What Gives, Gavin?
Governor Vetoes a Whopping 8 Trades-Backed Bills, But Solidarity Remains on the Rise
Among California Union Members
Larry Mazzola Jr. is not happy following the end of the California Legislature’s session in September.
“It was a bad session for us,” said the U.A. Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 38 business manager and San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council president.
What’s drawn the longtime local labor leader’s ire are primarily the actions of Governor Gavin Newsom, who vetoed several building-trades-supported bills that had passed and would have directly benefited workers.
Why the vetoes, which run anywhere from prevailing wages and office to residential conversions to autonomous vehicle regulations, are anyone’s guess. A look at the relatively scant statements issued by Newsom following his vetoes offers few clues.
SF Building Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Rudy Gonzalez called some of the vetoes “a gut-check” for the trades. But he also offered a more optimistic view: The effort to get the doomed bills to the governor’s desk saw some of the biggest displays of solidarity and cooperation in recent memory among the members of the building trades, its erstwhile allies the carpenters, and other parties, he said.
“I think that the work that went into some of those bills — even though they were vetoed — sets the framework for the next session around how we have these negotiations,” Gonzalez said. “The fact that labor was unified and not at each other’s throats is also a huge improvement.”
Leadership from the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) was also measured in its response.
“Our bill package was designed to create opportunities for our members and provide solutions to real issues facing our affiliates,” said SBCTC President Chris Hannan in a statement. “Despite the governor’s vetoes, the fact that these bills made it through the legislative process is a testament to their value. Moving forward, we recognize the continued need for these ideas and are committed to reintroducing them when the timing is right.”
But while there’s hope for the future, it’s the most recent session that stings. Here’s a look at key takeaways from the governor’s pen.
AB 3068, the Office-to-Housing Conversion Act: Vetoed
Of all the bills vetoed, the death of Assembly Bill 3068 might be the most surprising. SF Assemblymember Matt Haney’s bill would have fast-tracked the conversion of office buildings to housing in downtown areas statewide. San Francisco’s housing shortage is countered with an office vacancy rate of 34%.
The SBCTC worked closely with Haney on amendments reflecting agreements on labor standards for construction workers between the SBCTC and the NorCal Carpenters Union. According to the SBCTC, the agreements provide construction workers with wages, benefits, and health-and-safety protections on these projects.
“I was left a little flabbergasted because the governor’s veto on the office-to-residential housing conversion bill that Haney ran not only had a smart policy attached to it, but it represented compromise and consensus among labor for the first time in a long time, notably between the NorCal Carpenters and the State Building Trades,” Gonzalez said.
When asked for comment regarding the reasons for his veto, Newsom’s office referred to an earlier statement in which the governor had said, “The proposed compliance and enforcement mechanisms for labor standards, including the issuance of stop-work orders for any violations, represent a significant expansion beyond existing law,” and questioned if the enforcement of such standards would make projects “financially unviable.”
That reasoning doesn’t cut it for Mazzola, whose top concern is to secure work for his members — not to mention to ensure that strong skilled-and-trained language remains on the books.
“All of these housing bills and conversion bills need to have strong labor protections in them,” Mazzola said. “If they don’t, we’re not supporting them.”
ABs 3160 and 3190: Vetoed
AB 3160 (Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino) would have provided $500 million in enhanced state housing credits through 2030. AB 3190 (Haney) would have subjected housing tax credits to prevailing wage requirements, including the enhanced credits in AB 3160.
The governor vetoed AB 3160, rendering AB 3190 moot.
“Such decisions should be considered within the broader context of the state budget to ensure our collective priorities and financial commitments are balanced over both the short and long term,” Newsom said in a statement.
AB 2182, SBs 983 and 984: Vetoed
AB 2182 (Haney) would have strengthened prevailing wage requirements and enforcement and applied them to a public works project rather than the single- and double-asterisk system currently in statute.
Senate Bill 983 (Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont) would have required the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to form the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Taskforce to study retail gasoline fueling stations and alternative fuels infrastructure.
Meanwhile, SB 984 (Wahab) would have required the California State University and the Judicial Council of California to identify and select a minimum of three major construction projects over $35 million to be built under a project labor agreement.
All three pieces of legislation were sponsored by the SBCTC and vetoed by Newsom.
Gonzalez, for one, was surprised by some of the language in Newsom’s veto messages.
“The governor is regurgitating really anti-construction-union talking points and myths that we’ve debunked for years, which is that if you use union labor on projects, it leads to increased costs,” he said.
ABs 2286 and 3061: Vetoed
Together known as the CARS (California Automotive Regulatory Standards) package, AB 2286 would have required human operators in any vehicle over 10,000 pounds, and AB 3061 would have increased accident reporting and transparency requirements for companies operating autonomous vehicles. Both bills enjoyed a long list of bipartisan cosponsors in the state assembly. The teamsters strongly supported both bills.
The CARS package was vetoed in its entirety by Newsom.
“The teamsters are incredibly disappointed by the veto of these two bills,” according to a joint statement from Teamsters Joint Councils 7 and 42. “The vast majority of Californians oppose unregulated, unaccountable driverless cars and trucks on our roads. A regulatory framework that ignores this reality does not benefit the people of California — the millions who want good middle-class jobs and safe streets, the people that our state government is bound by duty to serve. Such a framework only benefits a handful of billionaires in the tech industry.”
Not a Complete Bust
Though Newsom’s veto-happy closeout of the legislative session was disappointing — if not outright infuriating — there were some wins for labor to hang a hat on.
The governor signed SBCTC-sponsored AB 1413 (Phil Ting, D-San Francisco) and AB 1243 (Bill Dodd, D-Napa).
Ting’s bill provides a fix to AB 1633, which allows developers to sue to circumvent the CEQA process if they disagree with the agency’s decision that environmental review or further studies are necessary to mitigate the housing project’s impacts. Dodd’s bill makes various changes to a state law called the Levine Act, which restricts campaign contributions.
“SB 1243 allows those dues-funded organizations who wish to participate in the political process to not be restrained by state law limiting contributions and curtailing the freedom of speech of their members,” according to an SBCTC statement.
The teamsters also enjoyed a couple of victories with AB 2754 (Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood) and SB 399 (Wahab). AB 2754 closes a loophole allowing drayage companies to continue misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors. Customers who hire bad actors in the industry will now be held jointly liable for the practice.
“Employers that misclassify drivers cheat workers while ripping off their competition and every taxpayer in the state,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters vice-president at-large and president of Joint Council 42, in a statement. “AB 2754 will help ensure that those who follow the law are not undercut by those who thrive on greed and abuse.”
SB 399 bans forced attendance at captive audience meetings, employer-sponsored presentations filled with anti-union propaganda designed to discourage organizing efforts. This is a big win for labor statewide.
“Captive audience meetings are nothing but a tool for greedy corporations to coerce workers through fear and intimidation,” said Peter Finn, Teamsters Western Region International vice-president and president of Joint Council 7, in a statement. “This is a major victory for free speech, workers’ rights on the job, and the American labor movement.”