It has been an incredibly active year for the Central Coast Labor movement. From a record number of strikes and near-strikes to the organizing campaigns of childcare workers to the signing of several Project Labor Agreements in our local communities, we have been able to successfully fight back against rulings and laws designed specifically to weaken us at the federal and judicial levels.
It has been a vital year for our State Legislature. With a supermajority of Democrats in both houses, we have been able to pass remarkable pro-worker bills that will shape policy for decades to come. From passing AB 5, which protects workers against misclassification to AB 378, which allows for childcare workers to collectively bargain with the state of California, it has been a year of historic wins for our labor movement. A special shout out to Assemblywomen Monique Limon and Christy Smith for your work in championing Labor rights for childcare workers (AB 378)and charter school reform (AB 1505), respectively. Below is a list of labor sponsored bills that were passed.
AB 5 (Gonzalez) - Disrupt Inequality and Rebuild Middle Class – Codify Dynamex Decision to Expand Workers’ Rights.
AB 51 (Gonzalez) - Access to Justice – Stop Forced Arbitration of Workers’ Rights.
AB 378 (Limon) - Allows 40,000-plus childcare workers to collectively bargain for livable wages, training and benefits.
AB 485 ( Medina) - Invest in Good Jobs – Require Transparency & Accountability for Local Subsidies to Distribution Centers.
AB 520 (Kalra)- Closes a loophole that allows developers to bypass the prevailing wage because of the Departent of Industrial Relations’ interpretation of what constitutes a “de-minimis” public subsidy.
AB 731(Kalra) - Make Health Care Affordable - Gives unions more power in challenging health care premium increases by requiring state regulators to review all rate increase proposals annually in a public meeting
AB 1505 (O’Donnell) - Charter School Accountability - Strengthens the approval process of charter schools so communities have a voice and the best interests of all students are considered.
AB 1613 (O’Donnell) - Charter school construction prevailing wage - Applies the prevailing wage worker protections to charter schools electing to receive tax-exempt conduit financing from a public agency.
AB 1768 (Carrillo) - Pre-Construction Activities Prevailing Wage - Clarifies that the prevailing wage applies to site assessments, feasibility studies, and other pre-construction phases of a public works project.
SB 530 (Galgiani) - Confronting Harassment in the Construction Industry - Establishes an advisory committee to develop an industry specific harassment and discrimination prevention policy and training standard for use by construction employees
SB 645 (Monning) - Limit Deposition for Asbestos and Silica Cases - Protects individuals deemed by a physician to have substantial medical doubt of their survival beyond six months (due to mesothelioma or silicosis) from prolonged civil discovery sessions by limiting depositions to seven hours
100 percenters:
Thank you to Senators Bill Monning, Hannah-Beth Jackson, Henry Stern, and Assemblywoman Monique Limon for voting 100% with Labor on the above bills!
central coast news
In case you hadn’t heard, we had a couple of Labor Day picnics and they were awesome:
Santa Maria
Oxnard
Campaign season has begun early with a November election in Santa Barbara and the upcoming California primary (only 20 weeks, 3 days and 13 hours away but who’s counting?) we have officially made some endorsements. You can check them out by CLICKING HERE.
If you are planning on running for office in this upcoming cycle and are wanting to learn more about our endorsement process, CLICK HERE.
Candidate Training is coming up in the 8 days. If you missed out on the application deadline, fill out the form to stay in touch with us and we will give you a heads up on the next one.
Census Preparation has begun in Ventura County. If you want to start getting involved in the process of reaching out to members and hard to count folks, CLICK HERE for more information or you can contact Dan.
SEIU-UHW and UFCW 770 both won contracts and averted strikes!
AFSCME 3299 is still battling with the UC, who are continuing the same tactics they’ve used now for over 2 years. We will continue to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters.
National
UAW is still fighting for a fair contract
Chicago Charter School Teachers set a strike date. SEIU will walk out with them.
Rudy Giuliani is probably going to prison
Happy Friday!