NATIONALLY CAPTIVATING: Gov. Gavin Newsom is weighing a bill that would make it illegal to punish employees who don’t attend anti-union meetings — a pro-labor policy Democrats have been embracing on the national stage. State Sen. Aisha Wahab’s legislation would prohibit employers from requiring workers’ presence at gatherings where they discuss political or religious beliefs. These so-called “captive audience” meetings are particularly concerning for labor organizers because managers can use them to dissuade employees from joining a union. Since Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz became Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, the push to ban captive audience meetings has gotten a bigger platform. That’s because Walz — a former teacher who proudly touts his union bona fides — last year signed legislation prohibiting them in his home state. “It’s always a benefit when you have a Democratic vice president nominee suggest that this is beneficial to the larger public,” Wahab told Playbook. Walz made his first standalone appearance on the campaign trail at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees convention in Los Angeles, where he bragged about getting rid of the gatherings. “We banned those damn captive audience meetings for good in Minnesota,” he said. Trade associations have challenged the ban in court. But Democrats’ embrace of these kinds of policies have been a boon for them when seeking labor union endorsements. AFSCME and United Auto Workers quickly backed Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race. The West Coast Teamsters in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam recently broke with national leaders to endorse the vice president’s ticket, citing Harris’ and Walz’s support for worker protections, including Minnesota’s captive audience ban. As with other labor proposals, Newsom seems to be pinned between labor and business groups, which oppose the bill on First Amendment grounds. “Employers have the right to express their views and opinions regarding labor organizations,” opposition groups argued in a bill analysis. Labor did not have a particularly successful legislative session. The California Labor Federation and other organizations were unable to get bills providing unemployment insurance for striking workers and creating new protections for self-checkout workers through the Capitol. A Newsom veto on a captive audience ban would be a significant blow. The governor has faced tough decisions on labor bills during the past two years. In 2022, he received national pressure from Biden to approve a United Farm Workers-backed bill allowing employees to join the union by signing cards. Newsom had signaled he would veto the legislation, but he later signed it. Last year, the governor approved legislation setting a minimum wage for health care workers in one of his final big bill-signing decisions of the session. Wahab said she remains optimistic about the captive audience bill, noting that several other states besides Minnesota have passed similar legislation. When asked whether she thinks the national labor conversation would play into the bill’s fate, she wasn’t sure it would affect Newsom’s decision-making. Newsom has less than a week to make his choice about Wahab’s legislation — he must veto or sign it by Sept. 30. IT’S TUESDAY AFTERNOON. This is California Playbook PM, a POLITICO newsletter that serves as an afternoon temperature check on California politics and a look at what our policy reporters are watching. Got tips or suggestions? Shoot an email to lholden@politico.com.
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