January 16, 2004
In a major victory for building trades unions, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today upholding the most recent amendments to California's minimum wage regulations for registered apprentices.
The Associated Builders and Contractors sued the State to invalidate these amendments, which were adopted to protect apprentices from exploitation. ABC claimed the amendments violate the National Labor Relations Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The State Building Trades immediately intervened in the case to defend the law, and the trial court rejected ABC's arguments.
Today, the Ninth Circuit unanimously rejected ABC's appeal in a well-reasoned decision. The Ninth Circuit recognized that apprenticeship is a traditional area of state regulation and that Congress did not intend federal law to prevent the states from adopting regulations to protect apprentices.
Scott Kronland and Linda Lye of Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain handled the case in the Ninth Circuit for the State Building Trades. The case is Assoc. Builders and Contractors v. Nunn, No. 02-56735.