Posts tagged State Building and Construction Trades Council
California unions are pouring more money than ever into CalPERS elections. Here’s why
September 23, 2025 // The money is coming from a mix of mostly private sector construction and trade unions that have been urging the $584 billion pension fund to favor union shops in its real estate and construction investments.
OPINION: Government unions are behind corrupt Oakland mayor
July 1, 2024 // Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home was raided by the FBI last week as were two other homes owned by members of the Duong family. The Duongs own California Waste Solutions, a company that has a billion-dollar contract with the city. Thao is reported to have traveled to Vietnam at the Duong family’s expense last year. Since the raid, Thao’s lawyer and communications director both quit and her former chief of staff called on her to resign. Thao refuses to leave office, however, claiming that she is completely innocent and the victim of “right-winged forces” that are trying to take her down. Thao’s political troubles did not start with the raid. Thanks to rising crime, a weak economy, and a huge budget deficit, Thao was already facing a recall election set for this November. As bad as Thao has been in office, though, there still is a good chance she will hang on to power.
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.
California labor shows off its political muscle
May 10, 2023 // His speech followed appearances earlier Monday by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego and Attorney General Rob Bonta. Atkins pledged again to protect workers’ rights, while Rendon re-upped his backing of a bill to let legislative staffers form a union. The number of potential voters is staggering and, at times, consequential: The Labor Fed claims 2.1 million members in 1,200 local unions and the Building Trades says it has some 450,000 members in 157 affiliated unions. Union members are also a key source of possible volunteers to canvas neighborhoods, run phone banks and distribute campaign flyers. Then there’s the money — a lot of money. As CalMatters’ data journalist Jeremia Kimelman calculated Monday, in 2021-22 alone the Labor Fed spent nearly $2.7 million on campaigns and the Trades another $2.7 million, including more than $1 million to the state Democratic Party and local parties. In addition, the Labor Fed spent $877,000 on lobbying in 2021-22, while the Trades put in nearly $1.2 million.