All posts by California Labor Federation

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Labor and Business Standing Together to Make Progress for California

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by Caitlin Vega, California Labor Federation

It's not every day that labor and business come together to co-sponsor legislation. But the truth is, we have a lot of shared interests. We all care about creating and protecting jobs, ensuring a skilled workforce and revitalizing our battered economy. This year, the California Labor Federation sponsored two bills with the business community to further these shared goals.

SB 469 (Vargas) takes aim at the supercenters that have sprung up throughout our state. Although developers always claim these supercenters will bring jobs, we have seen at the local level that they often bring more harm than good. Because of their market dominance, supercenters generally put their competitors out of business. The first to go are the small businesses that can’t compete with a supercenter’s predatory pricing. The next are the traditional grocery stores that provide middle-class jobs to longtime employees and can’t compete with a supercenter’s poverty wages. So rather than create new jobs, a supercenter typically replaces existing jobs — and in fact, results in fewer jobs, eliminating 1.5 jobs for every one new one created.

Now, there's no doubt supercenters have their plusses and minuses, but if you've ever witnessed a community debate when a new supercenter comes to town, you know that facts are rarely discussed. Instead, the supercenter wines and dines local electeds, makes tons of promises about jobs and revenue, and is never fact-checked or asked hard questions.

That’s why this year, the California Labor Federation and Small Business California came together to take on the goliath of the superstores. We co-sponsored SB 469, which requires that a supercenter developer pay for an independent study of how a supercenter will impact jobs, wages, and local businesses prior to approval. This is not about stopping projects or causing endless delays. And local governments are still free to approve or deny any project they want. We just want these decisions to be based on facts, not promises.

We think strong communities are made up of workers who receive healthcare coverage through thier employers, and don’t have to depend on state-funded programs. We know small businesses keep revenue local, spurring greater economic activity. That’s why, on our side, we welcome independent analysis of the economic impact of these supercenters.

The other side says supercenters bring all sorts of great benefits — but if supercenters are so good for a community, what are they so worried about? Why do they oppose any increased scrutiny of how their business practices impact the economy?  We are proud to stand with Small Business California, the Neighborhood Market Association, the Independent Booksellers, and many others to say, “Show me the facts.”

Supercenters are not the only thing we can agree with employers on. We all know the urgency of getting laid-off workers back to work and getting workers trained to find steady employment in this shaky economy. When federal training dollars under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) were directed to local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), we assumed that money would go straight into training laid-off workers. We were shocked to find that some WIBs spent ZERO percent of that money on training and instead used it for administrative costs.  

Just as labor wants workers to have the skills they need to find jobs, manufacturers want a skilled workforce. So we joined with the State Building Trades and the California Manufacturers to sponsor a bill, SB 734 (DeSaulnier) requiring that this WIA money go directly to job training.  We didn’t know we were headed right into a hornet’s nest, where local WIBs reacted in strong opposition to any minimum training requirement. But we reached out to community partners who provide the training, and reached a deal that protected existing services and locked in a minimum of 30% of the funds committed to hard skills training. Now, manufacturers willing to invest in California know there will be skilled workers here who are ready to step in to the jobs of tomorrow.

These partnerships show that while the Chamber of Commerce may call any bill that helps workers a “job killer,” the employer community is not monolithic. Small businesses care about our local communities and are often ignored by their own trade associations. Manufacturers create the jobs that can rebuild our economy, and we plan to work closely with them to make that a reality.

When times are so tough, we need to look for any and all opportunities to work together and make things better for California workers.

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Stand With Working Women

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By Courtni Sunjoo Pugh, SEIU local 99

Several of the state’s largest newspapers have spoken, and their verdict is in: the hard-working women who care for California’s kids are no more than “babysitters.” At least that’s what a spate of editorials have claimed in recent days as they dismiss the idea that child care providers do difficult, important work.

These editorial writers have actually sat and listened to women explain how their day starts at 5:30 in the morning and lasts until 10:00 at night and heard them describe the thought, care, and hard work that goes into caring for and laying good educational and social foundations for up to 14 children a day.

They listened — and promptly dismissed the fact that they play a crucial role in our economy, making hundreds of thousands of jobs possible by giving parents the ability to be at work.

As infuriating as it can be to witness such disrespect, I’ve never been surprised when those in positions of power display their contempt for working people, especially working women of color.

AB 101, which passed at the end of session, is the fifth time that child care providers have hustled and organized and put a bill to organize before the Governor. In the past, we faced an immovable obstacle. A Governor who didn’t respect women and their work. A Governor who, let’s just say, had “issues” with women — and we'll leave it at that.

Today, we’re counting on the fact that Governor Brown “gets it.” We hope he believes that these hard-working people, mostly women of color, have an important contribution to make in improving child care.

AB 101 fixes a child care system so broken that it forced 5,700 providers to close their doors and put countless families out of work in 2010. It gives child care providers who are on the front lines of California’s mission to get families back to work a voice in the system we all count on.

AB 101 says California can do better by respecting the people who do this hard work, so important to our economy.

Fourteen other states have allowed child care providers this choice. Fourteen other Democratic governors have acknowledged the right of child care workers to organize.

We are counting on Governor Brown to value child care, respect child care providers, affirm his belief in workers’ right to a place at the table, and sign AB 101.

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Bleeding Cash Through a Hole in the Tax Code

by Sara Flocks, California Labor Federation Public Policy Coordinator

From President Obama to Governor Brown, politicians tout tax breaks as the way to create jobs and stimulate economic activity. Tax breaks supposedly lure businesses to California and give them incentives to create jobs for the 2.3 million currently unemployed Californians. California has over 82 tax breaks on the books and legislators push for new ones every session as part of job creation packages.

Some experts question the effectiveness of giving corporations billions of dollars in tax breaks with no guarantees that the company will create jobs, or that they won’t move jobs out of state. A recent study by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes reported that:

One of the biggest criticisms of tax expenditures—and the one most germane to this report—is that they can act like blank checks. Some tax expenditures are capped at a certain dollar amount, and others are required by law to undergo periodic review to make sure that the benefits exceed the cost in foregone revenue. But open-ended tax breaks, like most of those in California law, can swell far beyond initial estimates—with little or no notice. 

The report goes on to describe how ten of California’s tax breaks have cost the state $6.3 billion more than expected over the last ten years, and $1.3 billion just last year. The “blank check effect” explains much of the drain on the state’s coffers. Many of the state’s biggest tax breaks are not capped, do not require an application nor any requirement to create or retain jobs in the state. Once created, it takes a two-thirds vote to reduce or repeal a tax break, making it nearly impossible to get rid of outdated, wasteful or ineffective tax breaks.

The California Labor Federation worked both last year and this legislative session to reign in abuses of corporate tax breaks and to create alternative strategies for job creation. SB 364 (Yee) would hold companies accountable for job creation when they claim tax breaks. Very simply, if a company benefits from a tax break to create jobs and they fail to create those jobs, then they pay a penalty to the state. No longer will taxpayers subsidize corporations moving jobs around the state or out of state. 

Some business groups removed their opposition from the bill since it targets scofflaw companies that ship jobs out of state on the taxpayers’ dime. But the Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups remain opposed and are urging the Governor to veto the measure. They argue that measures such as SB 364 create an unfriendly business climate in California. Yet, 20 other states, including our neighbors Arizona and Nevada, have similar statutes on the book. 

And as the Senate report states:

Policies that go too far in starving public services to pay for tax breaks may sour the business climate rather than improve it. 

Not only is the Labor Federation fighting to make tax breaks more effective, but we also moved legislation this year to find alternatives to tax breaks as a strategy for job creation. With the support of the Manufacturers Association, the Federation co-sponsored AB 894 (V. Perez) with the Machinists. This bill would create the infrastructure for a state fund to give low-interest funds to manufacturers that want to create or retain jobs in California. 

Unlike most tax breaks, companies would have to apply to receive loans, and they would have to meet criteria like providing industry wages, health and retirement benefits, job creation and retention requirements with priority given to joint labor/management applications. Once the company has gotten the loan, created jobs and become profitable, they would pay back the loan so another business could benefit.

Instead of fighting one another, AB 894 is legislation that both labor and management can rally behind in order to create jobs and protect state services. Once the Governor signs the legislation the race is on to find money to capitalize the funds from the federal government or unused stimulus funds. Either way, the fund is a model for how job creation can be accountable, transparent and effective without bleeding cash out of the state budget.

We urge Governor Brown to sign these two important pieces of legislation today. Click here to send a message to the Governor in support of corporate tax accountability.

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California Labor Federation’s End-of-Session Legislative Round-up

By Sara Flocks, California Labor Federation

For the first time in nearly eight years, California has a Democratic governor brandishing the pen as the legislative session draws to a close. The Legislature sent nearly 600 bills to Governor Brown who has until October 9 to sign or veto the measures.

Without Schwarzenegger in office to veto any and all worker-friendly legislation, armies of corporate lobbyists descended on the Capitol to kill labor legislation before it could get to Governor Brown. Unions fought back hard, pushing through a number of key pieces of legislation to the governor.

The California Labor Federation moved a package of bills, co-sponsored with affiliates, to protect workers, create and retain good jobs and make sure our public dollars are spent effectively. Over the next week, “Labor’s Edge” will highlight several Labor Federation sponsored bills that would make a significant positive impact on the lives of workers with a signature from Governor Brown.

Here’s a round-up of the Labor Federation's sponsored bills on the Governor’s desk:

Cracking Down on Wage Theft and Misclassification

Scofflaw employers have become more sophisticated at evading basic labor laws at the same time that the state has slashed enforcement budgets. AB 459 (Corbett) and AB 469 (Swanson) will protect California workers from two of the most serious labor law violations, wage theft and misclassification of independent contractors. The bills strengthen penalties, require written notice to workers and lay the foundation to crack down on the underground economy and level the playing field for good employers.


Protecting Workers from Wall Street Banks

All of us know someone whose credit has been hurt by the economic downturn. Though credit says nothing about a person’s work ethic or skills, many employers use credit check to screen job applicants AB 22 (Mendoza) will stop employers from using credit checks to deny employment except in certain cases. SB 931 (Evans) regulates the use of payroll pay cards. As employers move away from paper checks to “virtual’ payments, this bill ensures that worker aren’t nickel and dimed into poverty by bank fees. The big banks put a target on this bill since it would set a new national standard for protecting workers from payroll pay card fees. Despite an army of bank lobbyists, the Labor Federation and union allies pushed this bill through in the final hours of session.


Maximizing Job Training Funds

California receives about $500 million annually in federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funds. The majority of these funds go to 49 local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs). On average, local WIBs in California invest just 20% of their federal funds on training services. A third of the 49 WIBs spend less than 11% on training, and many invest nothing on training. SB 734 (DeSaulnier) and SB 698 (Lieu) both increase the accountability of WIBs to invest in training and to provide high quality services to workers.

Fighting for Good Jobs

With 2.3 million Californians out of work, the fight to protect good jobs is more important than ever. SB 469 (Vargas) gives local governments the information they need to make decisions about allowing supercenters to locate in their communities. Supercenters claim to create jobs, yet cities have little information about what good jobs are displaced by low-wage jobs when the supercenter moves in. This bill would require developers pay for a study on job effects of supercenters the city can use to make an informed decision to protect the good jobs in their community. AB 508 (Wieckowski) prevents cities from rushing into municipal bankruptcy in order to abrogate collective bargaining contracts.


Creating Jobs

The state spends billions of dollars a year in tax breaks so businesses can create new jobs. The lack of accountability means that taxpayer end up subsidizing the elimination of good jobs when companies take tax breaks and then lay off workers or move locations. SB 364 (Yee) would create a taxpayer money back guarantee that companies have to retain jobs when they claim a tax break or else pay a penalty back to the state. AB 894 (V. Perez) provides an alternative to tax breaks by creating the infrastructure for a revolving loan fund to give low-interest loans to manufacturers that want to create or retain jobs in California. Since banks refuse to loan, the state has a role in supporting in-state manufacturers that create good jobs and prioritizes labor-management loan applications.

The Governor has an opportunity, with the stroke of a pen, to improve the lives of millions of workers by signing these and other important worker-friendly bills. Stay tuned for updates!


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This Labor Day, Let’s Unite to Fight for the Middle Class

 by California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski

There’s a threat to America’s economic future that’s so overlooked it’s gone almost unnoticed amid the endless debate over the debt ceiling and federal spending: massive income inequality.

This Labor Day, the gap that separates the very wealthy from the rest of us is as wide as it was in the Great Depression. Since the economic collapse of 2008, workers have suffered through joblessness, home foreclosures, reduced wages and benefits and a sustained assault on our right to collectively bargain. Did you notice that corporate profits are soaring and Wall Street bankers are receiving fatter bonuses than ever? And we wonder why our middle class is disappearing before our eyes.

When FDR gave workers the right to bargain collectively amidst the Great Depression, he did so because he believed strong unions would create a strong middle class. History proved him right. It’s a fact that when union membership increases, so do wages and benefits for ALL workers, not just union members. Unions raise the bar for everyone – which means even non-union employers offer better wages and benefits in order to stay competitive.

But the opposite is also true. Weakened unions lead to a weak middle class. As union membership has declined over the past 40 years, so have workers’ wages, benefits and working conditions. According to a new study published in the August issue of the American Sociological Review, the decline of union membership since the 1970s explains about a fifth of the increase in wage inequality among women and about a third among men.

In other words, the corporate assault on unions is dragging down the entire economy.

For more than 100 years, unions have been the primary counter-force to corporate greed and excess, pushing for common-sense labor standards like the minimum wage, weekends, health care and retirement security. But without strong unions, corporations have no counterbalance. It’s not a surprise that as union membership has declined, corporations have grown more and more powerful, and workers’ share of the pie has been reduced to crumbs.

The corporate CEO crowd still isn’t satisfied. Anti-union forces – both across the country and in California – are hell-bent on crushing workers’ rights, unions and the middle class. It’s not just in Wisconsin.

From San Jose to Costa Mesa, attacks on unions and workers’ rights are happening right here, in towns and cities across California. And now, right-wing extremists have launched an all-out assault on all of us by once again pushing for a “paycheck deception” ballot measure to silence our voice in political campaigns. If they succeed, Big Business execs will have cleared the field of any opposition, and income inequality will grow, wiping out any hope of the American Dream for most families.

Every generation has its fight for justice. The fight to rebuild the middle class and create a fair economy is ours. If ever there was a time to unite around our shared ideals, the time is now.

That’s why, this Labor Day, we all must come together– union members and non-union members, public sector and private sector – to beat back these attacks. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Join together with your co-workers. Volunteer with your union. Corporations may have the money, but that can never match our grassroots power.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us that “the arc of history bends toward justice.” But sometimes, even history needs some help. It’s up to us to give it that boost so that we can create a brighter future for our families, children and grandchildren.

education, Orange County

Diverse OC Group Delivers Message to Sen. Harman: ‘Stop Extreme Budget Cuts’

by Shawn Wehan

Only in California. That’s what I was thinking this week as I stood in front of Sen. Tom Harman’s office in Costa Mesa with fellow surfers, clergy leaders, parents, kids and others concerned that budget cuts are going to decimate everything we love about our state. To be sure, we’re not your typical coalition. We’re not usually political. But every one of us feels threatened by extreme budget cuts.

I’ve been surfing in Orange County most of my life. These beaches and parks are my second home. They’re public treasures that must be protected and managed to ensure they are open to all our children and grandchildren, not turned over to the highest bidder. We’ve got to stop the extreme cuts, which is why we came together to ask Sen. Harman to be the leader who will stand up for our kids.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen firsthand the impact of budget cuts on our daily lives.   There’s been $18 billion in cuts already made to K-12 education over the last three years. This year, schools have an average $1000 less to educate each student than they did in 2008. 19,000 teachers have already received pink slips and may not return to classrooms this fall.

One-quarter of California’s state parks are already scheduled for shut down, with the remaining parks, including Orange County’s beaches, at risk in an all-cuts budget scenario.

At some point, elected officials have to say enough is enough. More cuts are going to deplete this great state of all that makes it great. The diverse group that gathered at Harman’s office yesterday called on the Senator to support maintaining existing revenues in order to stop the cuts.  If he chooses instead to go along with the all-cuts budget advocated by extremists, Orange County schools would lose another $368 million next year.  More state parks could face closure across the state. That’s not a California I want to see.

Debbie Schroeder is a local elementary school principal. She knows all too well what more cuts would mean to our kids’ futures.

Our children didn’t create California’s budget mess, and they shouldn’t have to pay for it with their future. Class sizes are growing and support for our kids outside the classroom is diminished.  We’ve got to stop the extreme cuts, and we’re here to ask Sen. Tom Harman to be the leader who will stand up for our kids.

The budget isn’t a political issue. It’s a moral one. Now’s the time we all have to come together to stand up for California.

Christian Parra, pastor of Harbor Christian Fellowship in Costa Mesa:

We are here to pray for Sen. Tom Harman to be the moral leader California needs to protect our children’s future. A moral leader remembers that it is our calling to protect the earth we were given for our children, and to protect and educate our children – but these imperatives will be made impossible if Senator Harman stands by while another $10 billion in cuts are made to schools, children’s healthcare, and protection of our natural resources.

These members of the Orange County Congregation Community Organization and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice — Orange County, are some of the many Californians, including educators, parents, law enforcement officials, farmers and surfers who have put aside their differences to support maintaining existing revenues in order to protect schools, seniors, environmental resources and public safety from more cuts. For more information, go to www.standupforca.org

 

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California Fighting Back on Colombia Free Trade Act

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By Tim Robertson, California Fair Trade Coalition

Since 2005, more than half the trade unionists murdered in the world have been killed in Colombia. That's more in Colombia alone than in the other 190+ countries combined. Just last year, 51 more trade unionists were murdered bringing the total since 1986 to over 2700. Unfortunately, President Obama is ignoring these facts to push for the long-stalled Colombia Free Trade Agreement, a relic of the Bush Administration, in a move that can only be seen as an affront to his union base.

Not only is Colombia the most dangerous place in the world for union activity, an implied complicity with Colombia's government, in particular the Department of Administrative Security (DAS), has led to an approximate 96% impunity rating. Could you imagine the U.S. response if over the course of 2010, there were one CEO murder per week in Colombia with little investigation and few convictions or punishments? It certainly wouldn't be to liberalize trade rules.

Sadly, the President knows and understands the plight of unionists, peasant leaders, Afro-Colobians, and other organizers in Colombia. He even campaigned against the FTA because of such violence.

Since then, nothing has changed in Colombia, with 47 union assassinations in 2009 in addition to the 51 from 2010, more than even in 2007 when the FTA was initially negotiated (ironically, some view FTAs as incentives for good behavior). The President shouldn’t support a corporate-first FTA with Colombia, while glossing over the violence he lamented during the election.

That's why the AFL-CIO, the California Labor Federation, the California Democratic Party, and most major unions are calling on their members to stand up and fight to stop the President's free trade expansion plans. Along with FTAs with South Korea and Panama, the Colombia FTA constitute the President's extension of the Bush-era trade agenda which is poised to cost more American jobs, and endanger the lives and livelihoods of our brothers and sisters around the world.

California, with its 53 Members of Congress, is key to stopping these FTAs and protecting worker power both in the U.S. and abroad. Unfortunately, they will easily pass if our representatives don't hear from us, which is why the California Fair Trade Coalition is hosting two organizational calls this Tuesday, May 24, and distributing info and lobbying guides to arm activists to stop the corporate takeover of trade.

Joining the call will be Sacramento Central Labor Council Secretary-Treasurer Bill Camp, to discuss his personal experiences with union violence in Colombia. Other speakers include a brief guide to lobbying and organizing on trade issues by the California Fair Trade Coalition.

All three FTAs could be introduced to the House within weeks. If we're going to stop them, now is the time.

Please RSVP for the calls, Tuesday, May 24, so that we can ensure we have enough lines. Can't make it? Sign up here and we'll send you an info and lobby guide.

Budget

GOP Needs to Offer More to Budget Crisis than “No”

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( – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

by California Labor Federation Legislative Director Angie Wei

Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway has an answer to just about any question directly relating to our budget crisis. “No.” No revenues. No vote of the people. No Republican budget proposal. No closing corporate tax loopholes. No spending cuts. No, No, No, No, No.

Conway explained her caucus’ flurry on “No’s” to the LA Times recently:

The reality of it is, if we put up a ‘budget’ of our own it will get picked apart, criticized.

That may be a good answer for a politician. But it’s the last thing we need to hear from a public servant.

Poor Conway says she might get “criticized.” But isn’t that part of the job when you’re working in the public arena? You put your ideas out there, you speak your values, some may agree with you, some may not. That’s the point of public discourse.

Conway doesn’t respect the public enough to engage in that discourse. Because she knows the math doesn’t add up.

There is no way to prevent cuts to education, public safety, and programs for the vulnerable from cuts without maintaining our current revenues. Conway flat-out lies to the public when they claim that there is some magical solution to the budget crisis involving the elimination “waste, fraud and abuse” or attacking public workers pensions. No one who has looked at the budget deficit objectively agrees. If we fail to extend existing taxes, our schools and universities get cut. It’s that simple.

The truth is, benefits for poor families, health care for the working poor and home care services for the disabled and the aged have already been decimated with over $11 billion in cuts made this year alone. Further cuts not only put families on the streets, those cuts would also lead to the loss of billions of federal matching dollars. This is the classic pennywise, pound foolish scenario. Or billions of pennies given up for tons of idiot pounds.

Making the shortfall worse, Conway and her big corporation-loving allies won’t give up costly and ineffective big business tax giveaways. Enterprise Zones have been proven to create no net jobs, instead cannibalizing jobs from one area of the state to another. Costing taxpayers nearly a billion dollars, Republicans have been defending them to the cliff of fiscal failure.

Allowing companies to elect how they want to pay state taxes is another terrible plan, again defended by Conway and her caucus.

Conway isn’t willing to extend existing taxes. She won’t let the people vote. She won’t issue her own proposal. She didn’t even vote for the governor’s spending cuts.

Is this political cowardice? Childishness? Incompetence? All of the above? If all Conway and her hardline Republican colleagues want to offer to the budget crisis is the word “No,” I guess that’s their business. But we shouldn’t be paying legislators to say “No,” we should be paying them to do their job by working together to prevent devastating cuts to schools, public safety and other important services that serve the public.

We pay elected officials to make tough choices. Conway has shown she’s unwilling or unable to make the choices that will move our state forward. Here’s a “No” that Conway should have to hear from taxpayers if she continues to obstruct solutions to our state budget crisis: No paycheck for politicians who don’t do their jobs.

Health Care

From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend

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by California Labor Federation Communications Organizer Rebecca Greenberg

Most of us are familiar with the popular bumper sticker, “Labor Unions – The folks who brought you the weekend.” And yes, unions did play a pivotal role in the creation of the five-day work week. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Over the last 170 years, labor unions have done a whole lot more than just establishing the weekend. We’ve effectively served as the first line of defense against the corporations and politicians that seek to exploit working class families. We’ve fought tirelessly for better treatment for workers from all walks of life. And we’ve won some major victories along the way on issues that affect working families every day.

From improved wages to safer working conditions to fairness and equality in the workplace, the policies championed by labor unions benefit all working families, regardless as to whether they themselves belong to a union.

Most of Labor’s major accomplishments have become so engrained in our daily lives that it’s hard to imagine a time without them. In honor of May Day, which is celebrated around the world as International Workers’ Day, here are just a few of the hard-fought victories of the labor movement that we often take for granted:

Child labor laws. Nowadays, the idea of young children working in dangerous and hazardous conditions is uniformly appalling, but as recently as the early 20th century, child labor was all too commonplace.  In 1881, the very first American Federation of Labor (AFL) national convention passed a resolution calling on states to ban children under 14 from all gainful employment, which motivated states to take action and pass child labor policies, and that led up to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act – the first federal law in the nation to prohibit child labor.

Occupational health and safety. Prior to 1970, firefighters, mineworkers, those who work around dangerous chemicals and just about everyone else had absolutely no health and safety protections at work. But all that changed when labor unions successfully urged President Nixon — a conservative Republican — to sign the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the first comprehensive federal legislation that regulates safety in the workplace. OSHA has provided the basis for more reforms in occupational health, including mine safety laws and standards for workers who are exposed to toxic chemicals. Unions continue to work daily to enforce OSHA’s regulations, and also to expand and refine safe protections for all workers.

The eight-hour day. During the industrial revolution of the late 1800’s, workers often toiled for 14 or 16 hours at a stretch with no overtime pay. In May of 1886, a labor strike for the eight-hour day led to the now infamous Haymarket Square riot, where striking workers lost their lives standing up for the core labor ideal of “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what we will.” Workers and unions fought for decades for this basic right, and the eight-hour day finally became reality for all workers in 1938 with the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Here in California, we succeeded in securing a strong daily overtime law, and we continue every day to fight to protect this basic right.

Health care. Up until the mid-2oth century, employer-provided health care was incredibly rare, but all that changed thanks to the labor movement. In 1943, the National War Labor Board (a coalition of unions) declared employer contributions for health insurance to be tax free, which encourages companies to offer health-insurance packages to attract workers. By 1950, “half of all companies with fewer than 250 workers and two-thirds of all companies with more than 250 workers offered health insurance of one kind or another.” Today, most workers are covered under employer-provided health care, and we’re a healthier nation because of it. But the fight against greedy insurance companies is far from over. Unions are constantly advocating for more affordable and accessible health care for all, and were instrumental in the passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2009.

Minimum wage. Gone are the days of working for nothing.The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established a minimum wage (back then it was 25 cents an hour), and unions have fought year after year to raise that minimum wage to a living wage that keeps workers out of poverty. Labor is still fighting to reform the minimum wage so that it increases at the rate of inflation. In California, labor lobbied for and succeeded in passing a two-step minimum wage increase, which bumped California’s minimum wage up to $8/hour — $1.50 higher than the federal minimum wage.

Workplace equality. Unions played a major role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Title VII, which prohibits discrimination by employers or unions on the basis of race, national origin, color, religion or gender. Fairness and equality in the workplace continues to be a focal issue for unions in California and around the country, who continually fight for workplace fairness and equal opportunities for minorities, immigrants, the disabled, members of the LGBT community and others who are disenfranchised and discriminated against in the workplace.

Unemployment Insurance, Social Security and the Safety Net. As early as the 1830’s, unions – not the government — first began the practice of providing unemployment assistance to jobless workers. In the early 20th century, UI legislation started cropping up in dozens of states, and served as the impetus for the Social Security Act of 1935, which established a uniform system of unemployment insurance, and also provides aid to dependent children and rehabilitation for the physically disabled. Labor is still on the front lines every day, defending Social Security and the safety net from right-wing attacks.

Family and Medical Leave. Balancing work and family has never been easy, and as more women enter the workforce, that balancing act becomes even tougher – which is why labor staunchly advocates for new family-friendly workplace policies. In 1993, we passed the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, allowing parents to take time off to care for a new baby without risking losing their jobs. Here in California, we took the notion once step further and in 2005, we became the first state in the nation to pass a Paid Family Leave law, which allows workers to take that time off without losing all of their income. Never ones to rest on our laurels, we continue to fight to pass Paid Sick Days legislation, which would allow all Californians to accrue guaranteed sick leave.

Higher wages. Unions raise the minimum wage standard for all workers, and non-union employers are compelled to offer comparable wages and benefits in order to attract the best and brightest. In fact, at the time when most Americans belonged to a union — a period of time between the 1940′s and 1950′s — income inequality in the U.S. was at its lowest point in the history of the country.  To this day, the labor movement continues to fight to raise the minimum wage so it keeps up with the rate of inflation, which helps union and non-union workers alike. when unions are strong, it forces other employers to match wages. So, they actually increase the pay and improve benefits for non-union workers too. In that way, unions help everyone…..blue collar, white collar, union and non-union.

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Remembering Cesar Chavez

by California Labor Federation Legislative Advocate Caitlin Vega

The Napa I grew up in is probably not the place you'd come to spend a long weekend winetasting. Real Napa, as we call it, is not glamorous or exclusive. In the old days, my dad says, “it used to be a place where poor kids could grow up in the country.”  Today, even with the fancy restaurants and expensive tourist shops, Napa is still an agricultural town at heart, which means it is a farmworker community.

The wineries that have made Napa famous are also workplaces. The workers in the vineyards work long hours in freezing cold and sweltering heat. Most have no health care and no pension. Wages are low and workers are often paid piece rate.

Farmworkers are routinely exposed to dangerous pesticides. The cancer rate is very high, as are birth defects among the children whose mothers work in the fields. Heat stress has caused not only serious illness, but also deaths.

But it hasn't always been this way. My mother-in-law, Emma, started working as a farmworker at the age of 19. The daughter of a bracero, she joined her father in Napa to work beside him in the fields.

A few years in, everything changed. A young organizer named Cesar Chavez came to town. At first workers were scared but they were soon inspired to make a better life by joining the farmworkers union.  As longtime worker advocate Aurelio Hurtado recalls, “He had a simple message: we're people and are not afraid of anything when it comes to our future. We're here to work, not to beg.”  

When Emma tells me the stories, her face lights up and she says, “me encanta con la union.” She loves the union. Throughout her 35 years working in the vineyards, my mother-in-law and her compañeras rode buses up and down the state to wave their union flags in support of labor organizing and union boycotts.

Because she had a union, Emma was able to work for one employer for three decades. She was able to buy a home and provide security for her son. She worked ten hour days, six days a week, but she had health benefits, a small retirement, and job security. And because she had a union, she felt she was part of a movement to make conditions better for all workers.

But joining a union is no easy matter. Over 92 percent of employers conduct anti-union campaigns, 75 percent hold one on one meetings to discourage workers from unionizing, and 25 percent fire workers for organizing. This intimidation is much more intense in the fields, where workers have few other options and are often the sole support for their extended families in Mexico. In addition, many workers fear immigration consequences and are fearful to speak out about abuses or demand their rights. 

That's why farmworkers need a better way to organize. SB 104 would protect the right of farmworkers to join a union. Under this bill, workers could decide for themselves whether or not to join a union without the threat of losing their job or facing deportation. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed this bill year after year, leaving farmworkers with little hope of improving their lives. 

You hear a lot these days about “union bosses.” The whole notion is kind of funny, since union leaders are democratically elected by their members — it's actually the other side that's got all the bosses. But on Cesar Chavez day, I am reminded that real leadership is about empowering people to believe in themselves.

My mother-in-law is soft-spoken and sweet, but put her on a picket line and she is transformed. To me, that's what Cesar Chavez stood for, and it's what our labor movement is all about. All workers, especially farmworkers, deserve the right to join this movement.