Merriam-Webster defines hypocrisy as “the behavior of people who do things that they tell other people not to do: behavior that does not agree with what someone claims to believe or feel.” This definition came to life recently when the Los Angeles Times and other media across the region and nation reported on organized labor’s demand for special treatment when advocating for a new minimum-wage policy in the city of Los Angeles.

The City Council recently voted to increase the minimum wage in Los Angeles to $15 an hour by 2020 – a move that the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor applauded and helped lead. At the same time, the Federation of Labor lobbied the City Council for an exemption for companies represented by unions.

Members of the City Council found it astonishing that organized labor would passionately call for a new minimum-wage policy for all businesses citywide, large and small, private and nonprofit, and then demand that companies with union representation be exempt from the new law. The City Council was right to be astonished and to not include this exemption in its new minimum-wage policy.

But there is more to this story when you pull back the curtain. Organized labor also drove the campaign in San Francisco last year to raise the minimum wage. Because a similar robust conversation about exempting union employees did not take place in San Francisco, organized labor received a carve-out to ensure that they did not have to play by the same set of rules.  

Union exemption

Organized labor also campaigned in San Francisco to pass a scheduling law, which goes into effect in July, and requires all retailers to impose a two-week fixed employee scheduling process. And yet again, labor is attempting to exempt unionized employers from the new law because union contracts only require a three-day scheduling process.

Assembly member David Chiu (D-San Francisco), who pushed the San Francisco scheduling mandate while serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, authored a similar measure in the California Legislature. Assembly Bill 357 proposed to penalize employers unless they lock employees into a rigid two-week unchangeable schedule, forcing employers to deny last-minute employee scheduling changes, and costing employees and employers hours and income. Once again, organized labor asked for an exemption to this regulation. 

Do you see a trend?

In every one of these examples, organized labor is leading the charge for new public policy that would apply to all businesses except those represented by a union. Elected officials across California are being urged to “do as I say, not as I do” by champions of these new regulations for everyone else. Thank you to the Los Angeles City Council for bringing this issue to light and voting to not include this union exemption in the new minimum-wage law. 

Bill Dombrowski is chief executive of the California Retailers Association, Jot Condie is chief executive of the California Restaurant Association and Gary L. Toebben is chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.