The Center for Popular Democracy alongside the UCLA Labor Center and PowerSwitch Action released a report that examines the impact of an upcoming ballot measure in California that would decide whether to repeal the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). The Act — which protects workers’ right to fight workplace abuses and provides them with the tools to do so — has long been considered a standard-bearer legislation that directly and indirectly improved labor rights across the country. PAGA allows wronged workers to take their employer to court on behalf of the state of California for violations done in their workplaces, effectively allowing them to act as private attorneys general. If corporations repeal PAGA, it will set back the movement for worker justice nationally and leave millions of workers without adequate tools to fight labor injustices in court. 

The report “A Shrinking Toolbox: The Corporate Efforts to Eliminate PAGA and Limit California Workers’ Rights” finds that an initiative to repeal PAGA slated for the November 2024 ballot would reverse whistleblowers’ power to file lawsuits on behalf of exploited workers at a company. If this initiative succeeds, workers will be more vulnerable to labor law violations and employers will face fewer consequences for exploiting their workforce — immediately in California but with rippling effects that will be felt across the nation.