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Issues and Legislation
Working families in California have been devastated by the Great Recession.
First the private sector collapsed in the wake of the foreclosure freefall, and then the public sectorcrumbled under the deepest cuts we’ve ever seen. Jobs have disappeared, home values haveplummeted, and services have been decimated. In a few short years, millions of families have lost the security that took decades to build.
2012 is the year to invest in California’s future. We will win new revenue to stabilize our economy and rebuild this state. We will confront the growth in contingent work that is eroding basic worker protections. We will get Californians back to work, keep families in their homes, and restore benefits to injured workers.
The Labor Movement will not give up on the California Dream. If we invest in California’s future, we can repair this state, restore economic fairness, and rebuild the middle class.
May 2012 Budget Revise
Governor Brown’s May Revise of the 2012-13 budget presents the stark reality that the deficit has increased and additional revenue is critical to stave off devastating cuts to education and public safety programs. In January 2012, the state faced a budget shortfall of $9.2 billion. The May Revision estimates a shortfall that has increased to $15.7 billion as a result of reduced revenue collections and prevention of some cuts by the courts and the federal government.
Legislative White Papers
The California Labor Federation has produced a series of White Papers on pressing policy issues impacting union members and the middle class in 2012. Topics include Job Creation, Contingent Work, the Health Benefit Exchange, Unemployment Insurance and Workers' Compensation.
Workers’ Compensation Reform: Undoing the Damage of Schwarzenegger’s Rules
Over ten years ago, California’s employers began to report a substantial rise in the cost of workers’ compensation premiums. Insurers, citing a variety of cost drivers, simply responded with additional increases. The volume of complaints eventually attracted legislative attention and in 2002 and 2003, former Governor Gray Davis signed two sweeping reform packages that forced new rules for medical treatment of injured workers.
Invest in California —California Labor’s Plan for Good Jobs
Californians are—and always have been— visionaries who see no limit to our future. The world looks to us for leadership and we must take that responsibility
seriously. Budget cuts, dwindling investment and a lack of vision for the future have imperiled California’s economy. We cannot cut our way to the future. The way to grow our economy and create good jobs is to invest in California again.
That means investing in the workers of the future—our kids— by giving them the kind of public education that creates the innovative workforce we need to compete in the 21st century. It means investing in worker training today that will give our workers the edge they need to compete. It means raising the revenue to invest in world-class infrastructure—roads, bridges and mass transit—and innovating clean energy technology. It means creating high quality jobs in high road industries that make California a good place to do business and a good place to raise a family.
2012 Legislative Agenda
Labor's 2012 Legislative Agenda focuses on seven key issues: building high-speed rail in California, stopping corporate wage thieves, cutting waste, fraud and abuse in enterprise zone tax giveaways, ensuring corporate fair share for workers' health care, restoring benefits to injured workers, ending discrimination against the unemployed, and stopping foreclosures on families in loan modification.
Build High-Speed Rail in California
The high-speed rail line will bring immediate economic stimulus and long-term economic growth. It will result in thousands of good new jobs in construction and operations, attract businesses to California, and benefit the environment. We cannot afford to lose this opportunity.
Stop Corporate Wage Thieves
Companies that follow state laws shouldn’t have to compete with those that cheat their employees. Today, companies are increasingly using third party labor contractors, like staffing and temporary agencies, to avoid responsibility for wages, hours, and working conditions. We must close loopholes that allow employers to shift and shirk their responsibilities to their workers.
Cut Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Enterprise Zone Tax Giveaways
Every year, the state spends over $500 million on the ineffective enterprise zone tax giveaway program. This program has been proven to create no new jobs. In fact, companies can get these tax credits even if they lay off existing workers to relocate where labor is cheaper. That’s an outrageous use of taxpayer funds and it must be stopped.