On the final day of their session, California lawmakers sent Gov. Gavin Newsom a bill banning employers from forcing workers to sit through anti-union meetings 鈥� the latest attempt by Democratic politicians to support union activity amid a revived labor movement.
If Newsom signs , California would join nine other states that have recently passed laws prohibiting an employer from requiring workers to attend so-called captive audience meetings about their political or religious views.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, signed one such law last year, and has touted it on the campaign trail.
The California bill can cover discussions of employers鈥� views on political candidates or legislation, but it鈥檚 largely aimed at one specific kind of required workplace meeting 鈥� when bosses discuss whether workers should unionize.
California workers, following a nationwide trend, have increasingly sought unionization in recent years. Union elections have spiked in the last three years, with nearly 17,000 workers voting at more than 300 California workplaces in 2023. So far in 2024, more than 14,000 California workers have voted in a union election, according to a CalMatters analysis of National Labor Relations Board data.
The National Labor Relations Board has generally allowed 鈥渃aptive audience鈥� meetings for decades 鈥� provided employers don鈥檛 threaten workers or withhold benefits for supporting a union. But the board鈥檚 under President Joe Biden has sought to crack down on them, arguing they are often used to intimidate employees.
Business groups say the bill would be much broader, and would infringe on employers鈥� free speech rights. State bans in Connecticut and Minnesota have been challenged in court. Wisconsin in 2009 was one of the first states to ban such meetings; when employers filed suit the following year, arguing it conflicted with federal law, the state backed down and agreed not to enforce it.
The California Chamber of Commerce made SB 399 one of their most fiercely contested bills this year. In a legislative alert on Tuesday, the would 鈥渆ffectively chill any discussions related to legislation, regulations, or other 鈥榩olitical matters.鈥欌��
In an August letter to lawmakers opposing the bill, business groups argued they already can鈥檛 coerce workers to vote for certain candidates or to vote against unionizing, and said because the bill could fine bosses for talking to employees about political views but not other matters, it鈥檚 a violation of the First Amendment.
The bill includes exemptions for 鈥減olitical organizations鈥� that employ people whose job duties require them to engage in political activity, but chamber policy advocate Ashley Hoffman said in the letter that it鈥檚 too vague.
But supporters say the bill only targets intimidation in the workplace by penalizing employers who punish workers for refusing to attend a 鈥渃aptive audience鈥� meeting.
鈥淚f an employer wants to share [their] beliefs at the worksite, that鈥檚 fine, but no one should be coerced to listen,鈥� Assemblymember , a San Bernardino Democrat, said on the Assembly floor Friday before voting for the bill.
The bill鈥檚 passage last week was a win for unions this year in the Legislature, especially .
And while the state in the past two years has and , and boosted worker benefits such as , labor-backed demands to make it easier to unionize or go on strike have been a tougher sell.
鈥淚f we just keep doing legislation that makes things better for workers, that's good, but it's not the same power that you're giving workers in the workplace when they're able to strike, when they're able to organize without intimidation,鈥� Lorena Gonzalez, leader of the California Labor Federation, told CalMatters this week.
In 2022, Newsom was a bill making it easier for farmworkers to form unions by giving them an option to signal their support without employers knowing who was voting. He only gave his approval after the United Farm Workers drummed up political pressure from fellow Democrats, including Biden. That law has now been .
Last year, he to collect unemployment benefits, a proposal that Hollywood writers and actors said would have helped them through the 鈥渉ot labor summer鈥� of work stoppages. Unions attempted to revive the bill this year, and it passed the Senate but failed to get enough votes to clear an Assembly committee.
The captive audience meetings bill also passed the Senate last year, and then eked out of the Assembly last week with just over the minimum 41 votes needed to pass (though a handful of Democrats added 鈥測es鈥� votes later). It won final approval in the Senate Saturday on a 31-9 vote.
The chamber is urging Newsom to veto the bill. The governor has not taken a position, and has until the end of September to decide.
Two other bills sent to Newsom last week seek to help laborers cut out of traditional worker protections. He has rejected versions of both before.
Newsom in 2022 vetoed an expansion of unemployment insurance to undocumented immigrants, saying that the bill didn鈥檛 identify how to pay for it. The would require the administration to figure that out, and then report the plan back to the Legislature.
In the past three years, Newsom has twice vetoed to include domestic workers, such as house cleaners, nannies and caretakers, citing concerns about subjecting thousands of private homes to possible workplace safety inspections. The bill passed this year exempts workers who are privately employed by a homeowner or who are sent to private homes by publicly funded programs 鈥� such as county programs that pay caretakers for the elderly and disabled.
Instead, the bill that passed this year puts the onus on house cleaning and home care agencies to ensure their employees are safe.
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