 |
| The governor has until Oct. 13 to act on all three bills. |
AB 263, offered by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, and SB 666,
sponsored by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, are identical versions of the same bill.
They help enforce basic labor laws by barring bosses from calling Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after working condition complaints are
filed against the business. AB 524, offered by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin,
prohibits similar threats against workers who file complaints about not being
paid fairly.
Art Pulaski, the California Labor Federation’s executive
secretary-treasurer, said the legislation plays an essential role:
Employers should be on notice that with these bills, retaliating against workers who stand up for their basic rights will have serious consequences. These new protections are vital to protecting all workers who are afraid to report these abuses.
The lengths companies will go to in an effort
to keep their workers quiet was on full display earlier this year during a
committee hearing. Owners of the Marquez Brothers cheese facility in Hanford
intimidated one worker who testified before the Assembly Labor and Employment
Committee in March. The company hired notorious
labor-hating law firm Littler Mendelson to follow her and other employees
who attended the hearing in Sacramento. The testifying employee, a mother of
four, was later fired by Marquez.
Workers at the Marquez plant have been trying to negotiate a
first contract as Teamsters for about a year, to no avail. But at least the
company’s workers will be allowed to speak out, said Gerardo Aguirre, a former
Marquez worker who was fired while standing up for his rights:
The workers at Marquez Brothers are united in standing up to intimidation, at work and in the state legislature. We need laws that allow all workers to speak up and protect immigrant workers from these kinds of abuses.
Gov. Brown has until Oct. 13 to sign them into law.
