Judge Refuses to Halt Dismantling of Job Safety Unit

Gov. George Deukmejian can legally dismantle the state worker safety program and turn over the job of regulating California workplaces to the federal government, a Superior Court judge held Monday.

Judge Roy L. Wonder refused to issue a preliminary injunction requested by labor groups that would have blocked the governor and other officials from taking any action to relinquish the Cal/OSHA program to federal authorities.

Wonder found that the same federal law that allows states to set up their own occupational safety and health programs also permits governors to terminate such plans by notifying the U.S. secretary of labor.

“Gov. Deukmejian has the lawful authority to return the enforcement of occupational safety and health regulations to the federal government,” the judge said in a five-page decision.

Sharp Setback

The ruling came as a sharp setback to efforts by labor organizations, legislators and others to save Cal/OSHA, the state’s $8-million occupational health and safety program. They contend that California’s 14 million workers are far better protected under a more vigorous state program than they would be under the federal occupational safety and health program.

Deukmejian, in an economy move, has proposed to join with 26 other states that now rely on the federal program to ensure worker safety. The governor argues that the action would eliminate needless regulation and could save the state up to $50 million in the next four years. Meanwhile, the federal program would amply protect workers, he says.

Deputy state Atty. Gen. Caren Dorshkind, who defended Deukmejian and other state officials named in the suit, said she is “very pleased” by Monday’s ruling. “Judge Wonder clearly indicated the governor was definitely acting within his scope of authority,” she said.

Lawrence S. Newberry of Azusa, the lawyer representing a coalition of labor groups and Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Hawthorne), chairman of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, said he is “very disappointed” by the ruling and will consider further court action to save Cal/OSHA. “We thought we had a viable case,” he said.

But Newberry also expressed hope that the Legislature will ultimately rescue the embattled program. “In the final analysis, the Legislature is going to have to act to preserve the agency if it is going to be preserved,” he said.

In recent weeks, the Democratic-controlled state Assembly has voted to restore funding for Cal/OSHA in the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. A state Senate budget-writing committee has taken similar action.

But Deukmejian has pledged to veto any provision for funding the program, and it remains doubtful that supporters could muster the required two-thirds vote of the Legislature to override a veto.

The request for a preliminary injunction was made in the suit filed here after a Superior Court judge in Sacramento turned down a similar request in another suit earlier this month.

Governor ‘Has Authority’

Plaintiffs in the suit here challenged Deukmejian’s authority to abolish an agency created by the Legislature and asked, among other things, that the governor be ordered to rescind a letter he has sent to Labor Secretary William E. Brock formally asking the federal government to take over the program as of June 30.

In his decision, Judge Wonder strongly upheld the governor’s authority under federal statutes to return enforcement of worker safety and health regulations to the federal government. The governor, he said, “has the authority” to issue the letter to Brock, and other state officials have “responsibility to make plans for orderly transition between state and federal governments.”

Wonder, citing another reason for his refusal to intervene in the dispute, noted that courts ordinarily refrain from stepping into “political questions” involving the executive and legislative branches of government.