Will Lorena Gonzalez Be the Next Head of the CA Federation of Labor?
Big Issues Await a New Leader of California’s Union Movement
By Jim Miller
Last week, the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council caused a bit of a stir by sending the following letter to the California Federation of Labor, essentially urging Art Pulaski’s early retirement, and pushing for the state body to elect Lorena Gonzalez as the next Executive Secretary-Treasurer:
A letter to the state fed executive council:
Our movement has been well-served and made unprecedented advances under the leadership of Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. We owe him a debt of gratitude and should all pay tribute to his years of service in the months ahead.
At the same time, though, we need to have a clear and united path in 2022 to win legislative, political, organizing, and contract victories in an environment increasingly hostile to working people’s interests and rights. Spending the first quarter of the next year engaged in selecting or fighting over Brother Pulaski’s successor will not advance those goals—especially when there is one leader who stands out in a field of qualified candidates.
Lorena Gonzalez is one of us and her time in the state Assembly has repeatedly underscored her leadership on working people’s issues. She has distinguished herself by taking on powerful employers, notably those in the tech industry, on behalf of workers long exploited and denied basic employee rights.
Looking to the year that lies ahead of us, we need a leader who has many skills and talents but above all else, we need an organizer unafraid of taking on corporations AND elected politicians, regardless of party affiliation, many of whom often forget us after they’ve been elected. Moreover, her years in the legislature give her a perspective and the experience we need to advance our movement’s priorities in Sacramento.
Lorena Gonzales, as a former head of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, understands and has experienced the struggles that unions face across all sectors of the California economy. Under her leadership, the labor council was a powerful and effective force for working families. As a Latina woman, she reflects so much of our state’s working class. She understands the interconnections between economic, racial, gender and climate justice.
Brother Pulaski has announced he’s moving to a well-deserved retirement. Let’s not get bogged down in the usual division that too often accompanies a change in labor leadership. Let’s move to elect Sister Gonzalez before the end of the year so that we can begin 2022 focused on the issues and fights ahead.
We support Lorena Gonzalez to succeed Art Pulaski as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the state fed. We call on the executive council to move expeditiously to elect her in the interests of unity and progress prior to the end of 2021.
In solidarity,
Brigette Browning
Secretary-Treasurer
As Politico reported, the letter was controversial in some quarters as the current leader of the state federation is yet to announce that he is retiring. His term doesn’t expire until 2024, and, as Steve Smith at the state federation observed:
“There is no timeline at this point” for Pulaski to step aside . . . Gonzalez similarly told [Politico] the notion was “intriguing” but noted there isn’t a current vacancy. It’s worth noting that term limits or not, Gonzalez holds a coveted position as chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee — one of the most influential posts in the Capitol. But it sure looks like some folks in organized labor are mounting a public push to draft Gonzalez and vault her into a new gig.
The same Politico piece also reports that with State Building Trades leader Robbie Hunter retiring and SEIU’s California head stepping down in the wake of a scandal, there are a lot of potential changes coming at the statewide level. This, as we head toward an election cycle with reactionary ballot propositions driven by funding from anti-labor plutocrats aiming to end public sector unions and push vouchers potentially coming our way.
As a rank-and-file unionist and delegate in the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, I am far from the top reaches of the California Federation of Labor, but it is abundantly clear that Gonzalez has solid support from most in San Diego labor, and, given her success as a legislator, she might just have the support statewide to end up in the position. The word on the street is that Pulaski is unlikely to serve out his term, so the full court press is on in earnest.
If this gambit results in new leadership of the state federation from Gonzalez or another leader-to-be-named-later, what would be the pressing issues that they could confront? In the wake of the failure of the Democrats to bring about transformational change at the national level, California’s role as a vanguard will again take on new importance.
While we won’t have the PRO Act to help with organizing, California can serve as a key battlefront in the struggle to help workers in the gig economy. In addition to that, continuing to push for new organizing of workers in all sectors in what is now very fertile ground for unions will also be essential.
California unions could push for a new progressive tax measure on wealth to help fund a just recovery and the next leader of labor will also have to finally address what will be a growing need for an equitable transition away from fossil fuel jobs toward a sustainable future economy of good, green, union jobs.
None of this will be easy, so whoever takes the chair needs to be ready to dig in and get to work on multiple fronts. Playing offense for a change would be a good outcome.