access & Outlook)
Compensation will include a competitive salary, paid vacation and sick leave, medical and dental benefits, as well as an employer funded retirement program. More details are available by contacting Roger Isom at (559)252-0684 or email at roger@ccgga.org.
Interested individual should mail their resume with a letter explaining their interest to:
Roger A. Isom
CCGGA/WAPA
1785 N. Fine Avenue
Fresno, CA 93727

Job Description_Director of Regulatory Affairs

Association Description – CCGGA

Mark your calendars for the California Cotton Growers Associations (CCGA) 25^th Annual Meeting to be held at the Visalia Convention Center on March 6, 2015.   This year’s Annual Meeting will begin 9 am with concurrent sessions on Pest & Products Chaired by Pete Goodall, Varieties – Trials & New Releases Chaired by Bob Hutmacher, and Water – Issues and Irrigation Efficiency Chaired by Dan Munk. Please RSVP to Shana at (559) 252-0684.  We hope to see you there!

CA Cotton Growers 25th Annual Meeting Flyer, Registration Form & Agenda

CA Cotton Growers Associate Member – Annual Mtg Sponsorship/Exhibitor Flyer