Gov. Gavin Newsom has found himself in the middle of a feud with State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, one of the most formidable factions of organized labor at the Capitol.
A young girl dressed as a newsie walked up to Gov. Gavin Newsom at the California Democratic Party convention in Long Beach last month, handing him a copy of a paper with his image splashed across the front page.
Tensions brewed for nearly a year, fueled by what the union says were actions by the governor that ran counter to the interests of its members, including vetoing bills they supported. But some in the labor movement say it comes as no surprise that the trades — known for commanding respect and pulling no punches with officials — are the first among them to publicly quarrel with Newsom, a governor who has championed a variety of causes backed by unions over the last 11 months.
“I’m really proud of the work we’ve done with labor, including the trades,” Newsom said. “And I have so many friends in the trades, within the trades.” California Gov. Jerry Brown, fourth from left, joins dignitaries in signing a piece of railroad track during a groundbreaking ceremony for a bullet train station in Fresno on Jan. 6, 2015. State Building and Construction Trades Council President Robbie Hunter is second from right.
Hunter’s biography was approved in late August for a news release naming the commission’s members. But days before the administration announced the new commissioners on Aug. 30, a low-level Newsom aide told a lobbyist for the trade council that Hunter’s invitation had been revoked. “It was called ‘the shape-up,’” Hunter said. “These gig companies are the shape-up again, where you bid against each other and fist-fight each other. That’s what they did back then, to get the job of the day. That’s what we fought our way out of.”
“National politics provides us a cautionary tale of what happens when the working class is forgotten by candidates who are steeped in the ambitions of unrequited presidential aspirations,” he said. “California could, and should, do better for workers and their families.”
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