Posts tagged California Department of Industrial Relations
How YIMBYs won over unions in California
August 22, 2023 // The Trades acknowledges there’s a shortage of workers for California’s needed residential construction, and they know their existing unionized workforce is getting older. A union-backed study from 2019 stipulated that to meet the state’s affordable housing goals, California would need to recruit at least 200,000 new workers. But the Trades insist things are not so dire yet that leaders need to abandon “skilled and trained” requirements, and they say more people will be incentivized to become “skilled and trained” only if lawmakers guarantee good union jobs waiting on the other end of an apprenticeship. About 70,500 people have graduated from these apprenticeships between 2010 and 2022, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations. In the end, California lawmakers didn’t really have to make a choice, and ended up passing Wicks’ bill, along with another similar bill that included the Trades’ preferred “skilled and trained” language. For now, developers basically can choose which law they want to follow if they want to convert strip malls to housing. (Yes, really.) “AB2011 was a huge victory, but they allowed the building trades to save face by passing both bills,” said David, the YIMBY activist.
Op-ed: Proposed ‘FAST Act’ directly assaults CA’s restaurant industry
August 8, 2022 // Assembly Bill 257 – known as the “FAST Act” – has been pushed through the legislative process under the guise of helping California workers in the counter-service restaurant community. If enacted, the bill – sponsored by the Service Employees International Union – would set aside existing labor laws in favor of new rules developed and enforced by 13 unelected political appointees with zero oversight. In short, the FAST Act will take away great jobs for workers, harm consumers, raise prices, stifle competition, diminish entrepreneurship and create layers of unnecessary bureaucracy – all because of a false narrative. limited-service restaurant industry, unelected statewide council, wage and hour violations, California Restaurant Association
California: Anti-worker or pro-worker? Why labor unions are fighting over a housing bill
May 12, 2022 // Under Wicks’ bill, developers would have to pay union-level wages — which are common to builders of exclusively affordable housing, but rare among market rate developers. Projects larger than 50 units would require health benefits for workers and contractors would need to request the dispatch of apprentices, but if they’re unavailable, the project would move forward anyway.