2020 OCEA Legislative Update

Dear OCEA member,

Statewide legislation can have a profound impact on working people, whether in the form of attacks, such as efforts to dismantle retirement security for working Americans, or opportunities to advance issues of fairness, such as requiring employers to pay overtime.

Standing together with allies in the state legislature, OCEA members have had great success in strengthening the rights of working people statewide. OCEA’s Legislative Committee meets monthly in consultation with Aaron Read & Associates - a respected legislative advocacy firm. The Committee members are appointed by the OCEA Board of Directors, and provide front-line worker input on legislation that impacts OCEA members. They work in consultation with our legislative advocate to take positions on bills before the California State Legislature.

The Committee identifies Legislation via our legislative advocate, OCEA members, staff or other Labor organizations who work in coalition with OCEA. When legislation is identified as having impact on OCEA members, the OCEA Legislative Committee has the ability to take a position on the particular bill as described below:

• Support: This means OCEA will be an official supporter of the legislation, and our legislative advocate will actively advocate members of the state legislature to support the bill;
• Oppose: This means that OCEA will officially oppose the legislation because the bill or measure hurts public workers or unions as a whole. At this point, our legislative advocate will actively oppose the bill.
• Watch: Taking a “watch” position means that our legislative advocate will monitor the bill’s progress and notify OCEA of any changes. The union may choose to move the bill under watch to either oppose or support.

When the California Legislature is in session, the Committee meets monthly with our legislative advocate at Aaron Read and Associates. At this meeting, Committee members receives updates, reviews bills, and OCEA’s position where appropriate. On occasion, OCEA members and staff will travel to the Capitol to connect with politicians so we can advocate for bills that are important to OCEA members.

Do you want to get more involved with the OCEA Legislative Committee or have any bills that you need information on? Please contact info@ocea.org for more information!

In Solidarity,

Charles Barfield
OCEA General Manager

Publication Date: February 26, 2020