The Facts Show
SB 284 is Union Busting
FACT 1
SB 284 WOULD FORCE CONTRACTING OUT OF UTILITY WORK AND FORCE MORE THAN 40,000 UNION LAYOFFS
SB 284 requires that any construction project with “expenditures” that exceed $10,000 must be contracted out. Given that the majority of construction work performed by the electric and gas utilities exceeds $10,000, SB 284 would cause more than 40,000 union jobs to be out- sourced.
FACT 2
SB 284 IS AN UNPRECEDENTED ASSAULT ON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND INVALIDATES IBEW'S COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS
For more than 50 years, the IBEW’s collective bargaining agreements have required that all contracted out “electrical work” be performed by contractors’ signatory to the IBEW. SB 284 explicitly invalidates these agreements.
FACT 3
SB 284 IS AN ANTI-UNION RIGHT TO WORK BILL
SB 284 states that the utilities must allow “all qualified contractors and subcontractors to bid for and be awarded work on the project without regard to whether they are otherwise parties to collective bargaining agreements.” This by definition is an anti-union right to work provision!
FACT 4
SB 284 IS CLEARLY PRE-EMPTED BY THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT
The NLRA generally preempts state and local laws that conflict with or undermine the NLRA’s general purposes. The Supreme Court’s decision in Teamsters Local 24 v. Oliver, 358 U.S. 283 (Oliver) is instructive. Oliver considered an Ohio anti-trust law purporting to invalidate a provision in the Teamsters’ collective bargaining agreement that fixed minimum payments for the leasing of trucks. The Supreme Court reasoned that the bargained-for leasing provisions “not only clearly b[ore] a close relation to labor’s efforts to improve working conditions but [were] in fact of vital concern to the carrier’s employed drivers.”
Paid for by
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Coalition of CA Utility Employees
CA State Association of Electrical Workers.