A Dem enthusiasm gap? + CalChamber fires back + Equality California is a union shop

Good morning, and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

CAN NEWSOM RALLY THE TROOPS?

Via Lara Korte...

Earlier this year, it seemed Gov. Gavin Newsom had a lot of advantages heading into the recall election.

COVID-19 vaccines became available and the coronavirus pandemic finally waned. Newsom wielded a state budget flush with a historic surplus and showed off his spending priorities at press conferences all over the state.

The first-term governor and the Democratic party had major donors, a super majority in the Legislature, and almost half of all registered California voters on their side.

Now Newsom and the Democratic Party have to make sure the state’s 10 million Democratic voters show up for him.

Recent polling suggests that may be a bigger challenge for him than his party expected even last month. Newsom’s opponents are far more motivated than his supporters to turn out in the recall election next month, raising the potential for his removal.

In focus groups, Democratic voters say they aren’t paying attention to the recall and don’t have much interest in it.

“I think that’s been our concern from the very beginning,” said longtime Democratic strategist Katie Merrill. “The Republican, right-wing recall supporters are far more enthusiastic, far more engaged about voting and.... they are going to turn out.”

Democratic voters are disengaged, Merrill said. The task of Newsom’s campaign, Stop the Republican Recall, will be to make sure voters are aware and motivated to cast ballots come September.

“The Democrats have to do everything possible to ensure that the recall fails,” she said. “There is no fail-safe.”

Read more on Gavin Newsom’s turnout problem, and what Democrats are trying to do about it.

CALCHAMBER RESPONDS TO OPEN LETTER

Remember back on Wednesday, when we reported on the letter from a coalition of fashion businesses criticizing the California Chamber of Commerce for labeling SB 62 as a “Job Killer” bill?

CalChamber has issued a response.

“It should be noted that out of the entities that signed onto the July 28 letter, it appears that more than 40% are either not involved at all in the process of manufacturing garments or manufacture garments exclusively outside of California or the United States. Of those that do utilize some manufacturing operations in California, many also manufacture outside of the state,” wrote CalChamber policy advocate Ashley Hoffman in a letter provided to The Bee.

Hoffman wrote that CalChamber shares the goals of proponents of SB 62 — to eliminate wage theft in the garment industry — but argues that the bill fails to address the problem.

“Instead of enforcing the many laws that already exist to combat wage theft and the use of low-paying contracts, the bill allows unlawful actors to continue business as usual because it absolves them of liability. SB 62 will drive businesses to manufacture out of California because of the unprecedented joint and several liability that the bill places on brands, retailors, licensors, and others without punishing the bad actors. If SB 62 were amended so that it only eliminated the use of piece-rate work in the garment industry, we would remove our opposition,” Hoffman wrote.

Hoffman notes that many of the workers most harmed by unlawful entities in the garment industry are undocumented and lower-wage earners, but that a bill that shifts liability elsewhere after a violation has already been committed is not the answer.

EQUALITY CALIFORNIA IS UNIONIZING

A supermajority of workers at Equality California, the largest statewide LGBT advocacy group in the country, announced their intention to form a new union, called Equality Unites, in affiliation with the Communication Workers of America.

Equality Unites was formed to address employee hiring and retention, “particularly among employees of color, trans, gender nonconforming and intersex people,” as well as salary, raise and promotion transparency, guidelines for overtime and fair compensation, a healthy feedback culture and decisions that will impact employee health, safety and lives, according to a union statement.

“We are proud to work for Equality California, which, for over two decades, has stood shoulder to shoulder with unions just as unions have fought alongside us for LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice. Equality California needs a union because the values and policies that we fight for on the local, state, and federal levels should be reflected within our own internal policies,” the union said in a statement.

To that end, the union asked outgoing director Rick Chavez Zbur and incoming director Tony Hoang to voluntarily recognize their organization.

In response, Zbur and Hoang released the following statement:

“As a progressive civil rights organization, Equality California has always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with unions in support of workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain. We remain fully committed to these pro-worker values, and we intend to support our employees’ organizational efforts and voluntarily recognize a bargaining unit. We look forward to continuing to provide a supportive and equitable environment for all of our employees and to working collaboratively with them going forward.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“California politicians are floating legislation to make recalls harder. The better approach is replacing them with public servants to make recalls unnecessary.”

- Assemblyman (and recall gubernatorial candidate) Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, via Twitter.

Best of the Bee:

• Acknowledging the risk of rolling blackouts as California’s hot summer drags on, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a state-funded cash-incentive program Friday to encourage big industrial customers to curtail electricity consumption during crunch times, via Dale Kasler.

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom pleaded with President Joe Biden for more federal support in combating forest fires Friday during a virtual White House meeting with Western governors, via Bryan Lowry.

• The infrastructure deal churning its way through the Senate could mean billions of new dollars aimed at fixing and rebuilding California’s roads and bridges — projects that could proceed quickly, via David Lightman.