Teamsters sponsor pro-worker bills at Capitol
April 24, 2025
It’s been a whirlwind of a couple months to start the year, and we’ve been working hard on ensuring we invest in our Union’s future. We have a package of bills introduced in both California and Nevada that focus on job protections and benefits.
In California, I want to highlight four bills we are sponsoring, starting with AB 33 introduced by Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry. The fight against autonomous vehicles is far from over: AB 33 would require a human operator for all commercial deliveries to any residence or business in California. In a recent statewide poll that we conducted, 84% of Californians said that they are concerned that AI and automation will eliminate their jobs. This bill not only protects good jobs, it reflects the kind of regulations Californians want to see.
In addition, Teamster-sponsored AB 288, authored by Assemblymember McKinnor, would reinforce the right to organize by allowing workers to vindicate their inalienable rights to freedom of assembly, to organize, to collectively bargain, and to engage in concerted activity if they lose the protection of the federal National Labor Relations Act due to actions of the federal government or the courts. It would also allow workers who have attempted to use the National Labor Relations Board to vindicate these rights, but have not received a timely remedy to seek relief from the California Public Employment Relations Board.
We are also working on SB 809 with State Senator Durazo, which would create a two-check system payment model to ensure truck drivers who own their own trucks are properly classified as employees rather than independent contractors, while still compensating them for the use of their truck. The third bill we are sponsoring impacts the public sector. We are working with Assemblymember Stefani on AB 569, which would allow us to negotiate the Teamsters Western Conference Pension Plan as a supplement in addition to your regular pension plan in the public sector. This will allow us to further support public sector Teamsters and improve job retention and recruitment for public sector workers.
In Nevada, Teamsters Local 533 has been hard at work pushing bills that will provide strong worker protections. They are proposing the captive audience bill, an AV safety operator bill, and a heat protection bill—all of which are part of the I.B.T..’s worker protection package that we are pushing on a national level in every state. In addition to those three bills, Teamsters are proposing a sick leave bill and an FMLA expansion bill.
Bills like these, which protect our jobs and invest in our future as a Union, are made possible by your donation to D.R.I.V.E. (Democrat Republican Independent Voter Education). Locals throughout the Joint Council have been blazing forward to help raise the dollars we need for the 2026 elections.
The Joint Council is excited to welcome our very own dedicated D.R.I.V.E. Representative, Beatriz Lainez, who has been helping Locals recruit new D.R.I.V.E. members. In the past two months our Locals have signed up 700 new members to help us elect pro-Teamster candidates, pass pro-worker laws, and defeat the ballot measures and propositions that attack our working conditions. Our goal is to increase our D.R.I.V.E. donations in every Local so that we’re prepared to elect pro-worker governors and legislators in both California and Nevada in 2026!
On the ground, our Locals are working hard to develop strong relationships with politicians, take direct political action, and prepare for two upcoming special elections. Teamsters Local 2785 members have gone to the State Capitol twice to do lobby visits in support of extending the Film and Television Tax Credit that many of their members depend on for work. Teamsters 665 was able to secure a long-term deal in San Francisco to keep Waymo and other AV companies from using public garages to charge their fleets. Teamsters Local 70 and Local 853 have taken the lead on working to elect Teamsters Joint Council 7-endorsed candidate Barbara Lee as the next Mayor of Oakland. And in San Jose, Teamsters Local 350 is fighting hard to elect Teamsters-endorsed candidate Gabby Chavez-Lopez to the San Jose City Council, securing the labor majority in San Jose. It’s the hard work that Teamsters do on the local level that develops the foundation for a stronger, pro-worker future.
You, too, have the chance to be part of that foundation. Connect with your Local to sign up for DRIVE and find opportunities to take political action in your community!
