The legislative process is another tool to build worker power and grow the labor movement. The California Labor movement draws on our greatest asset – our members – to be the voice for working people in our State Capitol.

Our legislative work is laser-focused on attacking the problems that stymie workers from organizing at their workplace. Whether it is worker retaliation, rising health care costs, subcontracted and temporary work or low wages – we develop legislative solutions with our unions and deliver new labor law protections.

See below for our past, recent, and future legislative priorities for working people in California.

2021 Legislative Agenda

The pandemic continues to expose workers and their families to dangerous conditions every day. As California and the Nation attempt to “Build Back Better,” the labor movement must remain vigilant on the disparities brought to light by this pandemic: from worker health and safety, access to good paying jobs, and inequities in our health care […]

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2019 Legislative Agenda

We cannot build toward a brighter future unless we raise standards and restore security to working people now. Technology and automation reflect the power structure in the workplace. As long as workers remain powerless, emerging technologies will be deployed by greedy CEOs to deskill, drive down costs, and eliminate workers. Only by rebuilding worker power will we harness the promise of technology to make jobs better, workers safer, and society more just.

California Labor’s 2019 legislative agenda focuses on restoring labor rights, strengthening worker power, and ensuring access to justice for working people. It’s not just the future of work we are fighting for, but the future of workers, to ensure dignity and security for all.

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2018 Legislative Agenda

The social compact of employment constructed over the last century by the American Labor Movement has been deeply fractured. The expectation of finding one good job and keeping it for a lifetime has been replaced by the need to jump from job to job, without secure benefits or steady income. 

As we face the growth of the gig economy and the threat of automation, Labor remains committed to an economy where hard work is rewarded and where workers have a voice on the job.

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Legislative Wrap Up 2017

Wins for Workers! Click here to download the 2017 Legislative Wrap Up The 2017 legislative session has come to an end and real progress has been made for working families. We fought off the federal assaults on health care, environmental protection, and immigrant communities, while fighting to maintain workers’ rights and create good jobs in […]

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Legislative Wrap Up 2016

This year California workers had major and historic wins.

The passage of a $15 minimum wage put California on the leading edge of a national movement to raise wages. The enactment of overtime for farmworkers and permanent overtime laws for domestic workers were long overdue reforms that help some of the lowest wage workers in the state build a better life for their families. These new laws will make a real difference in the lives of millions.

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2016 Legislative Agenda

California’s economy has rebounded and many areas of the state are booming. Yet workers are not sharing in the recovery.Finding a job may not be as hard now, but finding a good job is more elusive than ever.  At a time of record prosperity, families are facing unprecedented levels of economic insecurity.

Labor’s agenda for 2016 aims to correct these growing injustices and rebuild a sense of security for working families.  

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2015 Legislative Agenda

Working People Standing Together | Changing Lives Download a copy of the Legislative Agenda (pdf) For many families, times have never been tougher. Although California’s employment reports look good at first glance, far too many jobs are low-wage, temporary, and part-time. Workers are insecure, and that makes it harder to enforce basic labor standards. The […]

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2014 Legislative Wrap Up

California Labor Federation: Legislative Wrap Up 2014

The 2014 legislative session has come to an end, and the California Labor Movement worked hard to get significant worker protections to the Governor’s desk. There were some exciting victories but also some disappointing defeats. Highlights of Labor’s

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