Arbitration Bill Fails

A bill that would have barred companies from forcing workers to consent to binding arbitration of disputes arising under the Fair Employment and Housing Act was defeated in the California Assembly last week. The bill, AB 2371 (Levine), received "Yes" votes from Assembly members Arambula, Baca, Bass, Bermudez, Berg, Chan, Chu, Coto, De La Toree, Dymally, Evans, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Jones, Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Liu, Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava, Negrete-McLeod, Oropeza, Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Umberg, Yee and Nunez. Surprisingly, the "No" vote included several Democrats, including Calderon, Canciamilla, Chavez, Cohn, Frommer, Matthews and Parra. Members Torrico, Vargas and Wolk abstained.