IBEW 11, California Unions Unite to Defeat Law That Would Have Decimated Wages
By Jeremy Kehoe
IBEW 11 members organized, mobilized, united, and battled alongside their California State Associate of Electrical Workers (CSAEW) Brothers and Sisters to defeat one of the most brazen assaults on prevailing wages in modern California history – Assembly Bill 130 – which would have decimated union wages and obliterated California’s nearly 100-year-old prevailing wage law.
Local 11 members joined a coalition of union members statewide who called, emailed, texted, knocked on senators and assemblymembers doors, and packed hearing rooms on Capitol Hill in Sacramento to voice their opposition to the prevailing wage provision in AB 130, which would have set construction workers’ minimum wage below the $20 fast food wage in 44 counties.
“This was a victory for IBEW and other union members across California who raised our collective voices to tell legislators that we would not stand for a bill that would have paid skilled tradespeople far below their value and forced each and every one of them into substandard, non-livable wages,” said IBEW 11 Business Manager Robert Corona. “This was a clear effort to normalize paying skilled tradespeople far below area standards under the guise of housing production. It failed because we stood together.”
The prevailing wage language tucked inside AB 130 as part of California’s behemoth budget bill would have established a second-class wage structure that devalued the training and expertise of union electricians, effectively initiating a race to the bottom for wages in the construction industry.
Instead, in the face of this union opposition, Governor Gavin Newsom stripped the prevailing wage provision language from AB 130 entirely.
“This victory proved that when we stand together and fight for fair wages we will prevail,” said IBEW 11 President Alton Wilkerson. “We couldn’t have achieved this victory without our partners in the Legislature who stood by our side in this fight to protect prevailing wages.”
The proposed wage scale would have set minimums as low as $20 per hour without accounting for healthcare and forced skilled workers into substandard, non-livable wages. By excluding union workers and contractors, the bill would have favored cheap labor over quality work and disregarded the contributions of high-road contractors who provide career pathways and uphold safety standards.
The impact on CSAEW members would have been catastrophic, said Gretchen Newsom CSAEW International Representative, Government Affairs.
Newsom added while unions should celebrate this victory, they must be prepared for future wage and benefit battles.
“While this win was critical to protecting construction worker wages, development interests and their allies in the Legislature will continue to try and scapegoat ‘labor costs’ for California’s housing affordability crisis, instead of the greed and profits of developers,” Newsom said. “We must remain vigilant in our fight to protect fair wages and benefits.”
