DC36 TOWN HALL MEETING

You will receive the latest updates from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) directly from General President, James A. Williams and your District Council 36 (DC36) Business Manager, Luis F. Robles. 

This will give you a chance to meet the General President of the IUPAT, your Business Manager, Business Representatives, and the Executive Staff at DC36.

▪       Welcome Remarks

▪       DC36 Business Manager, Luis F. Robles

▪       IUPAT General Secretary Treasurer, Greg Smith

▪       IUPAT Program VP, Shane Smith

▪       District Council 36 Directors:

o      Director of Service, Ernesto Toscano

o      Director of Organizing, Matthew Weir

o      Director of Government Affairs, Robert Smith

o      Director of Training, David Burtle

▪       IUPAT Regional General VP, Michael Gutierrez

▪       IUPAT General President, James A. Williams

▪       Q & A

▪       Closing Remarks

MAY 7, 2024

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Los Angeles

13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650

Doors open at 4:00 PM

Monthly Union Meeting:

Third Thursday of the month

5:00 P.M.

Location:  Union Office

1155 Corporate Center Drive

Monterey Park, CA.  91754

LOCAL UNION # 1991:

The Local Union # 1991, DIstrict Council #36, is a Local Union of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and affiliated with the AFL-CIO.  The offices are located at:  

219 West Manchester Blvd., Suite 5

Inglewood, CA.  90301     

1155 Corporate Center Drive

Monterey Park, CA.  91754

Right to ignore off-hours work callsproposed

By Ruben Vives (LA TIMES 4/8/2024

A San Francisco lawmaker is proposing a bill that would make California the first state in the country to give workers the right to ignore after-hours calls, emails and texts from their employers.

Assembly Bill 2751, introduced by Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), would create a “right-to-disconnect” law that guarantees workers uninterrupted personal and family time, free from calls or messages after work hours. It also mandates employers to create and publish plans to implement the new law into their policies and empower the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to investigate and fine employers who habitually violate it.

But the bill already has opposition from business advocacy groups that worry the legislation might create more headaches than it’s worth.

Haney said the bill aims to set a boundary between work and home life that in recent years has been blurred by smartphones and the shift to remote work pushed further by the pandemic.

“Work has changed drastically compared to what it was just 10 years ago,” Haney said. “People have to be able to spend time with their families without being constantly interrupted at the dinner table or their kids’ birthday party, worried about their phones and responding to work.”

A survey of 41 advanced countries conducted by the Organization for Better Economic Co-operation and Development found that the U.S. ranked 29th when it came to work-life balance. It also found that 10% of U.S. residents worked 50 hours or more a week on average.

Studies have shown that workers who lack a healthy work-life balance are likely to experience burnout, anxiety, stress and other mental health conditions. That is especially the case for women and working parents.

A 2021 survey by Mind Share Partners, a nonprofit focused on workplace mental health, found that 84% of respondents said their workplace had contributed to at least one mental health condition. Last year, the nonprofit conducted another survey and found improvements had been made but that mental health issues overall still continued to plague the workforce.

Haney said that the bill would reinforce California as a forward-thinking state and that it would join about a dozen countries including France, where the idea originated in 2017.

Last month, Australia appeared to be the latest country to approve legislation that grants workers the right to disconnect.

Tyler Jochman, an attorney who has conducted research on compensation under the right-to-disconnect laws, said such legislation is important for workers’ health, especially for people working from home. It also further ensures that people are paid for the time they work.

But the law might cause some issues for companies that have branches in other states with different time zones. It also raises questions about the effect it will have on pay and exempt employees.

“We could see a redefinition of a salary employee,” Jochman said.

Those were among the issues raised by the California Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the bill.

In an April 1 letter, Ashley Hoffman, senior policy advocate for the chamber, wrote that the bill was vague and failed to consider the state’s long-standing laws regarding hours worked and exempt employees, and did not account for the uniqueness of different industries and professions.

“The bill may effectively ban overtime unless it is pre-planned,” she wrote. “That would result in significant lost wages for workers who regularly want to work overtime.”

She also raised concerns that the bill appears to apply to exempt employees who are paid a regular salary regardless of hours worked and are not subject to laws such as those covering overtime or rest requirements.

“Requiring employers to assign those exempt workers ‘nonworking hours’ completely defeats the intent behind being an exempt employee,” Hoffman wrote. “It also restrains an employee’s flexibility.”

Haney could not immediately be reached for comment. But as part of his statement announcing the bill, he said the legislation has flexibility to make sure it works for everyone, including sectors that may require on-call work or longer hours.

He said it would also make an exception for after-work contact during emergencies or to discuss scheduling. It also makes exceptions for unions to allow collective bargaining agreements to supersede the law.

“Many of California’s larger employers are already abiding by the right-to-disconnect laws in other countries and choosing to grow their companies rapidly in those places,” he said. “They’re providing their French, Portuguese and Irish employees a clear delineation between ‘work time’ and ‘non-work time,’ they’re just not doing that for Californians.”