California Labor Unanimously Opposes Weakening California Environmental Quality Act
Labor leaders point to other debacles in deregulation
SACRAMENTO — The California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million California union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries, unanimously passed a resolution that unequivocally supports protecting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s environmental safety law that communities depend on to protect the health of their residents.
“For decades, CEQA has been a firewall for California communities, protecting our environment and promoting cleaner, more sustainable development,” said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. “Efforts by big corporations to roll back this important law put California families, workers and our natural resources at risk.”
The resolution, passed by the Labor Federation’s Executive Council, notes that CEQA has served for over 40 years to promote smart development, protect California’s environment and public health, and serve the best interests of workers and communities near these projects.
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California President Robbie Hunter, who represents more than 350,000 hardworking trades people in California, commented: “Californians cannot afford another experiment with deregulation. When the legislature, under Governor Pete Wilson, deregulated the power industry, we turned our trust over to the likes of Enron, and Californians were literally left in the dark while the deregulated industry manipulated blackouts to increase their profits. More recently, Congress deregulated the banking industry, and as a result, thousands of Californians lost their homes and jobs as Wall Street ran roughshod over working families. And we all remember picking up the tab for the deregulation of the savings and loan industry. California cannot roll the dice again when it comes to this type of self-serving deregulation.”
The full resolution can be viewed here.
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