07-05-2025
Labor unions urging lawmakers to improve Cal/OSHA enforcement
( — California Labor for Climate Justice (CLCJ), a coalition of 16 labor unions, hosted a press conference and rally Tuesday morning, urging lawmakers to pass legislation aimed at strengthening Cal/OSHA.
'We are living through a climate crisis. The wildfires are burning hotter and more often. Our air is getting dirtier. And extreme heat is putting lives at risk,' said Assemblymember Tina McKinnor.
CLCJ and union members pleaded for California lawmakers to strengthen Cal/OSHA's workplace safety enforcement amid growing climate hazards.
'In all seven of the last eight years, California has recorded record high temperatures while workers from our state's fields to our commercial kitchens, from our warehouses to our schools continue to work in dangerously high heat conditions,' said Norman Rogers, Vice President of United Steelworkers Local 675.
CLCJ is now advocating for its California Worker Climate Bill of Rights. It's a series of senate and assembly bills focused on creating jobs in the low-carbon economy, investing in climate-resilient schools, and granting oil and gas workers training records.
Workers should not be denied of their own records, which they have worked hard to get.
Senator Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles
CLCJ's priority is Assembly Bill 694, sponsored by Assemblymember Tina McKinnor. AB 694 aims to ensure Cal/OSHA's enforcement agency is fully staffed with inspectors who've worked in threatening conditions.
'Nearly half of it's enforcement division is vacant. That means unsafe work sites are going unchecked,' said Assemblymember McKinnor.
Amber Parrish, Executive Director of United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, which represents workers throughout the food chain, says climate bills must be enforced. She mentioned Cal/OSHA's indoor heat requirements are in effect when the indoor temperature is greater than 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
'We had one day in L.A. that got about 107 degrees. And inside the store, it was into the 90s,' Parrish said. 'Make sure that if workers are suffering adverse reactions to indoor heat, that they're able to cool off the temperature of the worksite.'
AB 694 also creates pathways for Cal/OSHA to hire union oil and gas workers.
'I know from everyday work what is hazardous and what is not, because I can see it,' said Laurie Wallace, a refinery worker a Phillips 66. 'There's nothing better for me than to have this idea in my head that I can go into another refinery and see something that could potentially be hazardous and correct it, and not only protect the workers, but protect the entire environment.'
Assembly republicans that we reached out to also expressed bipartisan support for AB 694.
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