https://teamster.org/2022/10/newsom-signs-teamster-backed-bill-cracking-down-on-union-busting/?link_id=26&can_id=676680e690ebef04ff7b58faa7b3f94f&source=email-steve-bannon-publicly-threatens-dr-faucis-family&email_referrer=email_1716556&email_subject=steve-bannon-publicly-threatens-dr-faucis-family
Newsom Signs Teamster-Backed Bill Cracking Down on Union Busting
2022.10.14
Calif. Public Sector Workers Now Will Have Added Protections to Organize on
the Job
(SAN FRANCISCO)
Teamsters Joint Council 7 is lauding California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent
signing of groundbreaking legislation that will significantly increase
enforcement of labor laws prohibiting union busting in the public sector.
Senate Bill 931 was principally sponsored by the California Teamsters Public
Affairs Council and co-sponsored by the California Labor Federation, SEIU
State Council, and AFSCME California.
The new law imposes significant penalties on public employers for unlawfully
attempting to deter or discourage employees from joining or participating in
a union. It cracks down on some public employers that have illegally, and
repeatedly, sent out anti-union communications to existing bargaining units
or workers attempting to organize by creating a substantial penalty of $1,000
per affected employee for violating the law, while also allowing a prevailing
union to recover attorney’s fees.
“Public employees serve their communities and they deserve to be treated with
dignity and respect at work,” said Teamsters General President Sean M.
O’Brien. “California is taking a step in the right direction by cracking down
on illegal union busting, and there’s opportunity for more states to follow
this model to protect workers from predatory employers.”
“This is a historic win for countless workers who want to join a union to win
better pay and benefits, and fair treatment at work,” said Jason Rabinowitz,
President of Joint Council 7. “For decades, greedy employers have run
roughshod over workers’ rights, engaging in illegal union-busting activity
because our labor laws have no teeth. SB 931 helps end this injustice, for
the first time creating meaningful penalties that protect workers. We hope
other states and Congress will follow California’s lead to protect workers’
rights to form a union everywhere.”
Under prior rules, even when the Public Employment Relations Board sided with
the union, its only remedy was to issue a cease-and-desist order requiring an
employer to post notice of its violations.
SB 931 is now the model for public sector labor law enforcement in other
states and for efforts to strengthen federal labor law by creating
significant financial penalties for unfair labor practices committed by
employers.
Teamsters Joint Council 7 represents more than 100,000 members in 20 local
unions in 48 counties of Northern California, the Central Valley and 14
Northern Nevada counties.
