There are a number of critical bills this legislative term that protect union and worker rights in these challenging times.
Assembly Bill 1340 (Wicks), Transportation Network Company Drivers, would allow rideshare drivers to unionize. SEIU said that more than 600,000 ride-hail drivers statewide would benefit if the legislation is adopted and signed into law. The bill has been referred to the Appropriations Committee.
A voter-approved ballot measure in Massachusetts was the first state measure to give app-based drivers the right to collective bargaining.
AB 5 which took effect in 2020 would have entitled app-based workers to unemployment benefits, minimum wage and more. But gig companies fought it in court and poured more than $200 million into Prop. 22. Voters approved the ballot measure to keep gig workers as independent contractors without the rights that employees enjoy. AB 1340 is needed to give rideshare drivers more rights on the job.
During the first weeks of his administration, Donald Trump fired Democratic appointed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member, Gwynne Wilcox, depriving the board of a quorum and halting its ability to decide cases. Though hearings were still held, any decisions by administrative law judges that were appealed to the full board were effectively frozen.
AB 288 (McKinnor) aims to expand the jurisdiction of the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to cover workers if the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is repealed or narrowed so that it no longer covers a certain type of work or industry or if the NLRB is unable to carry out its duties because it lacks a quorum or funding or if legal challenges make it impossible for the NLRB to continue to prosecute cases.
AB 288 gives the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) the power to certify union elections, decide on complaints of unfair labor practices, and fine employers if workers have already filed their cases with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), but have not received a timely response or remedy.
The bill permits a worker or their chosen representative to petition the state PERB if more than 6 months have elapsed since the worker or their representative has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB where 1) the worker already filed a representation petition seeking a union election; 2) the employer has refused to recognize a union or to bargain with the union after union certification or if the employer bargains in bad faith; 3) the worker or their representative has engaged in first contract bargaining for over 6 months without a collective bargaining agreement; or 4) the employer retaliates against workers, whether union or nonunion, who engage in protected concerted activity. The worker can also seek an order from the PERB to require the employer to participate in binding mediation.
AB 1109 (Kalra) would establish a privilege between a union agent and a represented employee or former employee that is similar to the attorney-client, physician-patient, and psychotherapist-patient evidentiary privilege and that permits the union agent to refuse to disclose any confidential communication between the employee or former employee and the union agent while the union representative was acting in the union agent’s representative capacity. The privilege would not apply in criminal proceedings. The bill was referred to the Appropriations Committee.
There are also several bills this term aimed at deterring wage theft. These bills are currently in the Appropriations Committee.
AB 1234 would overhaul the Labor Commission procedures to ensure timely enforcement by requiring employers to respond to claims, penalize bad faith delays, and allow for default judgments when employers fail to appear or respond to claims.
AB 485 prohibits employers with state licenses or permits from obtaining or renewing the licenses or permits if wage theft judgments are not paid.
SB 261 (Wahab) provides for triple damages if a wage theft judgment is not paid within 6 months and requires the Labor Commission to publish transparent public information about unpaid wage theft judgments. This bill would require the Labor Commission to post a copy of the Order, Decision, or Award (ODA) on its internet website no later than 15 days after the time to appeal from the ODA has expired and no appeal is pending.
SB 355 (Perez) aims to deter unpaid wage theft judgments by requiring the Labor Commission to notify the Employment Development Department (EDD) of potential payroll tax fraud within 60 days of an unpaid final wage theft judgment.
It is important for the Governor to sign these bills in order to ensure that app-based workers can join unions, that state laws protect union rights when workers are deprived of a functioning NLRB, and that workers can collect wage theft judgments.
Ruth Silver Taube is the Supervising Attorney of the Workers’ Rights Practice at the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center at Santa Clara University School of Law, Coordinator of the Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition, Legal Services Provider Co-Chair of the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking, a delegate to the Santa Clara County’s Human Trafficking Commission, and the Supervising Attorney of the Santa Clara County Office of Labor Standards Legal Advice Line. Before law school, she was a journeyman machinist, President of International Association of Machinists Local 547, and Senior Field Representative for SEIU Local 535. She previously taught at Njala University in Sierra Leone with CUSO, the Canadian Peace Corps.
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