LA fires bring scrutiny to worker safety, private firefighting

Scheduling note: WhatMatters is taking Monday off to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and will be back in your inboxes Tuesday.

Describing the active wildfires in Southern California as a “catastrophe at an unprecedented scale,” Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas gathered with dozens of Assemblymembers on Thursday in Los Angeles to introduce new bills that seek to quicken rebuilding efforts and lift development restrictions. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta also held an event in L.A. to say that the Department of Justice is looking into reports of price gouging, fraud and “unsolicited low-ball offers on property.” Residents can report disaster-related scams here.

Let’s dive into issues facing workers who are mitigating the fires and their damage: 

Cleanup workers: Fire recovery workers are essential after wildfires, but they face a lot of hazards including collapsing buildings, exposed electrical wiring and toxic chemicals, write Calmatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Jeanne Kuang.

Though the state recently passed laws requiring employers to protect workers from wildfire smoke and prohibit them from forcing workers to be in evacuation zones, there is growing concern that workers won’t be protected during less formal cleanup jobs.

In response, labor groups are reaching out to day laborers — most of whom are immigrants — to teach them to identify hazards in burned homes with Cal/OSHA-certified trainers.

Read more here.

Private firefighters: While private firefighting in the U.S. dates back to the 1700s, the controversial industry has come under renewed scrutiny this past week, reports CalMatters’ Felicia Mello. Often provided by insurers, private firefighters visit the homes of typically wealthy clientele as a fire approaches and take preventive measures. 

But critics argue these companies create a two-tiered system where the haves get better protection than the have-nots. By law, private firefighters are also supposed to coordinate with local incident commanders, but during the wildfire seasons in 2007 and 2017, there were reports of private firefighters entering disaster zones without proper coordination, which confused residents and distracted emergency responders.

Read more here.

Wildfire newsletter: CalMatters is teaming up with PBS SoCal, LAist and KCRW to offer a free newsletter that delivers new and accurate information about the Southern California fires. Read an edition and subscribe.

Workers in L.A. County who are not directly involved in fighting or cleaning up after the wildfires have also been severely affected, report CalMatters’ Alejandra and Jeanne.

Latinos hold 34% of jobs in the Palisades fire area, but represent only 7% of the population, according to the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute. As many as 35,000 jobs held by Latinos could be lost permanently because of the L.A. County fires. These include gardeners, housekeepers and landscapers who are now out of a job because their employers lost their homes or business to the blazes. 

Hermelinda Guadarrama is one such worker: Her cleaning contracts in the Altadena area are on pause since the fires broke out, and she has been without an income.

• Guadarrama: “Maybe we didn’t lose our apartment (to the fires), but what’s going to happen to our rent? … What will happen to my daughters, my granddaughter?”

The U.S. Labor Department on Thursday did say the L.A. region will receive $10 million to train and create temporary jobs for unemployed workers. Meanwhile, immigration advocates have pushed for years for the state to expand unemployment benefits to undocumented workers. In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would do just that.

Read more here.

A couple of months after President-elect Donald Trump tapped tech mogul Elon Musk to help lead a new federal agency focused on trimming government spending, Gov. Newsom during a preview of his budget proposal said he too wanted more government efficiency.

But as CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff explains, Newsom’s time in office has seen an expansion of state government — marked by new initiatives, departments and services. His latest budget plan is the second largest state spending plan ever, and total budget spending is nearly $100 billion more this year than before Newsom assumed office. 

Republican Sen. Suzette Valladares of Lancaster said it was “scary to think that (Newsom) thinks we’re doing good,” and that the governor “should be taking notes” from the new federal agency. 

But Marybel Batjer, Newsom’s first government operations secretary, said cutting back on government doesn’t guarantee it’ll be more effective.

• Batjer: “You won’t save money that way. You will have more people who are homeless. You will have more people who are sicker. … Elon Musk doesn’t know shit from Shinola about how government works.”

Read more here.

Starbucks and Amazon workers are striking over union recognition and bargaining rights. CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on labor leaders’ concerns under the Trump administration as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here. 

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.