A labor of love nearly a decade in the making

The state budget, for the current fiscal year, has an $18 million line item dedicated to helping fund local agencies assisting with state labor law enforcement, providing said agencies are county attorneys, city attorneys or district attorneys. Through this program, the county has the potential to recuperate some if not all the costs associated with establishing a local OLSE.

This is also timely given the passage of Assembly Bill 800, which established a “Workplace Readiness Week” in California public and charter high schools to educate students on their workplace rights. This integration of Workplace Readiness Week observance into the 11th and 12th grade regular curriculum is set to begin with the next school year, and is mandated to include information on local, state and federal laws relative to child labor, wage and hour protections, worker safety, workers’ compensation, paid sick leave, prohibitions against retaliation and coverage of the right of workers to organize. 

This information isn’t just relevant to young people beginning their employment journey; we can all benefit from better understanding our protections under the law. This is true of both employees and of employers.

On behalf of the labor community, we are so grateful to Supervisor Mueller for making our passion project his own and seeing it to fruition. We further thank Supervisor Dave Pine for co-sponsoring, supervisors David Canepa, Noelia Corzo and Warren Slocum for their enthusiastic support and County Manager Mike Callagy for his partnership. Finally, none of this would have happened without the work of Linda Wolin in Supervisor Pine’s office and Marisol Escalera Durani in Supervisor Mueller’s office, and without the research started years ago by Dave Burruto when he was with Supervisor Pine.  

A San Mateo County OLSE also represents a lot of potential when it comes to worker protection. My office gets calls nearly every day from individuals thinking we are the labor commissioner. While the issues they’re calling about are often related to wage and hour violations, we have also gotten calls from many individuals experiencing discrimination at work, suffering sexual harassment or enduring hostile work environments, folks who have has their immigration status threatened to keep them compliant, instances of wrongful termination — the list goes on. 

We refer them to one of the local labor commissioner offices, but goodness knows how much help they end up being able to get there given the current staff caseloads. I can’t wait to be able to refer them to a San Mateo County based office where I know they’ll connect with qualified individuals able to help them navigate these challenges in a timely fashion.

As we approach the end of the year, I’m heartened to know 2024 holds a brighter future for the working people of San Mateo County.

And yes, I cried when the motion for its establishment (unanimously) passed. 

Julie Lind is the executive secretary-treasurer of the San Mateo Labor Council.