17 News @ Sunrise 06/13/2024

Some of today's top storiesThe state agency in charge of certifying California law enforcement officers met yesterday in West Sacramento to decide the professional future of a former Kern County Sheriff's lieutenant.    David Hubbard, fired in 2022 by the Sheriff's Office and now an employee of the Kern County District Attorney's Office, was facing his permanent decertification as a peace officer.    17's Robert Price was there and attended a hearing of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST.     He files this report.A salary increase for the Superintendent at Greenfield Union School District is stirring up a heated discussion online. Many say the money should have gone to teachers or even students, instead. At last night's district board meeting, the issue was not a topic of discussion, however, we spoke with those who attended the meeting on both sides of the issue. Superintendent Ramon Hendrix began his post in 2017, after serving on the board of trustees for eight years.     When he took the position, according to Transparent California, Hendrix's first reported salary in 2018 was more than $214,000 with pay and benefits.     That was bumped up to $250,000 a few years later.    Now under the new contract, Hendrix is set to receive around $330,000 with a more than 7,000 dollar increase in each salary tier. On that same salary schedule, a year-round teacher would begin at around $47,000 and continue to move up to around $61,000, seeing a nearly 15-hundred dollar increase each salary tier.Yesterday, protesters and counterprotesters took to the Kern County Superior Court... ahead of a hearing on unionization for farm workers.     The back and forth between UFW and Wonderful has grown messier... but at its core... it's about unionizing and how easy joining one should be.  Last year... California started a new union authorization method called a card check law. If a *majority* of employees sign an authorization card... *all* employees become part of a union. That's why Wonderful Nurseries and the UFW have been clashing now... for months.     The California Agricultural Labor Relations Board authorized UFW to represent Wonderful workers... saying a majority signed on.     But Wonderful and nearly 150 workers allege they were tricked by the UFW into signing a card. Now... Wonderful has filed a lawsuit against the ALRB... challenging the card check law itself. While there was no ruling during yesterday's three-hour hearing... the judge says he'll also decide if the hearings between Wonderful and the UFW continue... while the future of the card check law itself is debated.