To advocate for better occupational safety and health protection, the WorkSafe Activist Network assists the labor movement and other worker advocates in the legislative and regulatory processes in California. We also keep a close watch on Cal/OSHA, the administrative agency responsible for enforcing occupational safety and health in California and for issuing regulations that set minimum levels of safety and health protection. From time to time, we also track federal legislation and standards. Click here for current legislative advocacy activity.
Click here to go to the official government website for California legislative activity.
Please contact us if you would like to join the WorkSafe Activist Network andparticipate in our advocacy activities.
Legislative Advocacy - Act Now!
GET INVOLVED! Write a letter, testify, organize! Click here to see a list of the bills we are tracking.
The WorkSafe Activist Network sponsors California legislation from time to time. Click here to see legislation we are sponsoring along with FACT SHEETS and MODEL LETTERS.
The WorkSafe Activist Network also tracks some California legislation related to occupational safety and health.Click here to see other bills we are tracking along with FACT SHEETS and MODEL LETTERS.
From time to time, the WorkSafe Activist Network! also tracks federal legislation. Take action now to OPPOSE S 1125 in the United States Congress. Click here to see federal bills we are tracking along with FACT SHEETS and MODEL LETTERS.
Special Legislative Hearings
Periodically, volunteers from the WorkSafe Activist Network testify. The Legislature, a legislative committee or an individual member of the Legislature may hold a special hearing or an oversight hearing. We testify about occupational safety and health issues at these hearings. Click here for a list of pending and past hearings.
WorkSafe Activist Network volunteers advocate for California legislation that improves occupational safety and health conditions for workers and protects workers who are injured, suffer retaliation as a result of injury or involvement in occupational safety and health advocacy, etc. From time to time our volunteers draft legislation and ask a member of the California Legislature to carry the bill. When this occurs, we are called the SPONSOR. Usually, however, our volunteers SUPPORT legislation sponsored by other worker advocates, primarily the State Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California, or various unions. And we may OPPOSE legislation that will hurt workers.
ADVOCACY includes writing letters,going to Sacramento to testify at a hearing, or even helping to mobilize workers who may be directly affected by a legislative proposal to go to Sacramento and testify. These are just a few examples.
General Instructions for Tracking California Legislation
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in California LEGISLATION, you need to find the bill number and then you will need to keep track of the bill as it proceeds through the legislature.
STEP 1 - FIND THE BILL
If you know the bill number: Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov. Click on "Bill Information" which is a big blue button at the bottom of the page. Scroll down towards the bottom of that page and enter the bill number you want and click on the Search key. You may have to choose between a Senate Bill or Assembly Bill - just click on the bill you want.
If you do NOT know the bill number: You can also search by a keyword if you don't have the bill number. Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov. Click on "Bill Information" which is a big blue button at the bottom of the page. Scroll down towards the bottom of that page and enter the key words you want and click on the Search key. If you enter the words in "quote marks" then you will find bills that ONLY contain those exact words in that sequence. If you enter the words without "quote marks" then you will find bills that have either word (this may give you too many bills, if for example, you enter the words occupational safety or occupational health. At the same time, if you enter exact words such as occupational safety and health and the bill used the words occupational health and safety, you won't find the bill because the words are reversed. ALSO, be aware that not every bill related to occupational safety and health has those words in it. Sometimes you need to search using other words and need to try a variety of combinations.
Sometimes you need to ask your union or the California Labor Federation for the bill numbers having to do with occupational safety and health. Contact the California Labor Fed at www.calaborfed.org. Or register to receive e-mail from the California Labor Fed at www.calaborfed.org/take_action/index.html.
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO 600 Grand Avenue #410 Oakland CA 94610-3561 Phone: (510)663-4000 Fax: (510)663-4099
Sometimes we will post the bills we are sponsoring or tracking (see above). We do try to list bills with which we are more involved. We try NOT to duplicate bills listed on the California Labor Fed list.
STEP 2 - REVIEW THE BILL
The process above takes you to the opening page of the bill. There you can click on various links for the bill to see the current status and history, to see the bill itself and various amendments, to see various analyses and votes, etc. You can print out from these links.
STEP 3 - SUBSCRIBE TO THE BILL
At the bottom of the bill page, there is a button you can click on to "subscribe". They will send you updates (not exactly timely, however). But if you pay close attention to the update notices and combine that with some general information about how a bill becomes a law, you can figure out how effectively to jump into the process. Click for a general introduction to how a bill becomes a law.
STEP 4 - WRITE A LETTER
Generally, the easiest thing for a voter to do is to write a letter to the author of the bill you wish to support or oppose. Then you send a copy of that letter to the chair of the committee in the Legislature that will hear the bill next. Generally, you do not want to wait until the bill is already on the floor of the Legislature. You also should send a copy of your letter to your own State Assembly Member and State Senate Member so they will have that in their files when the bill happens to come before them. They may encounter the bill because they are on a policy committee or a fiscal committee that hears the bill. They WILL encounter the bill if it reaches the floor of the State Senate or State Assembly.
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