CWA Members in California Fight for Broadband Labor Standards

CWA District 9 Legislative & Political (L&P) activists took their fight for better wages and safety protections to the California Senate Energy Utilities and Communications Committee last week to argue in favor of higher standards for broadband expansion work. The proposed legislation, SB1460, if made into law, would ensure workers on federally funded broadband projects receive competitive wages and safety training, and that workers from at-risk communities would be taken into consideration to expand the workforce.

The bill passed the committee vote and has also passed a vote by the Senate Labor Committee. It will now go before the Appropriation Committee.

Proponents of the bill, including CWA District 9 Legislative and Political team members as well as the California Labor Federation, argue that, in states without these minimum standards, contractors are often brought in to do the work without providing critical safety and skills training.

SB1460 was sponsored by Senator Maria Durazo (D).

 
CWA District 9 Legislative and Political activists argued in favor of higher minimum standards for federally funded broadband expansion contracts in California. They posed for a picture with SB1460 sponsor, Senator Maria Durazo (D) (third from right).

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.