California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Processed by: The California State Archives staff and Laura Avedisian
Date Completed: 2004
Encoded by: Laura Avedisian
© 2004 California Secretary of State. All rights reserved.
Collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives collections.
[Identification of item], [Name of Committee] Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
The California State Archives received these records from the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee over a number of years.
Microfilm copies of bill files are available at the California State Archives for legislative sessions 1977-1984.
The first Assembly committee dedicated to legislation relating to issues of employment was created on Saturday, January 10, 1880. On that day, Assembly Member Braunhart "moved to amend Rule Nineteen by adding a subdivision, to be numbered thirty-eight, to read: A Committee on Labor and Capital." (Assembly Journal, January 10, 1880, p. 45). Although the name of the committee has changed several times, the basic mandate has remained the same for well over a century. In every legislative session since 1880, there has been an Assembly committee dedicated to the various issues of labor and employment.
After 1937, the committee's mandate included specific mention of legislation pertaining to the Labor Code that had been created by Chapter 90 of the Statutes of 1937. In 1945, legislators changed the name of the committee to the Assembly Industrial Relations Committee. The committee continued to be assigned all legislation relating to employment issues. According to the 1968 Assembly Journal, HR438 stated that the Assembly Industrial Relations Committee "is assigned the subject matter in the Labor Code, uncodified laws relating to labor and industrial relations, and other matters relating to industrial relations." (July 11, 1968, p. 5709).
In 1969, the name of the committee was again changed, to the Assembly Labor Relations Committee. According to the 1969 Legislative Handbook, HR414 stated that the committee "is assigned the subject matter in the Labor Code, uncodified laws relating to labor and industrial relations, and other matters relating to labor relations." (August 4, 1969, p. 7394) In 1977, the Committee changed its name - but not its basic purpose - to the Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Relations Committee; in 1979 it became the Assembly Labor, Employment and Consumer Affairs Committee.
In 1981, legislators changed the name to the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. The jurisdiction of the Labor and Employment Committee included discrimination in employment, industrial safety - including workplace dangers created by toxic substances, employment development, and public job programs.
The Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records consist of 34.5 cubic feet of material reflecting the activity of the committee (under various names) in introducing and investigating legislation related to the California Labor Code. The records cover the years 1945 - 1994. They are comprised of bill files, hearing files, subject files and administrative files. Although the committee began in the 1880s, the California State Archives did not receive records from the committee until 1945, and the bulk of the records are from 1968-1994.
Among the bill files, hearing files and subject files researchers will find information on labor related topics such as safety in the workplace, unemployment, fair wages, the underground economy, and industrial accident investigations. Other subjects of particular interest to researchers may include debates on immigration reform, the handling of toxic materials, regulation of labor unions and the rights of union members - especially the rights of public employees to unionize - and the treatment of agricultural workers. Beginning in the 1960s, the committee regularly contemplated remedies to gender, ethnic or racial discrimination by employers. At the same time, the committee considered programs that would help employ women, high school drop-outs, and minorities in more fields or better paying jobs. Also, there is considerable material available in the hearing and subject files regarding Governor George Deukmejian's proposal to close Cal-OSHA in 1987, including many letters from union members and other constituents as well as newspaper editorials.
It is anticipated that the Archives will receive further records from the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee. Researchers should check for recently received, unprocessed records.
The records have been organized into four series: bill files, hearing files, subject files and administrative files.
The following terms have been associated with these materials in the Archives' automated public access system (currently in development, December 2004).
See Inventory of the California State Assembly Labor and Employment Committee Records, with appendices and file identification numbers, in the reference room at the California State Archives. Catalog cards are also available in the reference room.
Terry B. Friedman Papers
Richard E. Floyd Papers
Bill Greene Papers
Tom Hayden Papers
Bill Lockyer Papers
Leo T. McCarthy Papers
Leo T. McCarthy, oral history interview, conducted 1995 and 1996 by Carole Hicke, Regional Oral History Office, University of California, Berkeley, for the California State Archives State Government Oral History Program.
Senate Industrial Relations Committee Records
Audiotapes and videotapes of hearings have been separated to a cold-storage vault for preservation purposes. Separation sheets are in the hearing files to alert to the researcher to the existence and location of these tapes.
Bill files are arranged chronologically by legislative session then numerically and alphabetically by bill number.
The committee analyzed any bill affecting the Labor Code. Bill files created by the committee may include analyses, amendments and resolutions, author's statements, testimony, press releases, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and committee statements. Of particular interest are those bills relating to the regulation of Cal-OSHA, workplace safety - including the handling of toxic materials in the workplace, investigations of industrial accidents and discussions of immigration, unemployment and the underground economy. Some bills of note include AB119 (1969), a controversial "professional strikebreakers" bill, AB1533 (1975), on farm labor disputes, or AB1 (1983-1984), to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Researchers may also want to examine AB13 (1993-1994), which banned smoking in public workplaces, or SB733 (1993-1994), which stated that job centers must first verify the legal residency of their clients. Although not all of these bills passed, the bill files often indicate intense debate surrounding these issues.
The California State Archives received only a few bill files for the year 1970.
Microfilm copies of bill files are available for the years 1977-1984 as indicated by MF before the LP number.
1967: AB157-AB2369, ACR50, HR100, SB736-1491 (2ff) LP183:50-51
1968: AB158-AB805 (1ff) LP183:64
1968: AB820-AB2090, SB171-SB1070 (1ff) LP183:65
1969: AB119-AB2220 (4ff) LP183:68-71
1969: SB197-SB1192 (1ff) LP183:72
1970: AB22-AB2501 (2ff) LP183:84-85
1970: SB678, SB1033, SCR44 (1ff) LP183:84-86
1971: AB30-AB2845, ACR101, AJR2 (3ff) LP184:1-3
1971: SB40-SB1207, SJR31 (1ff) LP184:4
1972: AB9-AB2388, ACA93 (5ff) LP184:5-9
1972: SB381-SB1499, SCR54, SCR56, SJR18 (1ff) LP184:10
1973-1974: AB10-AB4537, ACR30, AJR49 (6ff) LP210:1-6
1973-1974: SB524-SB2463, SCR103, SJR34 (1ff) LP210:7
1975-1976: AB1-AB4506, ACA98, ACR42-ACR232,AJR6-AJR79 (13ff) LP210:9-23
1975-1976: SB155-SB2060, SJR8-SJR45 (3ff) LP210:24-26
1975: SB1xxx (1ff) LP210:27
1977-1978: AB18-AB3794, ACR21-ACR148, AJR13-AJR91 (27ff) MF LP210:38-64
1977-1978: SB28-SB2141, SCR6-SCR94, SJR17, SJR32 (8ff) MF LP210:65-72
1979-1980: AB1-AB3448, ACR59-ACR140, AJR24-AJR73 (25ff) MF LP222:183-207
1979-1980: SB2-SB2058, SCR69, SCR76 (6ff) MF LP222:208-213
1981-1982: AB1-AB2800 (10ff) MF LP222:215-224
1981-1982: AB2839-AB3798, ACA48, ACR16-ACR102,AJR24-AJR119, AB2x (7ff) MF LP232:165-171
1981-1982: SB40-SB1857, SCR30 (4ff) MF LP232:172-174
1983-1984: AB1-AB3973, ACA3, ACA40, ACR37-ACR144, AJR2, AJR8 (25ff) MF LP232:176-200
1983-1984: SB14-SB2279 (4ff) MF LP232:201-204
1985-1986: AB1-AB4351, ACR76-ACR165, AJR79-AJR100 (23ff) LP323:1-22
1985-1986: SB11-SB2572 (9ff) LP323:23-31
1987-1988: AB1-AB4555, ACR108-ACR152, AJR77 (35ff) LP323:32-66
1987-1988: SB122-SB2855 (13ff) LP323:67-79
1989-1990: AB28-AB4311, ACR111, AJR9-AJR96 (35ff) LP323:80-116
1989-1990: SB197-SB2844, SCR77, SJR62, HR43 (13ff) LP323:117-129
1991-1992: AB15-AB3825, ACR65-ACR115, AJR33-AJR37, AB63x (22ff) LP323:133-154
1991-1992: SB222-SB1976, SCR23-SCR65, SJR46-SJR50 (7ff) LP323:155-161
1993-1994: AB13-AB3831, ACR90, ACR123, AJR57, HR17, HR25, ABX14 (28ff) LP340:1-27
1993-1994: SB96-SB1694 (7ff) LP340:28-34
Hearing files are arranged chronologically by date of hearing.
Hearing files for the committee may contain agendas, audiotapes, transcripts, testimony, background, and working files for regular session hearings as well as interim hearings and select joint hearings. Audiotapes and videotapes have been separated to a cold-storage vault for preservation purposes and separation sheets are in the hearing files to alert the researcher to the existence of these tapes.
Of potential interest are those files pertaining to bills such as AB607 (1959) on collective bargaining for state employees; HR245 (1961) on employment of the handicapped; AB865 (1966) on collective bargaining for hospital employees; or AB1533 (1975) on collective bargaining by agricultural employees. In addition, researchers may want to examine hearings from the later 1970s on consumer abuse in low-income areas, licensing exams for various professions, unemployment and job creation programs. Also of interest are hearings in the late 1960s and early 1970s on protective labor laws for women, or 1980s hearings on workplace safety issues such as video display terminal safety.
A complete list of hearing dates and subjects is available in Appendix B of the finding aid at the California State Archives.
Arranged by index and then alphabetically by subject tile.
Subject files created by the committee may include correspondence, background materials, notes, reports, newspaper clippings, and subcommittee information. Of particular note are those files related to the intense debates over the proposed shut down of Cal-OSHA under the Deukmejian Administration in 1987. Researchers may also be interested in files related to the underground economy in the construction industry, the regulation of work hazards, toxic material handling, apprenticeship programs and debates over pensions for public employees. Committee consultant files provide insight into such issues as racism in construction unions in the late 1960s, the grape strike and grape boycott of 1975 and the many debates over a labor relations law for farm workers in the 1970s and 1980s.
A list complete list of subject file titles and dates is available in Appendix C of the finding aid at the California State Archives.
Administrative files are arranged alphabetically. However, most administrative files in this series have different identification numbers and are housed separate from each other.
Administrative files created by the committees may include memos, notes, reports, schedules, rules, subcommittee information, questions for witnesses and meeting agendas. Planning files include proposed schedules, proposed travel itineraries and potential witnesses for committee hearings. Legislative summaries may include very brief descriptions of each bill heard by the committee in any given session. These files will indicate to a researcher how the committee was organized and how it functioned.
See Appendix D of the finiding ad at the California State Archives for a complete listing of subject file titles and dates.