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Art Pulaski

Type:

Labor Union Activist
Occupation(s):

Former Executive-Secretary Treasurer and Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation

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Art Pulaski is a labor union activist who was executive-secretary treasurer and chief officer of the California Labor Federation (CLF) from 1996 to 2022. 1 He promoted state policies that increased government-sector employment and largely kept overall union membership rates static in California through the addition of more government workers even as private-sector unionism declined in the state. 2 3

Background

Art Pulaski a major labor leader in California who was the executive-secretary treasurer and chief officer of the California Labor Federation, which represents more than 1,300 unions with 2.3 million members. 4 5 He held that role from his election in 1996 until his retirement in 2022, when he was replaced by Lorena Gonzalez, a former Democratic member of the California State Assembly who resigned from a prominent role as chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee to take the union-federation job. 6 7 8

In Pulaski’s final full year as the CLF’s executive-secretary treasurer and chief officer in 2021, he received $284,296 in compensation. 9

While in his California Labor Federation role, Pulaski also worked on the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board of Directors, where he was paid $58,633 per year. 10 He was originally appointed to this role by former California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 and reappointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) the next year. 11

Pulaski was at one point married to Josie Mooney, also a labor union activist and official. She was executive director of SEIU Local 790 and president of the San Francisco Labor Council until 2006 when she left to work for national SEIU president Andy Stern. 12 13 14

Policies

During Art Pulaski’s tenure as the California Labor Federation’s leader,  the Employment Development Department of California described there was “a shift in California’s union membership makeup during the last 10 years towards a more government-based workforce.” 15 In 2022, University of California, Berkeley Labor Center research found that 50.7% of union members in California were employed in the public sector. 16

Pulaski had a contentious relationship with business groups, claiming that they would not work with labor unions to address regulatory reform issues because of “honor among thieves.” 17

In a 2011 New York Times investigation into the ways California’s unions used political donations and power to promote unsustainable practices at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) pension fund, Pulaski claimed that unions’ political donations were not intended to influence elected officials, saying that the idea “that unions have spent money on elections to control politicians is as offensive as it as inane. In every election, we carefully analyze candidate records and positions and support those most likely to support policies that help working families.” 18

Pulaski broadly supported California’s “green” initiatives but advocated for more state funding for displaced workers and more state spending on infrastructure projects that would employ unionized laborers. 19

After far-right groups marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, Pulaski blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying, “the profound evil of white supremacy is on the march in America, emboldened by a president who refuses to issue an unqualified condemnation of hate and bigotry and instead blames ‘all sides’ for violence perpetrated by racists.” 20

Under Pulaski’s leadership, CLF resolved to disassociate from police and border patrol unions with a resolution claiming that modern-day police departments were descended from “slave patrols and night watches” that were “historically designed to control minorities and maintain the economic order” and that they were “agents of state repression against workers, labor unions and the fundamental American right to organize and strike.” 21 22

In 2021, then-SEIU California executive director Alma Hernandez and her husband Jose Moscoso were indicted on charges including tax fraud, embezzlement, perjury and failure to pay unemployment insurance taxes. 23 Pulaski declined to criticize Hernández, saying, “While I can’t speak directly to the charges in this case without all the facts, I can attest to Alma’s unwavering commitment to the low-wage workers she’s spent her life defending.” In 2022, Hernández pled guilty to felony counts of grand theft and tax fraud and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service. 24

References

  1. Ehisen, Rich. “Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: The Year of Living Dangerously.” Capitol Weekly, December 28, 2021. https://capitolweekly.net/capitol-weeklys-top-100-the-year-of-living-dangerously/.
  2. “California Labor Market Trends.” Employment Development Department of California , April 2015. https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/specialreports/CA_LMI_Trends_Union_Membership.pdf.
  3. Hunter, Savannah, Annette Gailliot, Enrique Lopezlira, and Ken Jacobs. “California Union Membership and Coverage 2023 Chartbook.” UC Berkeley Labor Center, August 30, 2023. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/release-california-union-membership-and-coverage-2023-chartbook/.
  4. “About Us.” California Labor Federation. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://calaborfed.org/about-us/.
  5. Ehisen, Rich. “Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: The Year of Living Dangerously.” Capitol Weekly, December 28, 2021. https://capitolweekly.net/capitol-weeklys-top-100-the-year-of-living-dangerously/.
  6. Beam, Adam. “California Lawmaker Resigns to Lead Labor Federation.” San Diego Union-Tribune, January 4, 2022. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/california/story/2022-01-03/california-lawmaker-resigns-to-lead-labor-federation.
  7. White, Jeremy B., and Carla Marinucci. “Another Twist for California’s Organized Labor.” Politico, October 27, 2021. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2021/10/27/another-twist-for-californias-organized-labor-494861.
  8. Reyes, Jazmine. “Lorena Gonzalez Elected as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation.” California Labor Federation, July 27, 2022. https://calaborfed.org/lorena-gonzalez-elected-as-executive-secretary-treasurer-of-the-california-labor-federation/.
  9. “California Labor Federation AFL-CIO, IRS Form 990.” Nonprofit Explorer, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/940362030/202233199349332348/full.
  10. Matier, Phil. “Political Allies Find Their Spots under New Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom.” Middletown Press, February 20, 2019. https://www.middletownpress.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Political-allies-find-their-spots-under-new-13629058.php
  11. Matier, Phil. “Political Allies Find Their Spots under New Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom.” Middletown Press, February 20, 2019. https://www.middletownpress.com/bayarea/philmatier/article/Political-allies-find-their-spots-under-new-13629058.php.
  12. Brazil, Eric. “Local Union Power Takes Big Step Up.” SFGATE, September 18, 1997. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Local-union-power-takes-big-step-up-3100311.php.
  13. Jones, Steven T. “Speaking It.” San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 18, 2006. https://sfbgarchive.48hills.org/sfbgarchive/2006/10/18/speaking-it/.
  14. Brazil, Eric. Labor looks to a new chief to lead charge, September 19, 1996. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Labor-looks-to-a-new-chief-to-lead-charge-3122546.php.
  15. “California Labor Market Trends.” Employment Development Department of California , April 2015. https://labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/specialreports/CA_LMI_Trends_Union_Membership.pdf.
  16. Hunter, Savannah, Annette Gailliot, Enrique Lopezlira, and Ken Jacobs. “California Union Membership and Coverage 2023 Chartbook.” UC Berkeley Labor Center, August 30, 2023. https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/release-california-union-membership-and-coverage-2023-chartbook/.
  17. “California Labor Federation / On the record: Art Pulaski,” SFGATE, October 10, 2004. https://www.sfgate.com/business/ontherecord/article/CALIFORNIA-LABOR-FEDERATION-On-the-Record-Art-2688463.php.
  18. Duhigg, Charles. “Public Unions Take on Boss to Win Big Pensions.” The New York Times, June 22, 2011. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/business/22union.html.
  19. Pulaski, Art, and Ken Jacobs. “State’s Global Warming Solutions Should Produce Good Jobs.” SFGATE, August 1, 2008. https://www.sfgate.com/green/article/State-s-global-warming-solutions-should-produce-3201777.php.
  20. “Statement by California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski on Racism and Hate.” California Labor Federation, August 22, 2017. https://calaborfed.org/press-releases/statement-by-california-labor-federation-executive-secretary-treasurer-art-pulaski-on-racism-and-hate/.
  21. “RESOLUTION ON RACIAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE.” California Labor Federation, August 2020. http://calaborconvention.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/FINALResolution-1-Racial-Justice-Resolution-.pdf.
  22. Kelly, Kim. “We Must Sever Law Enforcement from the Labor Movement.” The Nation, October 26, 2020. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/labor-unions-police/.
  23. Park, Jeong. “Update: Leader of California’s Largest Union Resigns amid Tax Fraud, Embezzlement Charges.” Sacramento Bee, October 14, 2021. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article254976772.html
  24. Miller, Maya. “Ex-SEIU California Leader Sentenced for Embezzling, Tax Fraud.” Sacramento Bee, December 14, 2022. https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article270005257.html
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