Berkeley City Council to Consider a ‘Labor Bill of Rights’

BERKELEY — The Berkeley City Council, with a reputation for breaking new ground, is about to consider a “Labor Bill of Rights” that bans pre-employment drug testing and limits police involvement in strikes.

The City Council, which has attracted attention by passing measures on everything from foreign affairs to commercial rent control, established a nine-member Labor Commission three years ago in what one member calls “an example of Berkeley’s vision.” Part of its mandate was the drafting of the bill of rights, which will be the subject of a hearing before the council today.

“We want to set up a partnership of working people, the city and business people, talking about how we can have a stable, driven economy in Berkeley,” said Mayor Loni Hancock.

Although some of it is patterned after ordinances elsewhere, like a prevailing-wage provision for the construction industry that resembles a measure in neighboring Oakland, much of the proposal is classic Berkeley.

One element would forbid the city to sign a contract with “any employer involved in an officially sanctioned management-labor dispute or which appears on the AFL-CIO ‘Do Not Patronize List.’ ”

The provision “would be building on the tradition the city has, rather than be something wild and radical, which it’s not,” according to Kathy Labriola, vice chairman of the commission.

Another provision of the bill of rights would instruct police to remain neutral in labor disputes, preventing officers from escorting strikebreakers across picket lines or “attacking, harassing or intimidating” strikers.

Employers would be required, “when lawful and feasible,” to give one-year notice of plant closures and to meet with city and employee representatives to help avoid shutdowns.