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Community Corner

United Steelworkers Launched the "Pink Slip" Campaign to Urge Governor Brown to Veto SB 54 – The Pink Slip Bill

SB 54 will force over 5,000 union workers out of their jobs and into unemployment lines

The United Steelworkers have launched a public effort to urge Governor Jerry Brown to veto SB 54 (Hancock) – The Pink Slip Bill. This legislation was a last minute “gut-and-amend” that is a labor raid forcing over 5,000 highly trained union refinery workers out of a job.

“SB 54 is essentially handing over a pink slip to 5,000 union workers who have spent years working at refineries,” said Robert LaVenture, District 12 Director for the United Steelworkers. “The same legislation has been attempted in other venues and has been continually rejected, as it does not improve safety -- it ousts known, skilled, qualified workers who need a steady paycheck to provide for their families and put a roof over their heads.”

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The United Steelworkers are launching their Pink Slip campaign that will include newspaper ads and handing out pink slip flyers around Sacramento as an effort to encourage Governor Brown to veto SB 54. The idea behind the bill has been tried again and again, with continual rejection because of the consequences and risks to community safety and the fact that thousands of union workers will be sent into unemployment lines.

The sponsors claim this legislation is about safety but the reality is that it is a rarity that current refinery workers have incidents. In fact, because this flawed proposal would result in a reduction in safety as well as jobs, it has been rejected several times including the Governor’s Interagency Working Group on Refinery Safety final report. 

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“We should not be legislating union workers who specialize in refinery work out of a job,” continues LaVenture. “That is why the United Steelworkers filed a formal jurisdictional dispute with the AFL-CIO to protect our workers and their jobs.”

A few weeks ago, the USW formally filed a jurisdictional dispute Article XX with the AFL-CIO. This is the formal labor process aimed at protecting union workers from raids by other unions.

To make matters worse, SB 54 fails to allow equal educational access for non-trade workers and fails to recognize equivalent training programs that currently exist, even going so far as to nullify training received through the California community college.  This legislation solidifies the building trades sole control of all training and certification apprenticeship programs in California, for the work that USW members currently do, without allowing USW represented workers equal access to apprenticeship programs.  This is the first time there is legislation that flat out legislates who gets jobs and who loses jobs, not based upon safety records, which is the current criteria for getting the work. Instead it’s based upon being a graduate of the only training program available to only a select group – the bill sponsor.

 

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