CA Labor Fed's 2019 Joint Legislative Conference

...another one in the record books

Last week was the California State Labor Federation’s Joint Legislative Conference in Sacramento. North Bay Labor Council Executive Director Jack Buckhorn and me (Maddy Hirshfield, Political Director of the Council) attended. Also with us were delegates Ever Flores, Healdsburg Teachers Association; Keith Dias, Sheet Metal Workers Local 104; Tom Brandon, IAMAW 1596; and Chris Snyder, Operating Engineers, Local 3. We were also honored to be joined by Santa Rosa City Councilmember Victoria Fleming who simply wanted to be there to absorb as much as she could so she might be an even better councilmember than she’s already off to becoming. There were several other brothers and sisters from the North Bay area there to round out our attendance.

What is the Labor Fed Jt. Legislative Conference

The Joint Legislative Conference is an annual gathering of Central Labor Councils throughout the state where Labor brothers and sisters join forces to hone their skills on the fight for worker’s rights as well as get the latest intel on bills and issues important to working people.

Briefings were held on Labor’s 2019 Legislative Agenda and other important issues including – but not limited to – housing, childcare, charter schools, and fighting to keep workers safe on the job.

At dinner Monday evening Legislators who received 100% on their Labor Score Card for the 2018 legislative session were honored, as well as work done by Councils in last year’s elections. Along with several other Labor Councils, the North Bay Labor Council received an Outstanding Performance Award. We worked hard and had some very exciting successes.

Thank you to our Legislators with 100% voting record

Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood both were recognized for their 100% score card on their votes in 2018. We’re pretty lucky here in the North Bay to have legislators who believe in the Labor Movement. We have three other representatives at the state level who represent some part of our 4-county area and the lowest score among them was 93%. Believe me that’s exceptional. There are parts of the state where, the best Legislator gets 18%. We’re fortunate and we also work very hard to make sure we elect candidates who will do right by working people.

Inspiring women in the Labor Movement

We were treated to amazing speakers featured at lunch and dinner on Monday. Most notably was the keynote speech given at lunch by powerhouse, Sara Nelson. Sara is the International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. Imagine the sweet, demure flight attendant on your last flight, bringing you drinks and peanuts…yeah, that’s not Sara.

Ms. Nelson proceeded to knock everyone’s socks off with an impassioned speech recalling how the recent government shutdown – that she’s been credited with bringing to an end – impacted air travel and those who work in the industry. How safety was a major concern for people like Sara and others counting on air traffic controllers and screeners to keep us all safe in the skies. She spoke of 9/11 and the friends she lost in that horrendous, terrorist attack. At one point, she needed, and asked for, a moment to collect herself. In a room packed with several hundred people, all you could hear was the air softly rushing through the large hotel ballroom where we were seated. Everyone was transfixed by her story, her delivery and her passion. The natural impulse was to want her to run for public office. So when I ran into her later, I took the opportunity to ask. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time and won’t be the last but I had to know if she’d given public office any consideration. She told me she thought the power was in the Labor Movement and that’s where she would likely stay. These are the kind of awesome people one meets in the House of Labor.

Later that day, the keynote speaker at dinner was our own US Senator and Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris. Yet another ‘knock your socks off” speech. The Senator was brief enough that when she was done I heard myself saying something I don’t believe I’ve ever said about a politician before but, “that was just too short.” I, and I'm sure others in the room, were left wanting to hear more too.

Senator Harris was inspiring and gave the feeling of someone who just might be our next president. She was sharp and easily relatable. Informative and relaxed. Made a firm statement on the issues and quick with a smile or a laugh. I’m still looking at all the candidates lining up to be our next president, that said, it’s hard not to be excited about your own Senator. Especially when it’s Kamala Harris. She told us she grew up with a mother who was all of 5 feet tall. When Kamala was upset about anything as a kid, her mother’s constant refrain was, “What are you going to do about it?” “So that’s why I’m running for president” she said. She really does make you believe she really could “do something about that.” And what a relief (to put it mildly) that would be after the horror of what we’ve been dealing with since 2016. Hell, it would just be nice to have a President who speaks in complete and coherent sentences.

Moving on to Lobby Day

Completing the Legislative Conference experience, the second day was spent lobbying our Legislators. We visited with Senator McGuire, Senator Bill Dodd, Assemblyman Jim Wood (staff), Assemblywoman Cecelia Aguiar-Curry, and Assemblyman Marc Levine. We had a list of bills to talk about but there were three priorities:

AB 5 (Gonzalez) is the Dynamex bill you’ve probably been hearing about – dealing with the misclassification of employees as “independent contractors.” When this happens, these workers lose basic protections such as minimum wage, workers compensation, unemployment insurance and the right to join a union. The Dynamex decision was handed down by the State Supreme Court last year. AB 5 codifies this law and clarifies who it covers.

AB 378 (Limon) would give childcare workers the right to join together in unions to raise wages, win benefits, improve services and strengthen their communities. Several childcare workers were with us to tell their personal stories. Traditionally, childcare workers are low wage earners and not seen as the essential part of the educational system that they are. California simply must invest in an educational system that prioritizes early childhood development and fortunately Governor Newsom has made this a high priority for his administration. That said, in order to have childcare be treated with the importance it deserves, we have to elevate the people who do this important work.

Housing & Good Jobs There are several bills going through the Legislature this year related to housing and good paying jobs. We were able to bring personal stories to our Legislators to demonstrate how this has a direct impact on the lives of those in the room and those they serve. The reality is, wages are simply not keeping pace with the cost of housing. The State must invest in the need for housing and use the opportunity to create good jobs with a path to a middle class income. We asked our Legislators to stand with Labor in calling for all housing to be built with prevailing wage, a skilled and trained workforce with an emphasis on access to career opportunities for disadvantaged and underserved populations. We cannot address our housing crisis without also addressing income inequality.

As mentioned, our local representatives are pretty good on all these issues. Having experience as a legislative staffer, I understand it’s difficult to get a firm commitment on bills currently making their way through the process as they can change right up to the last minute. However, all 5 showed a definite preference for the bills for which we were advocating and promised to stay in touch with us as they move forward.

Another year down, a new one is here

This is one of those conferences that always leaves me feeling like I’ve actually accomplished something. I learn a lot, get to spend time with my sisters and brothers from other parts of the state, and I’m always inspired and energize for the Legislative year to come as well as the next round of elections. The conference this year particularly featured incredibly powerful women who I found inspiring and energizing. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and meet 2020 head on.

Let’s do this!