Organized Labor

Candidates Night at the SF Building Trades on January 19th.Michael Theriault, Secretary-Treasurer of the SF Building Trades on the left with State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi who is the endorsed candidate for Lieutenant Governor

On January 19th the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council continued to interview the candidates for statewide office for the June Primary and the November election.

Paul Cohen, the Political Director for the Northern California Carpenters spoke in favor of Phil Angelides who is running for the Governor’s office on the Democratic ticket. He commented that Mr. Angelides had been elected State Treasurer in 1998 and had been re-elected to that office in a Democratic sweep by Gray Davis in 2002. Paul pointed out that Angelides had worked with the California Labor Federation to oppose the recall of Governor Davis in the autumn of 2003.

Phil Angelides for Governor

Mr. Angelides was endorsed by the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council in the race for Governor. Angelides is also endorsed by the State Building Trades Council, the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades-District Council 16, the California District Council of Ironworkers, the California Association of Electrical Workers, the California Teamsters and many other labor organizations. He has been a labor stalwart, and as the State Treasurer has worked hard to support union pensions. He opposed the destruction of the $200 billion CalPERS defined benefit plan by the present Governor. He has performed his due diligence as an elected trustee of that board to direct investments into affordable housing, and to advance the cause of corporate governance.

Angelides will face prominent Democrat Steve Westly, in the Democratic primary in June. Steve Westly had defeated Assemblyman Johan Klehs in the Controllers race back in 2002 and is a former top executive with the internet auctioneer, eBay. Mr. Westly provides most of his own political funding. Of the $24 million in his current campaign account, he has contributed approximately $20 million.

John Garamendi for Lieutenant Governor

The race for Lieutenant Governor is being hotly contested by three popular Democrats - John Garamendi, who is currently serving in the statewide office of Insurance Commissioner, and State Senators, Liz Figueroa and Jackie Speier. All three candidates appeared before the Council to ask for its endorsement. Cruz Bustamante, the current Lieutenant Governor has served for two terms in this office and has announced that he will seek the office of Insurance Commissioner.

In his comments before the Council Delegates on January 19th, Garamendi talked about his support of Labor. He said. “It is the labor unions that support a just and equitable society,” and, “they need to be able to bargain collectively.” He advocated substantial additions to the state infrastructure and said that California was not investing enough in transportation and water resources.

“As Lieutenant Governor I would expect to be the voice of working men and woman.” As to fundraising, “I’ve accepted a voluntary spending limit of $4.5 million and have not taken money from the insurance industry.” He also said that, “as Insurance Commissioner, I transformed the California Department of Insurance into the best consumer protection agency in America.” Garamendi has worked hard over the last four years on workers compensation reform. He has also been a strong advocate for consumer protection in the health care arena. When Wellpoint Health Networks of Thousand Oaks, California acquired Anthem, Inc. for $16.4 billion in August of 2005, Garamendi questioned whether the merger would reduce competition and raise health care costs. Thanks to his intervention, the two health care providers agreed to pay $265 million to improve health services in California as a condition of their merger.

In the question and answer period, Dave Figueroa of the Carpet Layers asked Garamendi if he would support the use of Project Labor Agreements and payment of the prevailing wage for state public works. Mr. Garamendi said that he thought PLAs were great for everyone. “The workers get decent health and pension benefits and good pay, and the community gets quality work and a project that is completed on time and on budget. We can also build new infrastructure with a concern for a healthy environment. As Deputy Secretary of the Interior with the Clinton Administration we implemented habitat conservation plans to protect endangered species.” The San Francisco Council delegates voted to endorse John Garamendi.

Jerry Brown is endorsed for State Attorney General

On January 19th the Council was pleased to have Democrat Rocky Delgadillo appear before the delegates and present his case for endorsement as state Attorney General. Mr. Delgadillo is the City Attorney for Los Angeles and has amassed a 94% conviction rate in his fight against gangs and violence. He grew up in East LA and is proud of his Hispanic roots. He graduated from Harvard University with honors and later received a law degree from Columbia Law School.

As the Attorney for California’s largest City, he has actively pursued lawbreakers in the underground economy, “going after bad contractors and making sure that prevailing wages are paid and that project labor agreements are upheld. I am working with the Los Angeles and Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council and all of the various locals to have the first ever city-wide labor agreement in Los Angeles,” he said.

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, the other Democratic candidate for Attorney General, had visited the Council on January 10th and asked to be endorsed. In his comments to the building trades, Jerry Brown talked about his experience serving as California’s governor between 1975 and 1983, and as the mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007.

Mr. Brown said that, “I have been a strong supporter of labor and the building trades unions since I began my career in politics some 30 years ago. As Governor, I worked hard to improve the apprenticeship training programs, and increased program spending by 25%. I also substantially increased workers compensation benefits. I believe that I have the best labor record of any governor in California. It has always been a priority of mine to enforce payment of the prevailing wage by going after contractors in the underground economy.”

“As the Mayor of Oakland I have actively promoted new construction and development and in the process have generated new jobs for union construction workers. In my two terms as mayor I have brought substantial investment in both housing and commercial structures into the City.” Jerry Brown was formally endorsed by the San Francisco Building Trades Council on January 19th.

Mike Nevin Endorsed for State Senate District 8

The Council has endorsed Democrat Mike Nevin for State Senate District 8, which covers the northern part of San Mateo County and the southwestern portion of San Francisco. The Senate seat was held by Jackie Speier who is now termed out. Other Democratic candidates include San Francisco Assemblyman Leland Yee, and Lou Papan, the former State legislative leader and Assemblyman.

Mike Nevin has had a distinguished career in public service. He was a San Francisco Police Officer for 27 years and served both as a City Councilman and as Mayor of Daly City. He had also been a member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors from 1992 to 2004. Mike has a solid record in support of labor and working families and promised to make the care and protection of workers rights in Sacramento a priority. “I have supported the use of a project labor agreement on SamTrans land and believe public projects should be built with union labor,” Mike said. On statewide issues he supports universal and affordable health care and would advocate the construction of more affordable housing.

Looking at the state assembly races, the San Francisco BTC voted unanimously to endorse current Assemblyman Mark Leno for re-election in District 13. Assemblyman Leland Yee’s seat in District 12 was vacated by Leland in his run for the State Senate. Both Janet Riley and Supervisor Fiona Ma are running for his seat in the Democratic primary and appeared before the Council to ask for the endorsement.

Supervisor Fiona Ma Endorsed for State Assembly

The San Francisco Building Trades Council formally endorsed Supervisor Fiona Ma to represent the City in District 12. In her remarks Fiona commented on her work as a legislative aide to John Burton for seven years in Sacramento, saying that the work gave her a good understanding of state issues. She said that she opposed Proposition 75 in the special election, that would have set up onerous accounting requirements for union political financing.

As a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Fiona has generally sided with the Building Trades on issues of development, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, and union apprenticeship programs. In the question and answer period Stan Smith asked her if she would support the use of project labor agreements for the infrastructure bond issues that are being discussed in Sacramento? Fiona promised to push for the PLAs.