Published
August 21, 2025
August 21, 2025
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor of California
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Newsom:
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (“the Chamber”) opposes AB 288, which is currently under consideration in the California legislature. AB 288 is part of a recent trend where certain state legislatures have introduced legislation that appears to be an end-run around the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its exclusive authority over the union organizing process. We urge you to veto this proposal should it pass.
Under these bills, state agencies, such as the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), would be empowered to step into the shoes of the NLRB and enforce final judgments against employers and unions and certify final election results. Such proposed laws are explicitly preempted by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), as the NLRB has sole authority to administer and enforce the Act.
Furthermore, the NLRB’s Acting General Counsel released a statement August 15, 2025 stating “that recent measures under consideration by several state legislatures due to the Board’s lack of a quorum very likely would be preempted by the [NLRA]. These measures purport to assume jurisdiction over private sector labor disputes covered by the NLRA. In general, states are not permitted to regulate conduct ‘that the NLRA protects, prohibits, or arguably protects or prohibits….’ This type of legislation cannot be reconciled with the Supremacy Clause, found in Article VI, Clause, 2 of the U.S. Constitution.”
The California Assembly on June 2 passed AB 288, legislation that would give the California government authority to take control over union elections under the auspices of the PERB, a state agency that administers the “collective bargaining statutes covering employees” in different business sectors, for relief in cases where the NLRB has allegedly not acted quickly enough or has issued decisions that, in the opinion of the state, fail to adequately protect worker rights. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 68-2, and it is currently pending in the Senate.
Proponents of these measures argue that the NLRB is “underfunded, politically influenced, and lacks strong enforcement tools,” thus requiring state intervention, notwithstanding the fact that the NLRA preempts such state legislation under the Supreme Court’s decision in San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236 (1959). In addition, despite arguments by some that the NLRB is “paralyzed” by the current lack of a quorum, nothing in the statute suggests preemption is voided any time the Board lacks a quorum.
The Chamber, therefore, urges you to veto AB 288 should it pass the legislature.
Sincerely,
Glenn Spencer
Senior Vice President
Employment Policy Division
About the author
Glenn Spencer
Spencer oversees the Chamber’s work on immigration, retirement security, traditional labor relations, human trafficking, wage hour and worker safety issues, EEOC matters, and state labor and employment law.
