SACRAMENTO – The California Assembly has approved a bill that will hold companies accountable for serious violations of the rights of workers on their premises that are committed by their own labor suppliers.

The bill, AB 1897, passed the Assembly with amendments Thursday night and now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk for his signature.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa issued this statement after Senate passage on Wednesday:

“In California, bad employers thought they found another loophole to cheat workers, but the California Senate voted to close it tonight. We are one step closer to preventing companies from engaging in a 21st century scam by claiming the men and women who do their work are not really employees but ‘temporary’ workers for labor contractors or agencies. This corporate shell game allows corporations to deny responsibility for basic worker rights like pay, benefits, and working conditions. Holding a corporation accountable for violations on its shop floor is an important step in the right direction.”

The bill is authored by Assemblyman Roger Hernandez and co-sponsored by the California Labor Federation.

Taylor Farms, the poster child for this legislation, is the world’s largest salad processor, supplying to McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Subway, Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden and Red Lobster), and many other restaurant and food chains. At its processing plant in Tracy, a majority of the people who do the work actually are employed by three temporary staffing agencies and not by Taylor Farms. One of these agencies, known as Slingshot, has its office on the company’s premises, and Taylor is its only customer.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org  for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters.

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