Davis Vetoes Pro-Labor Measures

Dealing significant setbacks to some of his strongest supporters, Gov. Gray Davis on Friday vetoed bills backed by organized labor to aid farm laborers and injured and unemployed workers.

The legislation aimed at policing farm labor contractors, the middlemen who hire most farm workers, would have been the first major victory for the United Farm Workers union in Sacramento since Jerry Brown was governor.

The bill, AB 2862, would have created new regulations governing farm labor contractors, and a requirement that growers determine whether the contractors are properly licensed by the state. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), said she will try again next year.

Union spokesman Marc Grossman said he was “obviously disappointed” by the veto, and vowed to pursue the issue again next year. Davis has yet to decide one other significant farm labor bill. He has until midnight tonight to sign or veto scores more bills approved in the closing days of the legislative session.

Davis handed a major victory to local police and firefighters Friday, signing legislation giving them the right to binding arbitration, something their unions long have sought.

But citing what he said were threats to “California’s robust economic prosperity,” the Democratic governor rejected two of organized labor’s top priorities: boosts in benefits for laid-off workers and those injured on the job.

Major business groups opposed the hikes in unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. The California Labor Federation, among Davis’ strongest supporters, pushed for both measures.

“Our unemployment benefits are the worst in the nation,” said Art Pulaski, head of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.

The unemployment insurance bill, SB 546 by Sen. Hilda Solis (D-La Puente), would have raised the maximum weekly benefits to $380 from $230. The increase would have been phased in over three years. California has not raised unemployment insurance since 1989.

With unemployment low, the unemployment insurance fund that employers pay into is bulging with a surplus of almost $6 billion. Solis’ bill proposed to tap the fund to pay the higher benefits.

The workers’ compensation insurance bill, SB 996 by Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), would have raised the maximum weekly benefits for people who are hurt on the job to $574, from $490, over six years.

Davis won election in 1998 with strong support from organized labor, and unions remain among his most loyal supporters. Since he took office, organized labor has made about $2.3 million in political contributions to Davis, about 10.5% of the more than $21 million the governor raised in his first 18 months in office. He has taken several actions that benefit labor, including granting significant pay hikes to state workers. But he also rejected many of their requests.

In other significant action Friday, Davis granted local governments one notable victory. The governor signed AB 1396 by Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), giving cities and counties $212 million in a one-time infusion of tax revenue. Los Angeles County will receive $30 million.

Also, Davis signed AB 2547, by Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), ending the standoff between the Board of Supervisors and Eastside lawmakers over an expanded County-USC Medical Center.

But the governor vetoed a bill by Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) that would have meant ongoing increases for local government, equating to about $75 million a year for Los Angeles County by the time the measure took full effect.

And Davis signed the bill permitting unions representing police and firefighters to request binding arbitration in wage and benefit disputes.

Under the bill, SB 402 by Burton, cities and counties will select one member of a three-member arbitration board. Unions will select another, and the two sides will agree on the third.

Lobbyist Aaron Read, representing police and firefighters, said the bill is needed “because too often local government has balanced the budget on the backs of cops.”

Binding arbitration does not extend to working conditions, disagreements over staffing or disciplinary actions taken against officers and firefighters. Nor does it extend to state police, such as the California Highway Patrol, state prison guards and state firefighters.