Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Siblings:
For the last eight months, the Labor Movement has been dominating the headlines significantly and working diligently with our California Labor Federation President, Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher to advance legislation to protect and improve working conditions statewide.
As the legislature came to a close last week, there is a significant number of bills crossing Governor Newsom’s desk. Among the most significant bills is SB 799 written by Senator Anthony Portantino to grant unemployment
benefits to striking workers who have been on strike for at least two weeks.
Other significant bills for labor during this legislative session include:
• AB 1228 by Assemblymember Chris Holden to raise fast food wages to $20 an hour.
• SB 616 by Senator Lena Gonzalez bill will allow workers to have a minimum of five paid sick days – from the current requirement of three.
• SB 525 by Senator Maria Elena Durazo will raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour for the heroes working in healthcare, including janitors, security guards, launderers and other workers.
• SB 686 by Senator Durazo will require health and safety protections of household staff, including housekeepers, nannies, and other staff.
• AB 316 by Assembly Members Laura Friedman and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry will require driverless trucks to have a human safety driver.
• AB 1 by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor will allow legislative staffers (who work in the legislature) to organize unions.
• AB 459 by Assemblymember Ash Kalra will grant protections to Entertainment Workers, including actors and artists, a way to nullify provisions in vague contracts that allow studios and other companies to use artificial intelligence to replicate the voice, face, and bodies.
As jobs and technology continue to evolve post-pandemic, the laws in our current system need to provide critical protections. We thank assembly members for championing bills that impact working families and urge Governor Newsom to sign these landmark bills that will impact millions of workers in California. We look forward to making sure these bills cross the floor.
–Yvonne Wheeler, President of the LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
By Communications Department ● Sep 22, 2023
Smart Brevity® count: 13 mins…3477 words
Hello and welcome to Machinists on the Hill, a twice-monthly roundup of legislative advocacy on behalf of IAM members. The following covers:
• End Corporate Handouts for Union Busting
• IAM Mourns Passing of Retired Legislative and Political Action Director William Holayter
• The Toll of Government Shutdowns on Space Coast Workers
• Protect Rail Workers
• IAM Rail Division Rallies to Stop GOP’s Amtrak Funding Cuts
• IAM Healthcare Applauds Biden-Harris Administration’s Release of Nursing Home Staffing Proposal
• NFFE-IAM Wildland Firefighters Blitz Capitol Hill to Keep Vital Workforce Intact
• Kentucky State Council of Machinists Endorses Gov. Andy Beshear for Reelection
• USVI Waste Management, Hospital Workers Angry at Government
• IAM Rejects Weakening ERISA Preemption
• 680 Groups Reject the Chaos of a Government Shutdown
• Support Grows for Whitaker as FAA Administrator
The Legislative Committee working with our union and state representatives during the California Legislative Conference 2023.
District Lodge 142 has sent our local this endorsement sample ballot.
LL 1932 2022_SAMPLE_RUNOFF Endorsement BALLOT (2
Our Congressman John Lewis recently passed away and was a great Civil Rights Leader.
Pre Convention Endorsement Conference 2019 with GVP Gary Allen and the legislative Committee of Local Lodge 1932 at the California Labor Federation Pre-Primary in Los Angeles Sheraton Hotel.
