Labor’s 2024 Legislative Priorities Reflect the Urgency to Shape the Future of Work for all Californians

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Labor's 2024 Legislative Priorities Reflect the Urgency to Shape the Future of Work for all Californians

California Labor Federation Sponsors Bills to Limit Job Loss from AI and Automation; Attach Labor Standards to Public Subsidies; Protect Essential Public Services and Service Workers; Protect Workers Exercising their Rights on the Job.

Sacramento, CA - (Wednesday, April 3, 2024) - The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO representing over 1,300 affiliated unions with over 2.3 million union members in California, has announced 17 sponsored bills for the 2024 state legislative session.

"Labor's agenda is focused on empowering workers to shape the future of work, instead of allowing corporations and tech companies to continue playing by their own rules and amass wealth while workers struggle to get by," said Lorena Gonzalez, Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation, representing 1,300 unions and 2.3 million union members. "Our legislative agenda reflects the priorities of our unions and of all working Californians. Workers must have a voice as technology changes the nature of our jobs and we should never let robots replace us. When we spend public money, we should invest in companies who invest in rebuilding our middle class, not low road companies that pay low wages, have high rates of worker injuries, misclassify or union bust. And, we must ensure our public sector is strong and public servants can continue to do their essential jobs."

Last session, the State Legislature passed many labor priority bills. Governor Newsom signed some into law, including one to expand the number of paid sick days from three to five a year and another to allow legislative staff to unionize. Fast food workers won a well-deserved pay increase, and the lowest-paid health care workers did as well. But a number of critical policy proposals bills were vetoed by the Governor, including ones that would have allowed striking workers to get unemployment benefits and require human drivers on-board self-driving trucks.

This year, the Federation will send bills back to the Governor's desk that our members need, and introduce new proposals that build worker power and grow the labor movement. Californians, writ large, reject a status quo of increasing inequality and the disappearance of good, high-paying, secure jobs. Working people are looking to our elected officials to stand with us in the fight to save good union jobs, bargain strong contracts, and make it easier to join unions across California.

The California Labor Federation is sponsoring the following legislative proposals:

• AB 2602 (KALRA) - WORKER CONTROL OVER THE USE OF THEIR DIGITAL LIKENESS

AB 2602 (Kalra) will prohibit contracts between a studio, individual, or any other party allowing the use of a digital replica of a performer's voice or likeness in place of in-person work unless the performer is represented by a union or legal counsel. The bill applies the same requirements to the use of a performer's voice and likeness to train a generative artificial intelligence system.

• SB 915 (CORTESE) - LOCAL REGULATION OF DRIVERLESS VEHICLES

SB 915 (Cortese) will protect jobs and public safety by giving local governments more control over the deployment of driverless commercial vehicles in their cities by requiring passage of an ordinance before they can operate locally.

• SB 1220 (LIMÓN) - BAN THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO REPLACE PUBLIC SECTOR CALL CENTER WORKERS

SB 1220 (Limón) will protect jobs and Californians in need by prohibiting state and local agencies from contracting out call centers that serve Californians using public services or benefits to firms that utilize artificial intelligence instead of California workers.

• AB 2286 (AGUIAR-CURRY) - HUMAN SAFETY OPERATORS ON DRIVERLESS TRUCKS

AB 2286 (Aguiar-Curry) will protect jobs and public safety by requiring a human safety operator (HSO) in any autonomous vehicles (AV) weighing over 10,000 pounds.

• SB 1446 (SMALLWOOD-CUEVAS) - RETAIL WORKER DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION AND STAFFING ACT

SB 1446 (Smallwood-Cuevas) will protect workers and the public by ensuring safe human staffing levels when retail stores have self-checkout. It will also put in place guardrails to prevent worker displacement and harm to workers and the public when retail employers adopt new AI-enabled check-out technology.

• CALIFORNIA COMPETES TRANSPARENCY

This bill will strengthen the California Competes Tax Credit by prioritizing quality job creation with community benefits and increasing transparency in the award process to ensure meaningful public participation and input.

• SB 1321 (WAHAB) - INCREASING ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PANEL

SB 1321 (Wahab) will update labor standards on Employment Training Panel funds by prioritizing high-quality training programs, requiring plans for targeted recruitment and hiring plans, and increasing transparency and data submission to support accountability of public funding.

• AB 938 (MURATSUCHI) - RAISE EDUCATION WORKER SALARIES

AB 938 (Muratsuchi) sets future school funding goals with the intent of raising the salaries of classified and certificated school workers to close the wage gap and improve recruitment and retention of school site staff.

• AB 2404 (LEE) - RIGHT TO RESPECT A PICKET LINE

AB 2404 (Lee) will protect a public employee's right to demonstrate solidarity with other workers by honoring a picket line during a labor strike.

• AB 2557 (ORTEGA) - ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING

AB 2557 (Ortega) increases accountability and transparency of public sector contracts by requiring private companies that provide services for local governments to submit reports detailing the cost of services, workforce data, performance reports, and progress toward contract objectives. Reports will be provided to the local governments to determine effectiveness and efficiency and allow for non-payment if contractors do not meet performance standards.

• AB 2489 (WARD) - EQUAL QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRACTED WORKERS

AB 2489 (Ward) requires private contractors that perform services for local public agencies to meet the minimum qualifications required of public sector employees.

• AB 2561 (MCKINNOR) - PUBLIC SECTOR VACANCY RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT PLANS

AB 2561 (McKinnor) protects jobs and the quality of public services by requiring local public agencies to develop, publish, and implement a plan to fill vacant positions when vacancy rates reach more than 10% for one bargaining unit in a six-month period.

• AB 2738 (L. RIVAS) - LIVE EVENT WORKER SAFETY ENFORCEMENT

AB 2738 (L. Rivas) will expand the tools available to public enforcement agencies to ensure worker health and safety training requirements for live events at public venues are met.

• SB 399 (WAHAB) - BAN CAPTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS

SB 399 (Wahab) will protect workers from facing adverse action if they choose not to participate in an employer's meeting about politics or religion unrelated to their job. It does not limit the employer's ability to speak on any topic; it merely protects individuals' fundamental right of freedom of thought against efforts by employers to misuse their authority over employees by requiring employees to listen to speech concerning core matters of individual conscience.

• SB 1116 (PORTANTINO) - UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR STRIKING WORKERS

SB 1116 (Portantino) will help workers make ends meet and protect them from going into debt by making workers who are on strike eligible for Unemployment Insurance benefits (UI).

• SB 1303 (CABALLERO) - THIRD PARTY LABOR COMPLIANCE ACCOUNTABILITY
  SB 1303 (Caballero) will increase accountability of for-profit labor compliance entities hired by public agencies for the monitoring and enforcement of prevailing wage laws on public works projects.
• AB 2288 (Kalra) - STRENGTHEN LABOR LAW ENFORCEMENT This bill will add injunctive relief to the Private Attorneys General Act so workers whose rights are being violated can stop the illegal behavior.

The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO represents over 1,300 affiliated unions in California with over 2.3 million union members in trucking, retail, hospitality, janitorial, construction, health care, local and state government, education, arts and entertainment, warehousing and logistics, manufacturing, and a variety of other sectors.

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