Press Releases
California Teamsters Applaud Passage of SB399 Out of Assembly Committee
Union Demands Assembly, Governor Pass Free Speech Legislation into Law
Press Contact: Matt McQuaid Phone: (202) 624-6877 Email: mmcquaid@teamster.org
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – Teamsters are celebrating the passage of Senate Bill 399 (SB399) out of the California Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment. The legislation bans mandatory attendance at “captive audience” meetings – employer-held, closed-door gatherings where workers are forced under threat of termination to listen to lies and propaganda designed to dissuade them from organizing.
“We’d like to thank State Senator Aisha Wahab, State Senator María Elena Durazo, and all of the assemblymembers who voted in favor of approving this bill for a floor vote,” said Chris Griswold, Teamsters International Vice President At-Large and President of Teamsters Joint Council 42. “Mandatory captive audience meetings are tyrannical and morally abhorrent. We now call on every member of the chamber to vote for this legislation, and on Governor Gavin Newsom to sign it into law. Make no mistake – this is a litmus test for organized labor in California.”
“This legislation protects the free speech rights of workers by preventing them from being subjected – involuntarily – to deceptive, misleading, fundamentally undemocratic tirades against the human right to organize,” said Jason Rabinowitz, Teamsters Joint Council 7 President. “This is why California needs to enact this into law as soon as possible. Elected officials need to know that if you’re not with unions on this bill, then you’re not with us at all.”
Similar legislation has already been enacted into law in Oregon, Minnesota, and Connecticut. A New York ban on mandatory captive audience meetings has already been passed by the legislature and is awaiting approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.