Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana is calling out California Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing a new law he says unconstitutionally usurps federal authority over labor disputes — and ultimately hurts workers, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Newsom, Cassidy criticized AB 288 for allowing California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to take over worker claims that fall under the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) jurisdiction. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, warned the law will make it harder for workers to resolve grievances against employers or unions that violate their rights.
“Workers in California and across the United States should be able to assert their rights without confusion or undue difficulty,” wrote Cassidy. “They should not be expected to be labor law experts, parse jurisdictional questions, and file their grievances in every possible forum to preserve their claim. [California’s] law accomplishes the opposite of its purported goal, which is to help workers.”
Chair Cassidy Letter to Gov Newsom Re AB 288 by melissanewsham
AB 288, signed into law by Newsom in late September, dramatically expands the authority of the PERB, whose members are all appointed by Newsom. The law authorizes workers covered by the National Labor Relations Act to petition the state board, which can now conduct union elections, investigate unfair labor practice charges, seek injunctions and penalties, and order employers to bargain with unions, according to the National Law Review. The measure also allows PERB to issue civil penalties against employers and force binding arbitration, the outlet reports, if the parties fail to reach a collective bargaining agreement.
Cassidy said the law is unconstitutional and warned it could “result in workers’ good faith claims going unaddressed in the proper forum,” by creating confusion over whether the state or federal government has jurisdiction over labor disputes.
The law will likely face legal challenges. NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cowen said in August that such laws were likely invalid, and the agency has already sued New York after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul enacted a comparable policy last month. Employers may also sue California, just as Amazon has already done in New York after being hit with the first unfair labor practice charge under the state’s new law.
The U.S. Supreme Court held in the 1959 case San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon that state and local governments cannot regulate conduct protected or prohibited by the National Labor Relations Act.
“Infringing on NLRB’s jurisdiction undermines processes enshrined in federal law that protect workers and falsely suggests to workers that PERB decisions can provide a legal resolution,” Cassidy wrote.
Supporters of the California law argue that it’s needed due to an overwhelming surge in petitions to the NLRB, made worse by federal funding and staffing shortfalls. The board currently lacks a quorum after President Donald Trump removed Democratic member Gwynne Wilcox in January.
Newsom’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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