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Dear Sisters and Brothers, Last week, more than 600 union leaders and rank and file members from public, private and building trades unions across the state came together for Labor’s 2025 Joint Legislative Conference. |
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The conference began in exciting fashion on Monday, when seven candidates for Governor battled it out at our California gubernatorial salon, where we asked them where they stood on issues that matter to Labor, such as protecting the right to organize, jobs in the construction trades and regulations for AI and Big Tech. It was lively and informative! On Tuesday, we came together to celebrate Labor’s 2024 wins by recognizing unions and labor councils who worked hard to turn out the working class vote and managed to flip three House seats in the process. |
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We heard from American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) National President Everett Kelley, who spoke about the unprecedented attacks on federal employees’ collective bargaining rights and how Labor can fight back against it using “the power of We.” We also heard from actor, comedian, podcaster and SAG-AFTRA member and Writers Guild of America West Board Member Adam Conover, who pointed out that AI companies are selling everyone a line of bull, and that artificial intelligence will NEVER replace workers because workers are irreplaceable. We honored the 21 Democratic lawmakers who earned a 100% score on our 2024 legislative scorecard, lawmakers who stood with our unions on every vote that mattered in 2024. And for the very first time, we also honored the two highest-scoring Republican lawmakers – Assemblymembers Juan Alanis and Laurie Davies – whose pro-Labor votes show that support for workers surpasses party lines. You can see our 2024 legislative scorecard here! On Wednesday, all of our union members took to the Capitol to make their voices heard and ask their elected representatives the direct question – “Which Side Are You On?” – when it comes to Labor’s priority bills, including AB 288, which protects workers real right to organize, as well as our package of bills aimed at shielding workers from AI surveillance and robo-bosses. |
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Thank you so much for helping to make this one of our best conferences ever!
In Solidarity,
Lorena Gonzalez |
