RCRC, in coalition with local government partners, strongly opposes Assembly Bill 504, authored by Assembly Member Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Colton). This measure would declare, as a human right, the acts of sympathy striking and honoring a picket line. AB 504 would also void provisions in public employer policies or collective bargaining agreements that limit or prevent an employee's right to sympathy strike. 

Under current law, essential employees of a local public agency as defined by the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) law cannot engage in a primary or sympathy strike. Specifically, AB 504 would: 

  • Override the essential employee process at PERB, thereby creating a system where any employee can sympathy strike, which could result in workforce shortages that jeopardize the ability to provide critical health and safety functions, including disaster response, emergency services, dispatch, mobile crisis response, health care, law enforcement, corrections, elections, road maintenance, and other essential services.  

  • Void provisions of Local Memoranda of Understanding around striking and sympathy striking that ensures local governments can continue to provide critical services. 

  • Allow employees who have not gone through the negotiation process to refuse to work, simply because another bargaining unit is engaged in a strike.  

RCRC and partners continue to advocate that shutting down government operations for sympathy strikes is an extreme approach that goes well beyond what is allowed for primary strikes and puts the public’s health and safety at risk. AB 504 jeopardizes the delivery of services and undermines the collective bargaining process. 

AB 504 passed off the Assembly Floor on May 31st and is awaiting a hearing date in the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement. We encourage counties to consider opposition to AB 504 because it jeopardizes a county’s ability to provide critical health and safety functions.  

The coalition's opposition letter is available here. For more information, contact RCRC Policy Advocate, Sarah Dukett.