Opinion: New California labor law could have unwanted consequences
A cook preps food restaurant in South Lake Tahoe File photo by Salgu Wissmath CalMatters This column was originally published by CalMatters Sign up for their newsletters The California Legislature has a bad habit of writing new law in the moment and paying little or no attention to its prospective consequences While legislative history contains plenty of examples the the greater part spectacular occurred three decades ago when legislators and then-Gov Pete Wilson massively overhauled how electricity is generated distributed and priced telling consumers it would make power more affordable and reliable The real world impact was just the opposite Power became less reliable prices skyrocketed and the state s investor-owned utilities were pushed into insolvency Other examples of unintended consequences in California include launching a bullet train project without comprehensive construction or financial plans sharply increasing population employee pensions without considering costs and doing the same with unemployment insurance benefits One could also add the current practice of draining emergency reserves to cover budget deficits that impact from overestimating revenues and underestimating spending leaving the state s finances vulnerable to an inevitable economic downturn Then there is Assembly Bill one of multiple measures the Legislature dominated by Democrats and Gov Gavin Newsom have passed in fresh years to thwart or so they hope President Donald Trump AB sponsored by California labor unions and carried by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor an Inglewood Democrat expands the authority of California s Inhabitants Employment Relations Board which oversees union-management exercises in state and local governments and school districts to include private sector employment The bill aims for the Population Employee Relations Board or PERB to step into the role performed for a great number of decades by the National Labor Relations Board because McKinnor and other advocates maintain the NLRB is frozen by a dispute over its membership Early this year Trump removed Dwynne Wilcox the NLRB s chair leaving the board without a quorum and unable to decide pending cases Trump s action is being fought in the courts Well I ll just say that if we have no board no quorum no board no justice to state workers for state workers McKinnor narrated the state Senate Judiciary Committee just before AB passed And so we need to make sure that you know that PERB can hear these cases because if there s no forum for workers to resolve unfair labor practices then where do they stand What do we do for them We can t just leave them out in the cold because the NLRB doesn t have a quorum We also can have loss of union protections like bargaining rights organizing protections and reinstatement after retaliation And so we can t have our workers unprotected because employers will take advantage of that Private employer groups opposed the measure contending the existence of the NLRB even though it s stymied preempts a state from usurping federal authority Generally states can legislate on labor relations only in economic sectors not covered by federal law That s why a half-century ago California could create the general employment board and the Agricultural Labor Relations Board to oversee employment on farms and in food processing plants The NLRB and interests that opposed AB are suing in federal court contending that the ordinance is illegal under federal law AB represents a potentially disruptive even dangerous precedent Were it to survive the legal challenge every state would be free to create its own set of laws governing unionization of workers Blue states such as California could virtually mandate unionization of private sector employees as it already has for residents employees and farm workers Meanwhile red states could virtually prohibit unions from organizing workers to make the states more attractive to industry and insulated from NLRB oversight even if Democrats regain the White House Balkanizing labor-management relations would create chaos in the national economic activity It also could potentially work to the overall disadvantage of union organizing efforts Do California s unions and their political allies really want to take that chance CalMatters is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable Want to submit a letter to the editor guest column or opinion piece Find our guidelines and submission form here
