Inventory of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records
Processed by Laura Avedisian and Nicholas Jackson.
California State Archives
© 2013
1020 "O" Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Phone: (916) 653-2246
Fax: (916) 653-7363
Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov
URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/
California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Inventory of the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records
Collection number: See series descriptions for LP numbers
California State Archives
Office of the Secretary of State
Sacramento, California
- California State Archives
- 1020 "O" Street
- Sacramento, California 95814
- Phone: (916) 653-2246
- Fax: (916) 653-7363
- Email: ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov
- URL: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/
Processed by: Laura Avedisian and Nicholas Jackson
Date Completed: 2011
Encoded by: Laura Avedisian
© 2011 California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Title: Assembly Labor and Employment Committee records,
Date (inclusive): 1945-2008
Collection number: See series descriptions for LP numbers.
Creator:
Assembly Industrial Relations Committee, 1945-1968
Assembly Labor Relations Committee, 1969-1976
Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Relations Committee, 1977-1978
Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Affairs Committee, 1979-1980
Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, 1981-2013
Extent:
56 cubic feet
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records consist of 56 cubic feet of material reflecting the activities of the
committee. Although the name of the committee changed several times, its primary mandate remained the same: to introduce
and investigate legislation on issues of labor and employment.
Physical location: California State Archives
Language:
English.
While the majority of the records are open for research, any access restrictions are noted in the record series descriptions.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], [Name of Committee] Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the
Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
Acquisition and Custodial History
The State Archives received these records in accordance with California Government Code 9080(b) which requires legislative
committees to transfer their records to the State Archives when they are no longer needed by the committee.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Microfilm copies of bill files are available at the California State Archives for legislative sessions 1977-1984.
The first Assembly committee dedicated to legislation relating to issues of employment was created on Saturday, January 10,
1880. On that day, Assembly Member Braunhart "moved to amend Rule Nineteen by adding a subdivision, to be numbered thirty-eight,
to read: A Committee on Labor and Capital." (Assembly Journal, January 10, 1880, p. 45). Although the name of the committee
has changed several times, the basic mandate has remained the same for well over a century. In every legislative session
since 1880, there has been an Assembly committee dedicated to the various issues of labor and employment.
After 1937, the committee's mandate included specific mention of legislation pertaining to the Labor Code that had been created
by Chapter 90 of the Statutes of 1937. In 1945, legislators changed the name of the committee to the Assembly Industrial
Relations Committee. The committee continued to be assigned all legislation relating to employment issues. According to
the 1968 Assembly Journal, HR438 stated that the Assembly Industrial Relations Committee "is assigned the subject matter in
the Labor Code, uncodified laws relating to labor and industrial relations, and other matters relating to industrial relations."
(July 11, 1968, p. 5709).
In 1969, the name of the committee was again changed, to the Assembly Labor Relations Committee. According to the 1969 Legislative
Handbook, HR414 stated that the committee "is assigned the subject matter in the Labor Code, uncodified laws relating to labor
and industrial relations, and other matters relating to labor relations." (August 4, 1969, p. 7394) In 1977, the Committee
changed its name - but not its basic purpose - to the Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Affairs Committee.
In 1981, legislators changed the name to the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. The jurisdiction of the Labor and Employment
Committee included discrimination in employment, industrial safety - including workplace dangers created by toxic substances,
employment development, and public job programs.
For a complete list of standing committee chairs, please see Appendix A in Additional Information.
The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records consist of 56 cubic feet of material reflecting the activity of the committee
(under various names) in introducing and investigating legislation related to the California Labor Code. The records cover
the years 1945 - 2010. The records are organized into the following records series: Bill Files, Hearing Files, Subject Files,
Administrative Files, History Reports, Correspondence and Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) Oversight Hearing Files.
Although the committee began in the 1880s, the California State Archives did not receive records from the committee until
1945, and the bulk of the records are from 1968-2008.
Among the bill files, hearing files and subject files researchers will find information on labor related topics such as safety
in the workplace, unemployment, fair wages, the underground economy, and industrial accident investigations. Other subjects
of particular interest to researchers may include debates on immigration reform, the handling of toxic materials, regulation
of labor unions and the rights of union members - especially the rights of public employees to unionize - and the treatment
of agricultural workers. Beginning in the 1960s, the committee regularly contemplated remedies to gender, ethnic or racial
discrimination by employers. At the same time, the committee considered programs that would help employ women, high school
drop-outs, and minorities in more fields or better paying jobs. There is considerable material available in the hearing and
subject files regarding Governor George Deukmejian's proposal to close Cal-OSHA in 1987, including many letters from union
members and other constituents as well as newspaper editorials. In addition, the Agricultural Labor Relations Board Oversight
Hearing Files contain reports, testimony and correspondence documenting the ALRB's handling of labor disputes.
Further accruals expected.
Labor unions
Agricultural laborers
Industrial accidents
California. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Safety and health at work
Related Collections at the California State Archives
Terry B. Friedman Papers
Richard E. Floyd Papers
Bill Greene Papers
Tom Hayden Papers
Bill Lockyer Papers
Leo T. McCarthy Papers
Wally Knox Papers
Darrel Steinberg Papers
Paul Koretz Papers
Sandre Swanson Papers
Senate Industrial Relations Committee Records
Leo T. McCarthy, oral history interview, conducted 1995 and 1996 by Carole Hicke, Regional Oral History Office, University
of California, Berkeley, for the California State Archives State Government Oral History Program.
See LP numbers below
Series 1 Bill Files 1967-2008
Physical Description:
669 file folders and 1 videotape
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Microfilm copies of bill files are available for the years 1977-1984 where indicated with
MF before the LP number.
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by legislative session, then numerically bill number.
Access Information
Access to audiovisual materials requires the production of use copies.
Scope and Content Note
Bill files created by the committee may include analyses, amendments and resolutions, author's statements, testimony, press
releases, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and committee statements. The committee analyzed any bill affecting the Labor
Code. Of particular interest are those bills relating to the regulation of Cal-OSHA, workplace safety - including the handling
of toxic materials in the workplace, investigations of industrial accidents and discussions of immigration, unemployment and
the underground economy. Some bills of note include AB119 (1969), a controversial "professional strikebreakers" bill; AB1533
(1975), on farm labor disputes; and AB1 (1983-1984), to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Researchers may
also want to examine AB13 (1993-1994), which banned smoking in public workplaces; SB733 (1993-1994), which stated that job
centers must first verify the legal residency of their clients; or AB1001 (1999-2000), which added sexual orientation to the
categories of discrimination prohibited under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Although not all of these bills passed,
the bill files often indicate intense debate surrounding these issues.
Note: The California State Archives received only a few bill files for the year 1970.
Assembly Industrial Relations Committee, 1967-1969
1967: AB157-AB2369, ACR50, HR100, SB736-1491 (2ff) LP183:50-51
1968: AB158-AB805 (1ff) LP183:64
1968: AB820-AB2090, SB171-SB1070 (1ff) LP183:65
1969: AB119-AB2220 (4ff) LP183:68-71
1969: SB197-SB1192 (1ff) LP183:72
1970: AB22-AB2501 (2ff) LP183:84-85
1970: SB678, SB1033, SCR44 (1ff) LP183:84-86
Assembly Labor Relations Committee, 1971-1976
1971: AB30-AB2845, ACR101, AJR2 (3ff) LP184:1-3
1971: SB40-SB1207, SJR31 (1ff) LP184:4
1972: AB9-AB2388, ACA93 (5ff) LP184:5-9
1972: SB381-SB1499, SCR54, SCR56, SJR18 (1ff) LP184:10
1973-1974: AB10-AB4537, ACR30, AJR49 (6ff) LP210:1-6
1973-1974: SB524-SB2463, SCR103, SJR34 (1ff) LP210:7
1975-1976: AB1-AB4506, ACA98, ACR42-ACR232, AJR6-AJR79 (13ff) LP210:9-23
1975-1976: SB155-SB2060, SJR8-SJR45 (3ff) LP210:24-26
1975: SB1xxx (1ff) LP210:27
Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Affairs, 1977-1980
1977-1978: AB18-AB3794, ACR21-ACR148, AJR13-AJR91 (27ff)
MF LP210:38-64
1977-1978: SB28-SB2141, SCR6-SCR94, SJR17, SJR32 (8ff)
MF LP210:65-72
1979-1980: AB1-AB3448, ACR59-ACR140, AJR24-AJR73 (25ff)
MF LP222:183-207
1979-1980: SB2-SB2058, SCR69, SCR76 (6ff)
MF LP222:208-213
Assembly Labor and Employment Committee, 1981-2008
1981-1982: AB1-AB2800 (10ff)
MF LP222:215-224; AB2839-AB3798, ACA48, ACR16-ACR102, AJR24-AJR119 (6ff)
MF LP232:165-170; AB2X (1ff)
MF LP232:171
1981-1982: SB40-SB1857, SCR30 (4ff)
MF LP232:172-174
1983-1984: AB1-AB3973, ACA3, ACA40, ACR37-ACR144, AJR2, AJR8 (25ff)
MF LP232:176-200
1983-1984: SB14-SB2279 (4ff)
MF LP232:201-204
1985-1986: AB1-AB4351, ACR76-ACR165, AJR79-AJR100 (22ff) LP323:1-22
1985-1986: SB11-SB2572 (9ff) LP323:23-31
1987-1988: AB1-AB4555, ACR108-ACR152, AJR77 (35ff) LP323:32-66
1987-1988: SB122-SB2855 (13ff) LP323:67-79
1989-1990: AB28-AB4311, ACR111, AJR9-AJR96 (35ff) LP323:80-116
1989-1990: SB197-SB2844, SCR77, SJR62, HR43 (13ff) LP323:117-129
1991-1992: AB15-AB3825, ACR65-ACR115, AJR33-AJR37, AB63X (22ff) LP323:133-154
1991-1992: SB222-SB1976, SCR23-SCR65, SJR46-SJR50 (7ff) LP323:155-161
1993-1994: AB13-AB3831, ACR90; ACR123; AJR57; HR17; HR25; AB14X (28ff) LP340:1-27
1993-1994: SB96-SB1694 (7ff) LP340:28-34
1995-1996: AB50-AB3479, ACR33, AJR17 (36ff) LP340:137-172
1995-1996: SB238-SB2166 (11ff) LP340:173-183
1997-1998: AB15-AB2800, ACR17, AJR64, HR16 (34ff) LP340:184-217
1997-1998: SB48-SB2192, SCR54 (9ff) LP340:218-226
1999-2000: AB60-AB2862, AJR51, HR61 (46ff) LP340:227-272
1999-2000: SB16-SB1999 (19ff) LP340:273-291
2001-2002: AB25-AB2991, ACR236-ACR239, AJR36, GRP1 (39ff) LP340:292-330
2001-2002: SB20-SB2066 (14ff) LP340:331-344
2003-2004: AB76-AB3037, ACR46-ACR213, AJR1-AJR91 (34ff) LP340:345-378
2003-2004: SB9-SB1904, SCR20 (9ff) LP340:379-387
2005-2006: AB48-AB3054, ACR43, AJR20-AJR27, HR15-HR18 (25ff) LP340:388-412
2005-2006: SB46-SB1719, SCR25, SJR7-SJR27 (8ff) LP340:413-420
2007-2008: AB124-AB3066, AJR27-AJR28, HR17 (25ff) LP340:421-445
2007-2008: SB18-SB1362, SCR102 (7ff) LP340:446-452
See Appendix B for LP numbers
Series 2 Hearing Files 1958-2008
Physical Description:
455 file folders, 38 volumes, 77 audiotapes, 2 videotapes, photographs
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date of hearing.
Access Information
Access to audiovisual materials requires the production of use copies.
Scope and Content Note
Hearing files for the committee may contain agendas, audiotapes, transcripts, testimony, background, and working files for
regular session hearings as well as interim hearings and select joint hearings. Audiotapes and videotapes have been separated
to a cold-storage vault for preservation purposes and separation sheets are in the hearing files to alert the researcher to
the existence of these tapes. Also found within this series are hearing files for the Senate Committee on Industrial Relations
for the years of 1995 and 1996 that were kept by the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee.
Of potential interest are those files pertaining to bills such as AB607 (1959) on collective bargaining for state employees;
HR245 (1961) on employment of the handicapped; AB865 (1966) on collective bargaining for hospital employees; AB1533 (1975)
on collective bargaining by agricultural employees; or AB1 (1983) on discrimination based on sexual orientation. Other potentially
significant hearings were held on October 28, 1997, to review amusement ride safety and on November 14, 2001, to review the
impact of terrorism on California labor. In addition, researchers may want to examine hearings from the late 1970s on consumer
abuse in low-income areas, licensing exams for various professions, unemployment and job creation programs. Also of interest
are hearings in the late 1960s and early 1970s on protective labor laws for women, and hearings in the 1980s on workplace
safety issues such as video display terminal safety.
For a list of hearing dates and topics, see Appendix B in in Additional Series Information.
See Appendix C for LP numbers
Series 3 Subject Files 1965-1990
Physical Description:
83 files folders, 2 volumes
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject title.
Scope and Content Note
Subject Files created by the committee may include correspondence, background materials, notes, reports, newspaper clippings,
and subcommittee information. Of particular note are those files related to the intense debates over the proposed shut down
of Cal-OSHA under the Deukmejian Administration in 1987. Researchers may also be interested in files related to the underground
economy in the construction industry, the regulation of work hazards, toxic material handling, apprenticeship programs and
debates over pensions for public employees. Committee consultant files provide insight into such issues as racism in construction
unions in the late 1960s, the grape strike and grape boycott of 1975 and the many debates over a labor relations law for farm
workers in the 1970s and 1980s.
For a list of Subject Files, see Appendix C in in Additional Series Information.
See Appendix D for LP numbers
Series 4 Administrative Files 1959-1986
Physical Description:
21 file folders, 1 volume
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
Scope and Content Note
Administrative files created by the committees may include memoranda, notes, reports, schedules, rules, subcommittee information,
questions for witnesses, and meeting agendas. Planning files include proposed schedules, proposed travel itineraries and
potential witnesses for committee hearings. Legislative summaries may include very brief descriptions of each bill heard
by the committee in any given session. These files will indicate to a researcher how the committee was organized and how
it functioned.
For a list of Administrative Files, see Appendix D in in Additional Series Information.
LP340:731-740
Series 5 Correspondence 1997-2005
Physical Description:
10 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date.
Scope and Content Note
This committee's correspondence files consist of the Chairman's correspondence from 1997 to 2005 with state and local agencies
and departments, state legislators, and constituents on subjects relating to bill hearings, bill amendments, administrative
issues, information requests and constituent concerns.
LP340:741-744
Series 6 History Reports 1995-1996
Physical Description:
4 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically by date.
Scope and Content Note
The committee's history reports contain bill scheduling charts, hearing results, reports of standing committees, author's
amendments and committee hearing action reports relating to bill histories. Committee hearing action reports include measure
numbers and a description of the actions taken.
LP340:745-785
Series 7 Agricultural Labor Relations Board Oversight Hearing Files 2010
Physical Description:
38 file folders
Arrangement
Arranged by ALRB case number.
Scope and Content Note
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board Oversight Hearing Files consist of correspondence, background material, reports, and
testimony documenting a charge made by the United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO that San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc. had
engaged in unfair labor practices. According to the charge, San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc. failed to bargain collectively
in good faith and interfered with employee rights guaranteed in the Agricultural Labor Relations Act of 1975. The origin for
this matter was an election conducted among the agricultural employees of San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc., LCL Farms, Inc.,
and Ace Tomato Company, Inc., in which the United Farm Workers of America was selected as their representative. San Joaquin
Tomato Growers, Inc., LCL Farms, Inc., and Ace Tomato Company, Inc. objected to the results, claiming that the United Farm
Workers of America had engaged in a campaign of violence, threats of violence, property damage, and other forms of intimidation
and coercion that interfered with the employees' free choice. The hearing was held on June 15, 2010, at the ALRB regional
office in Visalia.
Case No. 93-CE-38-VI: San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc., 2010 (5ff) LP340:745-749
Case No. 89-RC-4-VI: San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc. Election Documents, 2010 (12ff) LP340:750-761
Case No. 89-RC-5-VI: Ace Tomato Company, Inc Election Documents, 2010 (5ff) LP340:762-766
Case No. 93-CE-38-VI: San Joaquin Tomato Growers, Inc., Payroll Data, 2010 (14ff) LP340:767-780
Case No. 93-CE37-VI and Case No. 93-CE-38-VI General Compliance Records, 2010 (5ff) LP340:781-785